接下来我们看如何做阅读理解题。
我们知道，大纲是命题人员命题的依据。根据大纲对考生阅读能力的要求，我们可以看出阅读理解考试有哪几种题型。总的来说，阅读理解这部分可归纳为这么几种题型： 主旨题 细节题 推理题 词汇题
主旨题就是考查考生抓大意的能力，即大纲规定的考生应掌握的阅读能力的第一条。测试考生对整篇文章或其中某一段的大意能否正确理解，以及确定文章的标题、写作意图等等。其提问形式有： The main idea of the passage is of ... What does this passage mainly discuss? What is the main topic of the passage? The passage mainly deals with... The passage is chiefly concerned with... What is the subject of the passage... The author's purpose in writing this passage is ... Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
在理解这类题时，最直接、最有效的办法就是通过上面介绍的掠读法，快速找出每个段落主题句，因为主题句概括了每一段的主题思想。
那么，什么叫主题句呢？所谓主题句，就是作者在写出一段文字时，用一句话把这段文字的主题表示出来。这种句子就叫主题句。它一般出现在文章或段落的开始，当然有时也位天句中或句末。段落中的其他句子都是围绕主题句展开论述或说明。
一般来说，主题句都位天文章或段落的开头，然后围绕主题句展开文化论述，这些论述句都属细节，这是一种很常见的文章或段落的组织形式。掌握这种常识及熟悉这种文章结构有助于读者对全文的中心思想、叙述的内容层次及情节一目了然，也有助于读者记住文章所论述的内容。
请看大纲第10页的一篇短文：
Husband and Wife by Arragement
Some Japanese still get married by parents' arrangement. Yoshio and Hiromi Tanaka, a young Japanese couple living in the United States, told the story of their arranged marriage. "We didn't marry for love in the Western sense. We got married in the traditional Japanese way. Our parents arranged our marriage through a matchmaker (媒人), in Japanese we believe that marriage is something affecting the whole family rather than a matter concerning only the young couple. So we think it is very important to match people according to their social background, education and so on. Matchmakers are usually middle-aged wome who keep lists of suitable young people with information about their families, education and interests. When our parents thought it was time for us to get married, they went to a local matchmaker and asked her for some suggestions. We discussed the details and looked at the photos she sent, and then our parents asked her to arrange a 'marriage interview' for the two of us."
我们看第26题：
26. The Japanese think of the marriage of a young couple in a family as
A) a sign showing the love between them.
B) an opportunity for their parents to show their love for their children.
C) a private affair for the boy and the girl.
D) an important matter having influence on the whole family.
这道题考察读者是否能判断出第一段的大意。
这篇文章讲的是关于日本婚姻方面的一些风俗习惯。文章第一段的第一句话就点明了题意。 Some Japanese still get married by parents' arrangement. 日本人结婚基本上还是由“父母包办”。这句话就是本段的主题句。文章接下来讲，在日本，婚姻不是仅仅两个年轻人之间的事，而是影响整个家庭的一件事情（见第四句话）。父母之所以“包办“，就是因为儿女的婚姻事关整个家庭。所以答案应为选项D。这样就可以把A、B、C三个选项排除掉了。
这是一个典型的把主题句放在段落开始位置的例子，我们来看下一个例子的主题句在哪儿。