所谓外行看热闹，内行看门道。在托福阅读的过程中，大家一定要记住：我们读的是“意思”，而非“语句”，语句只是工具而已。能够透过现象看本质，是我们做到过目不忘的很重要的一个前提。换言之，在读一段之后，我们要能够把握这一段当中有几个重要的信息点。看完一篇文章后，能够记住每一段都主要从哪个方面讲了什么核心意思。

　　何谓把握段落的信息要点?我们来看一个例子：

　　The shift from silent to sound film at the end of the 1920s marks, so far, the most important transformation in motion picture history. Despite all the highly visible technological developments in theatrical and home delivery of the moving image that have occurred over the decades since then, no single innovation has come close to being regarded as a similar kind of watershed. In nearly every language, however the words are phrased, the most basic division in cinema history lies between films that are mute and films that speak.(选自TPO12：Transition to sound in film.)

　　第一句话说在1920的从无声电影到有声电影的转变到目前为止标志着电影历史上最重要的变革。第二句话说尽管自从那时开始的几十年的高度可视技术在剧院和家庭成像方面的发展，没有任何一项革新能够被当作一个相似的分水岭。第三句话，几乎在每一种语言当中，不论怎样措辞，电影历史上的最基本的区分在于有声电影和无声电影之间。

　　我们可以清晰看到，这一段虽然有三句话，但是三句话讲的其实是一个意思。就是说从无声到有声电影的这样一个变革很重要…….。所以我们在看完这一段的时候就记住这一个意思就可以了，因为就只有一个核心意思，基于这一段出的题无非是问这个意思，各位孩儿们是不是觉得很神奇?

　　According to paragraph 1, which of the following is the most significant development in the history of film?

　　○The technological innovation of sound film during the 1920s

　　○The development of a technology for translating films into other languages

　　○The invention of a method for delivering movies to people's homes

　　○The technological improvements allowing clearer images in films

　　孩儿们重点体会一下正确选项是如何于原文的要点相对应的，同时还要体会一下出题者在正确选项以及对应信息之间paraphrase的手法。

　　当然，上边的这一段肯定是比较简单的情况，因为要点比较单一。我们再来看一个例子。

　　Though it may be difficult to imagine from a later perspective, a strain of critical opinion in the 1920s predicted that sound film would be a technical novelty that would soon fade from sight, just as had many previous attempts, dating well back before the First World War, to link images with recorded sound. These critics were making a common assumption—that the technological inadequacies of earlier efforts (poor synchronization, weak sound amplification, fragile sound recordings) would invariably occur again. To be sure, their evaluation of the technical flaws in 1920s sound experiments was not so far off the mark, yet they neglected to take into account important new forces in the motion picture field that, in a sense, would not take no for an answer.

　　这一段也是看起来一大堆，但其实思路很简单。第一句说尽管从后来的角度很难想象，一些批判性的观点认为有声电影会是一个从人们视线当中很快消失的技术革新，正如早起的努力一样。第二句说这些批判性观点通常假设ABC等技术不足会一如既往的发生。第三句说尽管他们对于这些技术缺陷的评估是相关的，然后他们忽略了考虑一些电影行业中的新生力量，这些新生力量是不会把no作为一个answer的。

　　所以这一段的写作思路就是一些批判性的观点是什么，最后指出了这些观点是不正确的。总体上可以概括为两个信息要点，出题也无非是针对这两个信息要点。

　　According to paragraph 4, which of the following is true about the technical problems of early sound films?(4)

　　○Linking images with recorded sound was a larger obstacle than weak sound amplification or fragile sound recordings.

　　○Sound films in the 1920s were unable to solve the technical flaws found in sound films before the First World War.

　　○Technical inadequacies occurred less frequently in early sound films than critics suggested.

　　○Critics assumed that it would be impossible to overcome the technical difficulties experienced with earlier sound films.

　　童鞋们在今后的阅读当中一定要有意识地主动地去理解和记忆每一段的信息要点，这对你们的解题会有很大的帮助。