托福词汇题逻辑解题法实例分析

There is little doubt, however, that desertification in most areas results primarily from human activities rather than natural processes. The semiarid lands bordering the deserts exist in a delicate ecological balance and are limited in their potential to adjust to increased environmental pressures. Expanding populations are subjecting the land to increasing pressures to provide them with food and fuel. In wet periods, the land may be able to respond to these stresses. During the dry periods that are common phenomena along the desert margins, though, the pressure on the land is often far in excess of its diminished capacity, and desertification results.

The word “delicate” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. fragile

B. predictable

C. complex

D. valuable

解题思路分析

这道题目出自ETS的托福官方指南OG，讲的是关于沙漠形成的科学原理，delicate这个词所处的位置是这段文字的第二句话中，The semiarid lands bordering the deserts exist in a delicate ecological balance and are limited in their potential to adjust to increased environmental pressures. 这道题目的难点在于delicate这个词本身包含的意思较多，比如精致的、精美的、虚弱的、易碎的等等。而这些词义再引申一下似乎能和除了B以外的3个选项都扯上一点关系。比如精致的是不是也有一点complex复杂的意思在里面，然后精美的是不是就能跟valuable搭上。但实际上正确答案却是A fragile。如何通过逻辑关系来推测出这个答案呢?大家可以看到，词汇所在的句子其实是分成两部分由and连接在一起的。既然是and，从逻辑上来讲前后句自然在大方向上是保持一致的。后半句说的是这些土地自我调节适应逐渐增长的环境压力的潜力是比较有限的，说的简单点就是这些土地比较脆弱hold不住环境压力。那么前面半句要填入一个怎么样的生态平衡呢?当然也是脆弱的，那么答案就很明显了，fragile正好合适。

从上面这道题目可以看出，面对托福阅读中的词汇题，考生即使不清楚词汇意思，或者一词多义不知道如何选择，都可以通过寻找逻辑关系词的方式来发现解题线索进行合理推断。希望这种技巧能够为大家所用，帮助考生更为高效准确地应对托福阅读的词汇题。