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考点 5 阅读理解之段落大意
Part 1 题型详解：
主旨大意之段落大意考点是高考中的必考点。这些设置题目的段落或引出话题或承上启下或总结全文。
命题者的意图是明确的，他们着眼于文章中起重要作用的段落进而设题。预测在2024高考中，段落大意题
会继续在高考阅读理解中呈现。
Part 2 常见设问方式：
1. What is this paragraph mainly about?
2. The main idea of paragraph 2 and 3 is....
3. What’s the main idea of paragraph...?
Part 3 解题方法指导:
1.了解篇章结构，段落大意题目仍然是概括性的题目，段落大意应围绕主题发展。
2. 关注段首，段尾，段落中有关转折、递进的句子。
Part 4 真题检测
2023年全国乙卷英语真题
If you want to tell the history of the whole world, a history that does not privilege one part of humanity, you
cannot do it through texts alone, because only some of the world has ever had texts, while most of the world, for
most of the time, has not. Writing is one of humanity’s later achievements, and until fairly recently even many
literate (有文字的) societies recorded their concerns not only in writing but in things.
Ideally a history would bring together texts and objects, and some chapters of this book are able to do just that,
but in many cases we simply can’t. The clearest example of this between literate and non-literate history is perhaps
the first conflict, at Botany Bay, between Captain Cook’s voyage and the Australian Aboriginals. From the English
side, we have scientific reports and the captain’s record of that terrible day. From the Australian side, we have only
a wooden shield (盾) dropped by a man in flight after his first experience of gunshot. If we want to reconstruct what
was actually going on that day, the shield must be questioned and interpreted as deeply and strictly as the written
reports.
In addition to the problem of miscomprehension from both sides, there are victories accidentally or
deliberately twisted, especially when only the victors know how to write. Those who are on the losing side often
have only their things to tell their stories. The Caribbean Taino, the Australian Aboriginals, the African people of
Benin and the Incas, all of whom appear in this book, can speak to us now of their past achievements most
powerfully through the objects they made: a history told through things gives them back a voice. When we consider
contact (联系) between literate and non-literate societies such as these, all our first-hand accounts are necessarily
twisted, only one half of a dialogue. If we are to find the other half of that conversation, we have to read not just
the texts, but the objects.
1．What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A．How past events should be presented. B．What humanity is concerned about.C．Whether facts speak louder than words. D．Why written language is reliable.
2023年新课标全国Ⅰ卷英语真题
On March 7, 1907, the English statistician Francis Galton published a paper which illustrated what has come
to be known as the “wisdom of crowds” effect. The experiment of estimation he conducted showed that in some
cases, the average of a large number of independent estimates could be quite accurate.
This effect capitalizes on the fact that when people make errors, those errors aren’t always the same. Some
people will tend to overestimate, and some to underestimate. When enough of these errors are averaged together,
they cancel each other out, resulting in a more accurate estimate. If people are similar and tend to make the same
errors, then their errors won’t cancel each other out. In more technical terms, the wisdom of crowds requires that
people’s estimates be independent. If for whatever reasons, people’s errors become correlated or dependent, the
accuracy of the estimate will go down.
But a new study led by Joaquin Navajas offered an interesting twist (转折) on this classic phenomenon. The
key finding of the study was that when crowds were further divided into smaller groups that were allowed to have a
discussion, the averages from these groups were more accurate than those from an equal number of independent
individuals. For instance, the average obtained from the estimates of four discussion groups of five was
significantly more accurate than the average obtained from 20 independent individuals.
In a follow-up study with 100 university students, the researchers tried to get a better sense of what the group
members actually did in their discussion. Did they tend to go with those most confident about their estimates? Did
they follow those least willing to change their minds? This happened some of the time, but it wasn’t the dominant
response. Most frequently, the groups reported that they “shared arguments and reasoned together”. Somehow,
these arguments and reasoning resulted in a global reduction in error. Although the studies led by Navajas have
limitations and many questions remain, the potential implications for group discussion and decision-making are
enormous.
5．What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about?
A．The methods of estimation. B．The underlying logic of the effect.
C．The causes of people’s errors. D．The design of Galton’s experiment.
2022年新高考全国Ⅰ卷英语真题
Human speech contains more than 2,000 different sounds, from the common “m” and “a” to the rare clicks of
some southern African languages. But why are certain sounds more common than others? A ground-breaking, five-
year study shows that diet-related changes in human bite led to new speech sounds that are now found in half the
world’s languages.
