托福閱讀的圖表填空題和文章總結題類似，一般出現在最后一題，是對文章中某幾類信息的比較或對比，同樣考察考生對文章結構、主要觀點的把握。下面我們就以一道真題為例，來看看托福閱讀的圖表填空題該如何應對吧。

實例解析托福閱讀圖表填空題

例題

Directions: Complete the table below by indicating which features of fishes are associated in the passage with reducing water resistance and which are associated with increasing thrust. This question is worth 3 points.

Features of Fishes

1. The absence of scales from most of the body

2. The ability to take advantage of eddies

3. The ability to feed and reproduce while swimming

4. Eyes that do not protrude

5. Fins that are stiff, narrow, and smooth

6. The habit of swimming with the mouth open

7. A high, narrow tail with swept-back tips

托福閱讀圖表填空題要求：對比文章中的某兩個部分的內容

有的托福閱讀文章是全文的對照對比，有的則是重點段落的對照對比。這種題目需要先識別要求對比的內容，并且從原文中搜尋對應的文章段落。本題要求對比REDUCING WATER RESISTANCE和INCREASING THRUST，因此我們先通過讀每段的關鍵句來確定對比內容所在段落。

托福閱讀圖表填空題解析：

通過檢索我們發(fā)現以下兩個段落對應本題：

第三自然段：Tunas, mackerels, and billfishes have made streamlining into an art form. Their bodies are sleek and compact. The body shapes of tunas, in fact, are nearly ideal from an engineering point of view. Most species lack scales over most of the body, making it smooth and slippery. The eyes lie flush with the body and do not protrude at all. They are also covered with a slick, transparent lid that reduces drag. The fins are stiff, smooth, and narrow, qualities that also help cut drag. When not in use, the fins are tucked into special grooves or depressions so that they lie flush with the body and do not break up its smooth contours. Airplanes retract their landing gear while in flight for the same reason.

本段重點陳述了減少水阻力的幾種設計，通過對于本段的精讀我們發(fā)現陰影處信息可對應選項145.

第八自然段：There are adaptations that increase the amount of forward thrust as well as those that reduce drag. Again, these fishes are the envy of engineers. Their high, narrow tails with swept-back tips are almost perfectly adapted to provide propulsion with the least possible effort. Perhaps most important of all to these and other fast swimmers is their ability to sense and make use of swirls and eddies (circular currents) in the water. They can glide past eddies that would slow them down and then gain extra thrust by "pushing off" the eddies. Scientists and engineers are beginning to study this ability of fishes in the hope of designing more efficient propulsion systems for ships.

本段重點介紹了關于提升推進力的幾種設計，通過對本段的精讀可對應選項2和7.選項2和7對應原文中如陰影所示的句子，此題要求學生在做題時有快速檢索信息的能力。

通過真題分析我們可以看出，圖表填空題的解題關鍵在于明確文章結構類型，理清對比或對照的對象之間大致關系，然后去對應的文章段落中找信息點即可。希望大家在具體備考過程中能夠多練習多反思，不斷提升自己對文章結構的把握能力和信息分類篩選能力。

托福閱讀：瑪雅歷史背景知識

The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Originating in the Yucatán around 2600 B.C., they rose to prominence around A.D.250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, northern Belize and western Honduras. Building on the inherited inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations such as the Olmec, the Maya developed astronomy, calendrical systems and hieroglyphic writing. The Maya were noted as well for elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools. They were also skilled farmers, clearing large sections of tropical rain forest and, where groundwater was scarce, building sizeable underground reservoirs for the storage of rainwater. The Maya were equally skilled as weavers and potters, and cleared routes through jungles and swamps to foster extensive trade networks with distant peoples.

瑪雅文明是最富盛名的早期文明之一?，斞湃税l(fā)展了天文，歷法，文字，同時在建筑上包括寺廟、宮殿和瞭望臺有很高的造詣，這些建筑均不適用金屬。同時他們是經驗豐富的種植者，在缺水的地方開辟大型水庫儲存雨水，同時他們善于編制、制陶，開辟通道與遠距離的人們進行貿易往來。

關鍵詞：astronomy, calendrical, hieroglyphic writing, architecture, reservoir, weaver, potter, swamp

Around 300 B.C., the Maya adopted a hierarchical system of government with rule by nobles and kings. This civilization developed into highly structured kingdoms during the Classic period, A.D. 200-900. Their society consisted of many independent states, each with a rural farming community and large urban sites built around ceremonial centres. It started to decline around A.D. 900 when - for reasons which are still largely a mystery - the southern Maya abandoned their cities. When the northern Maya were integrated into the Toltec society by A.D. 1200, the Maya dynasty finally came to a close, although some peripheral centres continued to thrive until the Spanish Conquest in the early sixteenth century.

