Plant communities assemble themselves flexibly, and their structure depends on the particular history of the area. Ecologists use the term "succession" to refer to the changes that happen in plant communities and ecosystems over time. The first community in a succession is called a pioneer community, while the long-lived community at the end of succession is called a climax community. Pioneer and successional plant communities are said to change over periods from 1 to 500 years. These changes-in plant numbers and the mix of species-are cumulative. Climax communities themselves change but over periods of time greater than about 500 years。
According to paragraph 1, which of the following is NOT true of climax communities?
A. They occur at the end of a succession。
B. They last longer than any other type of community。
C. The numbers of plants in them and the mix of species do not change
D. They remain stable for at least 500 years at a time。
这个题大家都会选择用climax communities去定位，但在定位过程中会出现很多问题。首先考生要学会跳跃式定位，即根据文章中特殊的标点符号以及最醒目的词来搜索我们真正需要的关键词。文中的particular是加了阴影的，succession是在引号里面的，都非常醒目，通过看这两个词我们会发现它们附近没有我们需要的东西；再比较突出的就是数字及破折号，在500的前方有a climax community，但它是单数，与题干关键词不完全匹配，细节题讲究的是精确定位，所以我们应该选择500后方的Climax communities，即该段的最后一句话。否定事实细节题的出题思路有两种：一是无中生有，即根据定位点的内容，四个选项只有一个没有提到，这种思路多适用于选项比较简短的题目；二是张冠李戴，即根据定位点的内容表述，只有一个选项与之矛盾，这种思路多适应于选项比较长的题目。就这个例题而言，根据定位的最后一句话，从表述上来说跟它相关的只有C和D两个选项，D项的意思与原句相符，而C项与原句矛盾，所以正确答案是C。
综上所述，做新托福阅读的细节题，最重要的一点就是要尽量地去精确定位。
“绊马索”二： 无方向中隐藏方向。新托福阅读考试中绝大部分题目都是对应具体段落的，这会为考生节省很多时间。但是也不排除有少量题目的范围比较大或比较模糊，考生在寻找答案时难免一头雾水，费时费力。其实这些看似没有明确定位方向的题目都是暗藏玄机的。下面我们就来看一个例子：
Wind power has a significant cost advantage over nuclear power and has become competitive with coal-fired power plants in many places. With new technological advances and mass production, projected cost declines should make wind power one of the world's cheapest ways to produce electricity. In the long run, electricity from large wind farms in remote areas might be used to make hydrogen gas from water during periods when there is less than peak demand for electricity. The hydrogen gas could then be fed into a storage system and used to generate electricity when additional or backup power is needed。
