吴老师：英语阅读中如何确定段落主旨句

　　按照我们国人的习惯总是先说细枝末节，然后再给出想要表达的主旨;然而也正是这样的习惯导致我们在写英语文章的时候总是先想到细节的东西，从而也就先说出细节的内容，进而忽略了段落主旨句的书写;正是由于中西文化上的差异，导致我们在学习英语的时候，读文章，写文章的时候无从辨别。那么，今天咱们就说一说阅读中的主旨句的判定。

　　顾名思义，主旨句(topic sentence)就是能够完整概括该段落的主要内容，但又不同于文章标题的句子，由一系列的支撑句来支持或阐释的句子，通常出现在段落的开头或结尾，个别时候是在句中的情况。主旨句的支撑通常是具体的数据、人物事例、调查研究报告的结果等等，典型的情况会有明显的for example/for instance或用从句进行表达如when/if等引导的从句。比如：

　　My family members have different hobbies.

　　My father loves collecting stamps. My mother is interested in cooking. My sister likes watching TV, and my grandparents enjoy traveling.

　　那么，首句就是完整地概括了整段的内容，而这个主旨内容又通过分别介绍家里的每个成员的兴趣爱好来支撑这个主旨句。再比如：

　　Home improvement has a history. A very old example of DIY has been found in the south of Italy. People discovered a Greek building, more than 2500 years old, which had instructions on how to build it. These instructions were very detailed and used pictures to show some of the information. The whole thing was a lot like the DIY furniture people buy from big stores nowadays.

　　同样，在这个段落中，句仍然作为主旨句出现，而后面是给出的具体例子，注意example这个，所以说后面的内容作为主旨句的支撑而存在的。通过这样的讲解明白了吗?下面试试找出段落中的主旨句，记得支撑内容的特点哦!

　　1. Many people have made lists of different types of characters. Some common ones are easy to identify. Some of these come in pairs. For example, almost all novels have major and minor characters. Major characters are central to the story, while minor characters are less important. The minor characters add a feeling of real life. Within these types, some characters are dynamic. This means that (2) they change during the story, as people do in life. Events that happen in the story affect them and the reader can see the characters change. The opposite type of character is known as a static character, which doesn’t change. Static means fixed, or unchanging. Events in the story don’t change these fixed characters.

　　2. Let’s look first at where people work. In the U.K. only 1% of employees work in companies with more than 250 people. That means 99% of people work for small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Things are similar in the U.S., though they have a different definition of “small.” There, a company is often defined as an SME if it has fewer than 500 employees, which puts 29 million companies in the SME category in the U.S.

　　3. Larger companies, on the other hand, are more fixed. You have a clear job, you know what to do, though maybe not why you are doing it. The big boss is not in direct contact with you, but you have your own manager. However, many people find this kind of job boring and controlling.

　　4. But the most important thing is not what the company is like, but what you are like. If you are a person with lots of energy, who works well independently, then a SME may be the right place for you. However, if you prefer to be told what to do and when to do it, and you don’t like uncertainty and not knowing what is happening, then a larger company might be better.

　　5. The best thing to do when starting out on your career is to try out several different sizes of company to see which you like best. Ask yourself these questions: Where am I happiest? Where do I do my best work? And don’t be afraid to return to an employer you have worked for before. If you are returning for positive reasons, it is a positive move.