深度剖析GRE考試閱讀。GRE考試在2011年的時候發(fā)生了重大變化，對考生的考察側(cè)重點有很大變化，新GRE閱讀理解調(diào)整比較明顯，本文就對GRE考試閱讀進行深度剖析。
　　總體宏觀變化
　　從ETS官方網(wǎng)站的敘述中，最為核心的整個GRE考試的變化趨勢為如下幾點：
　　? Greater emphasis on higher cognitive skills and less dependence on vocabulary
　　? More text-based materials, such as reading passages
　　? A broader selection of reading passages
　　? Emphasis on skills related to graduate work, such as complex reasoning
　　? Expansion of computer-enabled tasks (e.g., clicking on a sentence in a passage to highlight it)
　　? Two 40-minute sections rather than one 30-minute section
　　逐點分析，不難發(fā)現(xiàn)幾乎每條都與新GRE閱讀理解部分難度和重要性的提高分不開的。
　　所為cognitive認知性能力，是所有閱讀測試的核心，即主要依賴文章本身而非經(jīng)驗性的一種理解能力。不僅在能力上提出了更高要求，閱讀文章本身不論從選擇題材的廣度，每個Section考察的篇幅數(shù)量都大大提升。在計算機新媒介的輔助下，ETS把GRE閱讀注冊商標般的推理也提高到新的層次進行考察。簡而言之，閱讀可謂成為了新GRE考試中的重中之重。
　　樣題剖析
　　筆者對給出的樣題中GRE閱讀理解部分做一個綜合評述，慢慢揭開新GRE閱讀的神秘面紗。在對題目做完剖析之后，總結(jié)相關的變化和值得注意的要點。
　　Questions 6 through 8 are based on the following reading passage.
　　Music critics have consistently defined James P. Johnson as a great early jazz pianist, originator of the 1920's Harlem "stride" style, and an important blues and jazz composer. In addition, however, Johnson was an innovator in classical music, composing symphonic music that incorporated American, and especially African-American, traditions.
　　Such a blend of musical elements was not entirely new: by 1924 both Milhaud and Gershwin had composed classical works that incorporated elements of jazz. Johnson, a serious musician more experienced than most classical composers with jazz, blues, spirituals, and popular music, was particularly suited to expand Milhaud's and Gershwin's experiments. In 1927 he completed his first large-scale work, the blues- and jazz-inspired Yamekraw, which included borrowings from spirituals and Johnson's own popular songs. Yamekraw, premiered successfully in Carnegie Hall, was a major achievement for Johnson, becoming his most frequently performed extended work. It demonstrated vividly the possibility of assimilating contemporary popular music into the symphonic tradition.
　　本選文難度和風格幾乎和現(xiàn)行的GRE閱讀沒有太大區(qū)別。題材又談到了黑人，尤其是爵士音樂。這種題材在95-00筆考期間也經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)。把握住文章首段重要詞匯however抓住主題。分清文中矛盾對象(創(chuàng)新與傳統(tǒng)，不同音樂家間的邏輯聯(lián)系)，文章應該比較容易處理。
　　6. The passage states that Johnson composed all of the following EXCEPT
　　A. jazz works 　B. popular songs 　C. symphonic music 　D. spirituals　 E. blues pieces
　　此題正確答案為D。文中開始談到Johnson作為偉大爵士音樂家，因為其創(chuàng)始了新的風格，其中包括了blues and jazz。而在文章末句提到了他吸收了同時代的popular music以及symphonic。注意該題的spirituals文中確實也出現(xiàn)過，但是措辭用的是borrow from，題干問的是compose.
　　7. Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
　　The author suggests which of the following about most classical composers of the early 1920's?
　　A. They were strongly influenced by the musical experiments of Milhaud and Gershwin.
　　B. They had little working familiarity with such forms of American music as jazz, blues, and popular songs
　　C. They made few attempts to introduce innovations into the classical symphonic tradition
　　本題即為新GRE閱讀中新醞釀推出的所謂恐怖的“多選題”。其實這種題型即為原來GRE閱讀中羅馬數(shù)字題的變體，只是難度進一步加大。正確答案B。--They had little working familiarity with such forms of American music as jazz, blues, and popular songs。本題從出題點分析涉及文中的比較點。最后的邏輯關系用東方閱讀體系表示可以是:Johnson=Milhaud and Gershwin<>most composers。運用取非解題思路。
　　8. The author suggests that most critics have
　　A. underrated the popularity of Yamekraw
　　B. undervalued Johnson's musical abilities
　　C. had little interest in Johnson's influence on jazz
　　D. had little regard for classical works that incorporate popular music
　　E. neglected Johnson's contribution to classical symphonic music
　　此題正確答案為E。該題題干提到的critics指引考生定位到文章首段。經(jīng)過邏輯和套路熟練訓練后，不難把握Music critics have consistently defined James P. Johnson as a great early jazz pianist…… however, Johnson was an innovator in classical music。類似于兩個觀點的對立，為結(jié)構(gòu)上重要內(nèi)容。
　　Questions 9 and 10 are based on the following reading passage.
　　Scholarship on political newspapers and their editors is dominated by the view that as the United States grew, the increasing influence of the press led, ultimately, to the neutral reporting from which we benefit today. Pasley considers this view oversimplified, because neutrality was not a goal of early national newspaper editing, even when editors disingenuously stated that they aimed to tell all sides of a story. Rather, the intensely partisan ideologies represented in newspapers of the early republic led to a clear demarcation between traditional and republican values. The editors responsible for the papers' content — especially those with republican agendas — began to see themselves as central figures in the development of political consciousness in the United States.
　　本文為符合現(xiàn)行GRE考試部分文章套路分類中的廣義新老觀點對比型。文首觀點說報紙最后的政治取向?qū)呌趎eutral。而之后Pasley提出的觀點否認了這種看法(oversimplified)。具體從早期國家報紙的黨派差異論證自己觀點。文章首句符合一貫GRE閱讀的品味：長度達到35詞的復雜難句子，為理解上的一個難點。
　　上述內(nèi)容針對新GRE閱讀理解部分的變化從樣題題型中進行了深度剖析，參加新GRE考試的考生需要盡早適應行的考試變化，及時作出調(diào)整和應對策略，做到知己知彼，百戰(zhàn)不殆。