SAT阅读考题重点考察考生对于美国大学教材的快速阅读能力、理解能力及判断能力。SAT阅读除了检测考生的词汇量外，还要考察考生的理解及判断的综合能力.
7 the quotation in lines 10-12 contains an example of which rhetorical device ？
A Personification
B Understatement
C Wordplay
D Paradox
E Analogy
此题型难倒考生有三点：看不懂选项，不理解选项中修辞手法运用，无法辨认文中所考内容的修辞。围绕这三个问题，逐一展开破解。
总结历年真题中此题型涉及到的修辞：Simile（明喻），Metaphor（隐喻），Parallel structure（平行结构/排比），Analogy（类比），Understatement（低调陈述），Exaggerate/Hyperbole（夸张），Repetition（重复），Personification（拟人），Comparison and Contrast（对比），Euphemism（委婉语），Wordplay/Pun（双关），Paradox/Oxymoron（矛盾语），Allusion（典故），Irony（讽刺）。
虽然看起来很多修辞需要辨认，但是在历年11次考题中修辞手法题只围绕最基本的的修辞在考。也就是重心放在：Metaphor（暗喻），Parallel structure（平行结构/排比），Analogy（类比），Repetition（重复）。那么只要把这几个弄清楚就好了。
① Metaphor（隐喻）
为了详尽描述Metaphor，首先把与之对应的Simile了解清楚。《文学词汇词典》（A Dictionary of Literary Terms）对Simile是这样的定义：A figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another， in such a way as to clarify and enhance an image. It is explicit comparison （as opposed to the metaphor where comparison is implicit ） recognizable by the use of words “like” or “as”.这个定义对明喻的界定既有authority性又有普遍性，笔者查了很多书，许多论述英语(论坛)修辞的书籍或者文章在讲明喻时，其叙述都没有超出这个概念。根据定义，明喻是一种表现一事物像另一事物的修辞格。说得通俗点，也就是打比方，即把要描述的事物——本体（A）用比喻词与另一种具有鲜明的同一特征的事物——喻体（B）联系一起。常用的比喻词有as （如），like（像），seem（似乎），as if（好像），as though（好像），such as（像……一样） 等。其基本格式是“A is like B”或“A is as…as B” 例如：The cheque fluttered to the floor like a bird with a broken wing.
Metaphor（隐喻）：隐喻是一种比喻，它不用比喻词，直接把甲事物（喻体）当作乙事物（本体）来描述，其比喻关系隐含的句意，从而更生动，更生刻地说明事理，增强语言的表达力。Webster’s New World Dictionary： A figure of speech containing an implied comparison， in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to anther.这个解释意思是说，隐喻是一种隐含的修辞格，其通常的基本用法是，表达某一事物的词或短语被用来表达另外一个事物。 比喻是隐含的，因此它的本体和喻体的关系必然十分紧密。于simile相比较，metaphor不但不需要暗示as，like之类的比喻词。A Dictionary of Literary Terms 对metaphor的定义为此：a figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of anthor. The basic figure in poetry. A comparison is usually implicit； whereas in simile it is explicit. 下面用实例对这两种修辞格做一比较：
1 life is like an isthmus between two eternities.（simile）
生活像永恒的生死两段之间的峡道。（明喻）
2 life is an an isthmus between two eternities.（metaphor）
生活是永恒是生死两段之间的峡道。（隐喻）
1 Happiness is like sunshine ： it is made up of very little beams.（simile）
幸福像阳光，它由非常细小的光束构成。（明喻）
2 The sunshine of happiness is made up of very little beams. （metaphor）
幸福的阳光由非常细小的光束构成。（隐喻）
由此我们可以知道，隐喻就是直接把甲事物（喻体）当作乙事物（本体）来描述。
真题（2005年3月sec5）
Questions 6-7 are based on the following passage.
Duke Ellington considered himself “the world’s greatest listener.” In music， hearing is all. Judging by the two or three thousand pieces of music Ellington wrote， he could probably hear a flea scratching itself and put that rhythm into one of his compositions. For him the sounds of the world were the ingredients he mixed into appetizers，main courses， and desserts to satisfy the appetite of his worldwide audience. He wasn’t averse to going out in a boat to catch the fish himself. He would raise the fowl himself. But when that musical meal appeared before you none of the drudgery showed.
7 In lines 5-11 （“ For him….drudgery showed”）， the author’s point is primarily developed through the use of
A comparison and contrast
B appeal to emotion
C exaggeration
D metaphor
E humor
理解定位：对于他而言谈，声音的世界是一种作料，他将此混入开胃菜，主食和甜点之中来满足观众的口味。他不反感自己亲自捕鱼。他甚至可以愿意自己亲自喂养家禽。只要音乐的餐点你面前出现，什么样的辛苦工作都不会再有了。定位行数的“the sounds of the world were the ingredients”和“musical meal”。是将音乐比喻成作料和餐点。所以答案选择的是D。
②Parallel structure/Parallelism（平行结构/排比）
英语parallelism（平行）源于希腊语的parallelismos，意思是alongside one another （并排）。它是把结果相同或相似，意义相关或并重，语气一致成分平行排列的一种修辞方法。英语parallelism（平行）构成可以建立在各个语言层次，如单词，短语，从句和句子的等上面。其中尤其以三项式平行结构最为普遍。
1 词的平行结构
Women were running out to the line of march， crying and laughing and kissing the men good-bye.
