PETS三級閱讀抓住文章的主旨要義。
　　推斷短文的主旨大意題是閱讀測試中測定考生閱讀能力經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的一種題，也是考生感到最為棘手、最容易出錯的題。在PETS三考試中，主旨推斷題不僅頻繁出現(xiàn)在閱讀測試中，還專門設(shè)有一個大題（61-65）全部是有關(guān)主旨的。主旨推斷題要求考生具有很強(qiáng)的話語篇章把握能力和分析能力，能夠從全局的角度對文章括以總領(lǐng)，梳清脈絡(luò)�？梢哉f，對閱讀理解主旨題的把握能力決定了閱讀這個整體題項(xiàng)的成敗，它也是衡量閱讀水平高低的一個重要標(biāo)尺。所以，如果我們在這個題上能夠取得突破，就等于是攻克了閱讀當(dāng)中最頑固的堡壘，其它類型的題也就不在話下了。所謂主旨大意題指針對段落或短文的subject(主題)、main idea(主題思想)、title(題目)或purpose(目的)擬題。盡管題型或用詞不盡相同，但所針對的都是段落（或短文）的主旨大意。以下是針對段落（或短文）的主旨大意所設(shè)立的常見題型：1. What is the main idea of this paragraph(passage)?2. What is the author′s main point?3. The main idea (central thought)of the paragraph(passage)is--------4. Which of the following sentences best expresses the main idea?5. What does the paragraph (passage)mainly suggest?6. The main point of the paragraph(passage)is-----7. The paragraph (passage)centers on the point that---------8. The author seems to be especially interested in------9. The topic sentence of the paragraph(passage)?10. What topic is treated in this paragraph(passage)?11. What the paragaph (passage) tells us would be summarized by the sentence---12. The best summary of the paragraph (passage)is that ---13. The paragraph (passage)informs us that---14. We can infer from the paragraph (passage)that----15. What does this paragraph (passage) imply?16. What is the subject of this paragraph (passage)?17. Which of the following can be concluded from the information presented in this paragraph (passage)?18. What conclusion can be drawn from this paragraph (passage) ?19. The (main) subject of the paragraph (passage) is----20. Which of the following best states the theme of paragraph (passage)?21. The paragraph (passage) states (illustrates, discusses, deals with, is concerned about, describes)-----22. The main purpose of this paragraph (passage) is that ---23. What is discussed (talk about)in this paragraph (passage)?24.The main (primary)purpose of the paragraph (passage)?25. What is the author’s main purpose?26. The primary objective of the paragraph (passage) is---27. The paragraph (passage) indicates that---28. Which of the following is true?29. Which of the following would be the best title for this paragraph (passage)?30. The title of this paragraph (passage) would be----31. The title that best expresses the main idea is---在各類英語　　　　　　　　　　　　考試閱讀理解題中，推斷主題大意題所占比例較大，幾乎每一文章都設(shè)一個主旨題。出題者意在通過此題考查考生語篇能力。那么，怎樣才能準(zhǔn)確地把握住短文的主旨大意呢？從以下的實(shí)例說明我們便可得到滿意的回答。
All students of geography should be able to interpret a weather map accurately. Weather condition an enormous amount of information about wealth condition existing at a time of observation over a large geographical area. They reveal in a few minutes what otherwise would take hours to describe. The United States Weather Bureau issues information about approaching storms, floods, frosts, droughts, and all climatic conditions in general. Twice a month it issues a 30-day“out-look” which is a rough guide to weather conditions likely to occur over broad areas of the United States. These 30-day out-looks are based upon an analysis of the upper air levels which often set the stage for the development of air masses, frosts and storms.大至每篇文章，小至每一段落，都必然有一個主題。這是因?yàn)槿魏挝恼拢ɑ蚨温洌┒际菫榱讼蜃x者說明一個段落或闡述一個觀點(diǎn)。因此，我們在實(shí)際處理這一類型的題時，最關(guān)鍵、最根本之處就在于怎樣去分析、把握文章（或段落）的主題。
　　一篇文章（或一個段落）可以有很多的次要思想（minor ideas）h和論證性細(xì)節(jié)（supporting details）,但中心論點(diǎn)或主題思想（theme,main idea）一般只有一個。中心思想起主導(dǎo)作用，論據(jù)是主題的從屬，它們之間是“主干”與“分枝”的關(guān)系。在考試中，如果這種關(guān)系沒弄清楚，必然導(dǎo)致判斷錯誤�，F(xiàn)以上文為例，綜觀全文，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，原文從第二句開始以下各句都是圍繞著第一句這個中心來解釋：Why should they develop this ability?作者是從幾個方面加以解釋：一是map信息包容量大；二是覆蓋面大；三是速度快；再就是可作為期三十天的氣象展望；還可有效地預(yù)報災(zāi)難性天氣。而作為一個學(xué)地理的學(xué)生看懂這樣的氣象圖是必不可少的。所以說原文第一句和下文是一種主從關(guān)系。了解了這一點(diǎn)，就不難推斷出本段的主題思想了。