2007-Postgraduate Entrance Exam English Cloze Test and Blank Filling Reading-(7 out of 5)

Author: Zhang Xiaomin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: Cloze test is absolutely not about guessing based on "feeling," but requires a set of rational problem-solving methods based on a deep understanding of the principles behind cloze test questions. Many candidates are very familiar with cloze tests, but they have never truly grasped the fundamental principles and essential characteristics of cloze test questions at a deeper level. As a result, when solving cloze test questions, they can only rely on "feeling" to guess the answers, and this method of solving questions based on "feeling" is exactly contrary to the test-setting approach of cloze tests. The test-setters "painstakingly" designed 20 blanks into a self-contained, complete article, not with the expectation that candidates could ignore the structure and layout of the cloze passage or the inherent relationships within the context, and rely on "feeling" to directly guess the answers. This book introduces candidates to a brand-new approach and method for solving cloze tests—Information Cues Locating Analysis (the "Cue-based Cloze Method"): that is, the test-setters designed 20 blanks into an article, and the cloze passage contains both unknown information (the 20 blanks) and known information. For each blank, the test-setter has set up the necessary known cues to solve it, and these known cues are distributed within the known information of the passage. Therefore, to solve an unknown blank, one must first locate all the known information points (cues) in the passage that are related to this unknown blank. By analyzing and summarizing these known information points, one can follow the clues and deduce the answer to the unknown blank. This problem-solving method requires candidates to conduct a step-by-step analysis from the overall structure and layout of the passage, the contextual relationships, down to the internal structure of sentences. It trains candidates to locate the relevant known cues for each unknown blank at various levels. Thus, this method is completely consistent with the test-setting approach and principles of cloze tests.