More than 30 years ago, the scholar Charles Hockett noted that speech sounds called labiodentals, such as “f”
and “v”, were more common in the languages of societies that ate softer foods. Now a team of researchers led by
Damián Blasi at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has found how and why this trend arose.
They discovered that the upper and lower front teeth of ancient human adults were aligned (对齐), making it
hard to produce labiodentals, which are formed by touching the lower lip to the upper teeth. Later, our jaws
changed to an overbite structure (结构), making it easier to produce such sounds.The team showed that this change in bite was connected with the development of agriculture in the Neolithic
period. Food became easier to chew at this point. The jawbone didn’t have to do as much work and so didn’t grow
to be so large.
Analyses of a language database also confirmed that there was a global change in the sound of world
languages after the Neolithic age, with the use of “f” and “v” increasing remarkably during the last few thousand
years. These sounds are still not found in the languages of many hunter-gatherer people today.
This research overturns the popular view that all human speech sounds were present when human beings
evolved around 300,000 years ago. “The set of speech sounds we use has not necessarily remained stable since the
appearance of human beings, but rather the huge variety of speech sounds that we find today is the product of a
complex interplay of things like biological change and cultural evolution,” said Steven Moran, a member of the
research team.
11．What is paragraph 5 mainly about?
A．Supporting evidence for the research results.
B．Potential application of the research findings.
C．A further explanation of the research methods.
D．A reasonable doubt about the research process.
2022年全国甲卷英语真题
Sometime in the early 1960s, a significant thing happened in Sydney, Australia. The city discovered its harbor.
Then, one after another, Sydney discovered lots of things that were just sort of there — broad parks, superb
beaches, and a culturally diverse population. But it is the harbor that makes the city.
Andrew Reynolds, a cheerful fellow in his early 30s, pilots Sydney ferryboats for a living. I spent the whole
morning shuttling back and forth across the harbor. After our third run Andrew shut down the engine, and we went
our separate ways — he for a lunch break, I to explore the city.
“I’ll miss these old boats,” he said as we parted.
“How do you mean?” I asked.
“Oh, they’re replacing them with catamarans. Catamarans are faster, but they’re not so elegant, and they’re not
fun to pilot. But that’s progress, I guess.”
Everywhere in Sydney these days, change and progress are the watchwords (口号), and traditions are
increasingly rare. Shirley Fitzgerald, the city’s official historian, told me that in its rush to modernity in the 1970s,
Sydney swept aside much of its past, including many of its finest buildings. “Sydney is confused about itself,” she
said. “We can’t seem to make up our minds whether we want a modern city or a traditional one. It’s a conflict that
we aren’t getting any better at resolving (解决).”
On the other hand, being young and old at the same time has its attractions. I considered this when I met a
thoughtful young businessman named Anthony. “Many people say that we lack culture in this country,” he told me.
“What people forget is that the Italians, when they came to Australia, brought 2000 years of their culture, the
Greeks some 3000 years, and the Chinese more still. We’ve got a foundation built on ancient cultures but with a
drive and dynamism of a young country. It’s a pretty hard combination to beat.”He is right, but I can’t help wishing they would keep those old ferries.
13．What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A．Sydney’s striking architecture. B．The cultural diversity of Sydney.
C．The key to Sydney’s development. D．Sydney’s tourist attractions in the 1960s.
2021年北京市英语高考真题
Early fifth-century philosopher St．Augustine famously wrote that he knew what time was unless someone
asked him．Albert Einstein added another wrinkle when he theorized that time varies depending on where you
measure it．Today's state-of-the-art atomic（原子的） clocks have proven Einstein right．Even advanced
physics can't decisively tell us what time is, because the answer depends on the question you're asking．
Forget about time as an absolute．What if，instead of considering time in terms of astronomy,we related time
to ecology？What if we allowed environmental conditions to set the tempo（节奏） of human life？We're
increasingly aware of the fact that we can't control Earth systems with engineering alone，and realizing that we
need to moderate（调节）our actions if we hope to live in balance．What if our definition of time reflected that？
Recently，I conceptualized a new approach to timekeeping that's connected to circumstances on our planet，
conditions that might change as a result of global warming．We're now building a clock at the Anchorage Museum
that reflects the total flow of several major Alaskan rivers，which are sensitive to local and global environmental
changes．We've programmed it to match an atomic clock if the waterways continue to flow at their present rate．If
the rivers run faster in the future on average，the clock will get ahead of standard time．If they run slower，you'll
see the opposite effect．
The clock registers both short-term irregularities and long-term trends in river dynamics ．It's a sort of
observatory that reveals how the rivers are behaving from their own temporal frame（时间框架），and allows us
to witness those changes on our smartwatches or phones．Anyone who opts to go on Alaska Mean River Time will
live in harmony with the planet．Anyone who considers river time in relation to atomic time will encounter a
major imbalance and may be motivated to counteract it by consuming less fuel or supporting greener policies．
Even if this method of timekeeping is novel in its particulars，early agricultural societies also connected time
to natural phenomena．In pre-Classical Greece，for instance，people“corrected”official calendars by shifting
dates forward or backward to reflect the change of season．Temporal connection to the environment was vital to
their survival ． Likewise ， river time and other timekeeping systems we're developing may encourage
environmental awareness．
When St．Augustine admitted his inability to define time， he highlighted one of time 's most noticeable
qualities：Time becomes meaningful only in a defined context．Any timekeeping system is valid，and each is as
praiseworthy as its purpose．
17．What is the main idea of Paragraph 1？
A．Timekeeping is increasingly related to nature．
B．Everyone can define time on their own terms．
C．The qualities of time vary with how you measure it．D．Time is a major concern of philosophers and scientists．
2021年浙江卷英语真题（7月）
If you ever get the impression that your dog can “tell” whether you look content or annoyed, you may be onto
something. Dogs may indeed be able to distinguish between happy and angry human faces, according to a new
study.