瑪雅人采用君主制。各地自治管理。公元900年，瑪雅社會開始走向衰退，而衰退的原因一直是一個謎。公元1200年，瑪雅北部團結成為托爾鐵克。

關鍵詞：hierarchical, peripheral, thrive

Maya history can be characterized as cycles of rise and fall: city-states rose in prominence and fell into decline, only to be replaced by others. It could also be described as one of continuity and change, guided by a religion that remains the foundation of their culture. For those who follow the ancient Maya traditions, the belief in the influence of the cosmos on human lives and the necessity of paying homage to the gods through rituals continues to find expression in a modern hybrid Christian-Maya faith.

瑪雅文明對后世有著深刻的影響：宇宙觀，對上帝的敬仰。

托福閱讀材料：人體腦白金

Melatonin, sometimes called “the hormone of darkness,” plays an important role in regulating our daily sleep patterns. This hormone is produced by our bodies and in most organisms melatonin production is higher during the night than during the day.

褪黑素，又名黑素細胞凝集素的荷爾蒙，在調節(jié)我們日常睡眠規(guī)律中扮演重要角色。人體自身分泌褪黑激素，而且大多數生物夜晚比白天分泌得更多。

In addition to their body’s own melatonin, many people take melatonin supplements in an attempt to help them sleep, fight jet lag or balance out seasonal affective disorder.

此外，一些人通過體外補充褪黑素改善睡眠，緩解飛機時差感、平衡季節(jié)性情緒失調。

Melatonin And Memories

褪黑素對記憶的影響

But a study by a group of scientists at the University of Houston suggests that melatonin might have a negative impact on the ability to form new memories.

但是，休斯頓大學的科學家們研究表明：褪黑素阻礙記憶形成。

The researchers were interested in how the body’s internal clock affects the formation of new memories. They found that small striped minnows called zebra fish learned very well during the day but very poorly at night, when melatonin levels are higher.

研究人員想弄清楚體內生物鐘如何影響新生記憶的形成。研究人員發(fā)現斑馬魚白天學習能力很好;夜晚卻很差，而夜晚褪黑素分泌旺盛。

They wondered if melatonin played a role in learning and memory.

研究人員懷疑褪黑素影響學習和記憶。

Melatonin And Learning

褪黑素對學習的影響

They treated zebra fish with extra melatonin during the day, boosting the hormone levels to night-time amounts.

白天，研究人員喂給斑馬魚褪黑素，促進斑馬魚夜晚褪黑素分泌。

They discovered that high melatonin did not affect learning per se, but dramatically reduced the fishes’ ability to form new memories, or to remember what they’d learned.

研究人員發(fā)現大量的褪黑素沒有直接影響學習本身，但是卻很大程度地使斑馬魚的記憶衰退，斑馬魚不記得學過的東西。

Then the scientists inhibited melatonin activity in the fish. They did this by blocking melatonin receptors with inhibitory drugs. The fishs’ melatonin levels were unchanged, but the ability of melatonin to affect the brain was blocked.

接著，科學家們抑制斑馬魚體內的褪黑素的作用：抑制藥物阻礙褪黑素受體。斑馬魚褪黑素分泌量沒改變，但是褪黑素不能影響不了大腦。

Blocking Melatonin

阻礙褪黑素

With melatonin activity blocked, the ability of the fish to form new memories was drastically improved, even at night.

褪黑素的作用受阻，斑馬魚新生記憶能力明顯改善，夜晚也很好。

This research has potential benefits for humans. For example, the use of melatonin receptor blockers could improve performance of night-time cognitive tasks, helping people such as night-shift workers or students cramming for exams.

該項研究帶給人類潛在好處。例如，褪黑素受體的阻礙能影響人夜晚的認知能力，那么對于那些夜班工作者和熬夜備考的學生都有所幫助。

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