Researchers trained a group of 11 dogs to distinguish between images (图像) of the same person making either
a happy or an angry face. During the training stage, each dog was shown only the upper half or the lower half of the
person’s face. The researchers then tested the dogs’ ability to distinguish between human facial expressions by
showing them the other half of the person’s face on images totally different from the ones used in training. The
researchers found that the dogs were able to pick the angry or happy face by touching a picture of it with their noses
more often than one would expect by random chance.
The study showed the animals had figured out how to apply what they learned about human faces during
training to new faces in the testing stage. “We can rule out that the dogs simply distinguish between the pictures
based on a simple cue, such as the sight of teeth,” said study author Corsin Muller. “Instead, our results suggest that
the successful dogs realized that a smiling mouth means the same thing as smiling eyes, and the same rule applies
to an angry mouth having the same meaning as angry eyes.”
“With our study, we think we can now confidently conclude that at least some dogs can distinguish human
facial expressions,” Muller told Live Science.
At this point, it is not clear why dogs seem to be equipped with the ability to recognize different facial
expressions in humans. “To us, the most likely explanation appears to be that the basis lies in their living with
humans, which gives them a lot of exposure to human facial expressions, and this exposure has provided them with
many chances to learn to distinguish between them,” Muller said.
23．What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A．A suggestion for future studies. B．A possible reason for the study findings.
C．A major limitation of the study D．An explanation of the research method.
2021年全国乙卷英语真题
When almost everyone has a mobile phone, why are more than half of Australian homes still paying for a
landline (座机)?
These days you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Australia over the age of 15 who doesn’t own a mobile
phone. In fact plenty of younger kids have one in their pocket. Practically everyone can make and receive calls
anywhere, anytime.
Still, 55 percent of Australians have a landline phone at home and only just over a quarter (29%) rely only on
their smartphones according to a survey (调查). Of those Australians who still have a landline, a third concede that
it’s not really necessary and they’re keeping it as a security blanket — 19 percent say they never use it while a
further 13 percent keep it in case of emergencies. I think my home falls into that category.
More than half of Australian homes are still choosing to stick with their home phone. Age is naturally a factor(因素)— only 58 percent of Generation Ys still use landlines now and then, compared to 84 percent of Baby
Boomers who’ve perhaps had the same home number for 50 years. Age isn’t the only factor; I’d say it’s also to do
with the makeup of your household.
Generation Xers with young families, like my wife and I, can still find it convenient to have a home phone
rather than providing a mobile phone for every family member. That said, to be honest the only people who ever
ring our home phone are our Baby Boomers parents, to the point where we play a game and guess who is calling
before we pick up the phone (using Caller ID would take the fun out of it).
How attached are you to your landline? How long until they go the way of gas street lamps and morning milk
deliveries?
24．What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about mobile phones?
A．Their target users. B．Their wide popularity.
C．Their major functions. D．Their complex design.
Part 5 模拟练习
2024届河南省信阳市浉河区信阳高级中学高三上学期一模英语试题
Cities are difficult to navigate (导航) at the best of times, but for people with disabilities they can be like
courses with hurdles and bring inconvenience to disabled people.
A UK national travel survey found that adults with mobility difficulties took 39% fewer trips than those with
no disability in 2017. Yet that could change as devices and cities grow smarter. Assistive tech is playing a big role
in the transformation. The global value of the industry is expected to increase from $14 billion in 2015 to $30.8
billion in 2024, according to Zion Market Research.
One of the things that could transform lives is a smart walking stick designed by engineers from Young Guru
Academy (YGA) in Turkey. The WeWalk stick has a sensor that detects hurdles above chest level and uses
vibrations (振动) to warn the user. It can be paired with a smartphone to help navigation, and is connected with a
voice assistant and Google Maps.
Ceylan, who has been blind since birth, says that connecting the stick to the Internet of Things and smart city
solutions makes it user-friendly. “As a blind person, when I am at the Metro station I don’t know which is my
exit ... I don’t know which bus is approaching ... which stores are around me. That kind of information can be
provided with the WeWalk,” he says.
“The smart walking stick is really an exciting initiative that will make a huge difference to some people,” says
Anna Lawson, the director of the Center for Disability Studies at Leeds University in the United Kingdom. “But
they are very expensive ... they’re not going to be available to the vast majority of disabled people,” she added.
Bryan Matthews, a lecturer at the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, shares the
concerns about cost. He says there should also be a focus on inclusive design, and anything that helps people
navigate their environment is positive.
29．What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
A．The working principles of the WeWalk stick.
B．The introduction of the WeWalk stick inventors.C．The transformation caused by the WeWalk stick.
D．The benefits brought about by the WeWalk stick.
2023届安徽省、云南省、吉林省、黑龙江省高三下学期2月适应性测试英语试题
For years, David James, who studies insects at Washington State University, had wanted to examine the
migration (迁徙)patterns of West Coast monarch butterflies (黑脉金斑蝶). The route the butterflies travel has been
hardly known because the populations are too small to follow. For every 200 monarchs tagged (打标签)by a
researcher, only one is usually recovered at the end of its trip, James says, and finding even 200 in the wild to tag is
unlikely. Knowing the route is vital to conservation efforts, but James had no way to figure it out- until he got a
phone call from Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.
The prison was looking for new activities to improve the mental health of those serving long-term sentences.
So James began working with prisoners to raise monarchs through the whole process of their transformation. The
adult insects were then tagged and released from the prison. Over five years, nearly 10, 000 monarchs flew from the
facility. Elsewhere in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, researchers released another few thousand.
The tags included email addresses, and soon after the first butterflies took off, James started receiving
messages from people who had spotted them. The butterflies, the reports confirmed, wintered in coastal California.
Twelve of them landed at Lighthouse Field State Beach in Santa Cruz. Several more headed to Bolinas and Morro
Bay.
The work helps researchers identify ideal places to plant milkweed and other vegetation that are important to
the life cycle of West Coast monarch butterflies. It also brought out the gentler side of some of the prisoners. “They
were very worried that they were going to harm the butterflies, ”James says. Watching the monarch change their
form also touched the men. “This butterfly changed, ” James recalls prisoners telling him, “and maybe we can too.
”
35．What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A．The impact of the research.
B．The findings of James’ study.
C．The release of the prisoners.
D．The life cycle of the butterflies.
2023届广东省深圳市高三年级第一次调研考试英语试题
From cottages surrounded by impressive gardens to days spent exploring sandy beaches and deep woods filled
with wildlife, in My Family and Other Animals, English writer Gerald Durrell provided a vivid account of his
family’s time on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s.
Come for the arresting descriptions of Corfu landscapes and stay for Durrell’s laugh-out-loud tales of his
unusual family. This book, Durrell wrote humorously in the introduction, “was intended to be a nostalgic (怀旧的)
account of natural history, but in the first few pages, I made the mistake of introducing my family. ”
Durrell, later known for his zoo keeping and the preservation of wildlife, was just a child during his family’s
five-year stay in Corfu. He is 10-year-old Gerry in the book — curious, passionate about animals and a detailedstoryteller of his strange family: his imaginative elder brother Larry with his literary ambitions, lovestruck sister
Margo, sporty brother Leslie and his ever-calm, loving mother.
Durrell’s attention to detail is what makes the book so winning, with every sight, sound and smell of the island
brought to life. One minute you’ll be laughing as Larry’s clever literary friends walk down to the daffodil-yellow
cottage, the next you’ll be catching your breath as Durrell describes swimming at night in the Ionian Sea: “Lying on
my back in the silky water, staring at the sky, only moving my hands and feet slightly, I was looking at the Milky
Way stretching like a silk scarf across the sky and wondering how many stars it contained. ”
My Family and Other Animals is quite difficult to classify, being one part travel, one part autobiography, one
part natural history, and one part comedy, with a thread of descriptive language running throughout that sometimes
raises it nearly to poetry.
As a real delight to read, it’s the perfect literary escapism for any adult or older teenager who is currently
walking down a tough road in life.
38．What are paragraph 4 and 5 mainly about?
A．The book’s writing feature.
B．Durrell’s rich imagination.
C．Some interesting plots of the book.
D．Some vivid descriptions of the island.
2023届广东省广州市普通高中毕业班综合测试（一）英语试题
Beavers(海狸), like humans, change their surroundings to fit their needs. Known as nature’s engineers, they
tear trees down to build homes to live in and dams to raise water levels for protection from enemies. Dams also
slow water’s flow while blocking sediment(沉积物)that would otherwise flow downstream. The resulting wetlands
often attract wildlife diversity where none had existed. There are challenges, though. Beaver dams sometimes cause
flooding, and most people prefer trees alive and upright.
Communities face a delicate balancing act, learning to coexist with beavers. Last winter, many people
enjoying Winston Path became beaver fans as one furry family transformed Swallow Pond into an oasis for birds,
frogs, turtles and deer.
Yet such activity caused concern. As beavers worked, they raised water levels about five feet. The increased
depth allows beavers to survive underwater if the pond ices over. But county officials were concerned about how
higher water would affect the soil bank supporting Winston Path.
To find a good balance between protecting the path and the beavers, the county introduced a“ beaver baffle”—
a pond leveler.Beavers often rush to fill holes in their dams.Baffles stabilize water levels by creating a hidden exit
for high water to escape through the dam, unnoticed by the beavers.
People love the beavers but they also love the mature trees. Recently, Catherine Jones,18, organized a tree-
caging event — putting wire cloth around large tree trunks to discourage beavers from biting them. It also protects
people from injury due to random trees falling.“We cover the trees we don’t want them to eat, while planting
periodically others they like,“said Jones.“We need-to learn to give up a little of our wants to share the Earth’s
resources.”Swallow Pond’s 2023 project will restore proper water depth and improve wildlife habitat without creating
problems for the path. The balancing act continues.
40．What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A．Where beavers’ favorite surroundings are.
B．What effects beavers have on their habitat.
C．Why beavers are called nature’s engineers.
D．How beavers help attract wildlife diversity.
2023届江苏省苏锡常镇四市高三下学期3月教学情况调研（一）英语试题
Los Angeles native Randall Bartlett sat under the rooftop of a traditional Chinese scholar’s studio,
occasionally turning a page of his book. The scene was in the reopened Liu Fang Yuan garden at the Huntington
Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens. For him, the garden brings to life the Chinese philosophies he learned
from books.
Phillip E. Bloom, director of the Center for East Asian Garden Studies, said the idea for Liu Fang Yuan goes
back to the 1980s with the initial aim of creating a collection of Chinese plants, but after research, they realized
plants alone were not sufficient to demonstrate the essence of a Chinese garden. Eventually, it was decided to
model a garden on 16th and 17th century scholarly retreats(隐居处)in Suzhou.
The decision was made partly due to the fame of Suzhou classical gardens, but also because similarities were
found between the Huntington and Suzhou gardens. Bloom said that Henry Huntington, founder of the Huntington
Library, was a successful US businessman who used his fortune to collect rare books, artworks and to create
gardens. “Many Suzhou gardens were also created by rich people who tried to pursue a scholarly lifestyle,” he
added.
To preserve the character of the Suzhou gardens, the Huntington Library sought help from Suzhou, giving rise
to collaboration between US and Chinese architects, contractors and designers. In all stages of construction,
artisans(工匠)from Suzhou came to work on details of the venue.
After three years of expansion from 2018 to 2020, Liu Fang Yuan reopened to the public with 4.6 hectares of
new landscape, making it one of the largest classical-style Chinese gardens in the world. The additions include
courtyards displaying penjing, a scholar’s studio, a pavilion(亭子)situated at the garden’s highest point, etc.
Now, it is meaningful to see how people from local communities interact with the garden. “A lot of volunteers
come to different lectures and exhibitions about Chinese culture hat we hold regularly,” Bloom said. By exposing
its visitors to arts and literature, Liu Fang uan goes beyond international boundaries and bridges the cultural gaps
between the two ountries.
45．What is paragraph 3 mainly about?
A．The introduction to the founder.
B．The fame of Suzhou classical gardens.
C．The features of a scholarly lifestyle.
D．The reasons for modeling a Suzhou garden.