女人们跑了出来，涌向行军的队伍。她们有的号啕大哭，有的放松大笑，有的则与亲人吻别。
2 短语平行结构
这种平行结构中的短语，可以使介词短语，分词短语，不定式短语以及其他短语。
It was not anger ，nor surprise， nor disapproval， nor horror， nor any of the emotions that she had been prepared for.
那神情不是生气，不是惊讶，不是不满，不是厌恶，也不是她所预料的任何一种感情。
3 从句的平行结构
This is the man who has stirred three hundred million people to revolt， who has shaken the foundations of the british empire， and who has introduced into human politicis the strongest religious impetus of the last two thousand years.
这就是那个人，他曾经鼓动三亿人们起来造反，动摇大英帝国的根基，并把过去两千年很强大的宗教势力引进人类的政治活动。
4 句子平行结构
Kind hearts are the gardens； kind thoughts are the roots； kind words are the flowers； kind deeds are the fruits.
慈爱的心是花园，美好的思想是根茎，漂亮的语言是花朵，良好的行为是果实。
现在看一道真题（2009年10月sec3）
It is as Nikhil .that first semester ，that he grows a goatee and discovers musicians like Brian Eno and Elvis Costello and Charlie Parker.It is as Nikhil that he takes the train into Manhattan without Jonathan. It is as Nikhil that he introduces himself to people he meets.
18 Lines 35-40（It is ….meets”） are notable chiefly for their use of
A metaphor
B paraphrase
C exaggeration
D parallel structure
E appeal to emotion
从定位的三句话发现开头都是It is as Nikhil that引导的句子，很明显是句子的平行结构。所以答案选D。
③Repetition（重复）
Repetition（重复）最基本的用法是连续或间隔的使用同一单词，短语或者句子。The Cassel Dictionary of Literary and Language （ C. Ruse &M.Hopton） 对repetition的定义是：the use of the same word，phrase，speech sound etc. in a poem， speech etc.其意思也是说，在诗歌，话语的使用同样的词，短语，语言。Webster’s Ddictionary of English Language 对repetition 的解释更明确些：In rhetoric， the iteration or repeating of the same words， or of the meaning in different words， for the purpose of making a deeper impression on the audience，
Eg： Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow！
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below！
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods！
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods！
真题（2009年5月sec7）
In this passage ，an African American novelists recalls his reading experience as a teenager in California after having spent his first fifteen years in Louisiana.
……
I wanted to smell that Louisiana earth， feel that Louisiana sun， sit under the shade of one of those Louisiana oaks next to one of Louisiana bayous. I want to see on paper those black parents going to work before the sun came up and coming back home to take care of their children after the sun went down. I want to read about the true relationship between whites and blacks—about the people that I had known.
Which of the following rhetorical devices does the author use in the final paragraph of the passage？
A personification
B understatement
C irony
D simile
E repetition
定位行数中不断重复的“Louisiana”。由此我们可以选择E选项。但是有学生疑惑问及，该定位也有Parallelism的修辞用法，因为定位句子的“I want to…”引导的句子。其实确实如此，重复和排比的修辞手法经常是在英文中一起使用。比如在二战中，丘吉尔有名的演讲中的句子就是排比辞格和重复辞格的交织使用：We shall fight him by land， we shall fight him by sea， we shall fight him in the air. 那么遇到这样的情况该如何处理呢。其实试图上对推辞格的考查本着基础的原则，并没有将类似辞格混在一块为考点。所以考生可以放心。一般一段话中有几种明显的辞格，考题方向只会定在一种。所以自然不会在选项中涉及段落中都有的辞格。因为那样的涉及，考题也会变的没有意义。
④Analogy（类比）
Analogy is based on comparison between two subjects. It draws a parallel between two unlike things that have several common qualities or points of resemblance.类比是基于两事物的比较。在不同的事物之间找到相同点，建立联系。
Eg：1.Teachers who possess power and exert it to conduct class play a similar role as business managers.
老师和经理扮演着同样的角色，他们都有权利并且使用权利。
此例子中，老师和经理就是两种身份的人，他们共同有的是角色的扮演，两者都有权利并且可以使用权利。即这也是他们的共同点。
2. The man who keeps silent in the face of tyranny is as guilty as him who notices a fire and fails to raise the alarm.
在暴政面前沉默不语的人，他的愧疚感就如同一个人看到了火灾但是不去拉响警铃。
此例子中涉及两种人，共同点是愧疚感。
通过以上例子不难看出，判断类比的关键也就是在于是否能在句子中看到两事物的共同点，本着这个原则看到历年的真题中。
真题（2009年1月sec3）
Questions 9-10 are based on the following passages .
“ Think of menhaden as the liver of a bay. Just as your body needs its liver to filter out toxins， ecosystems also need those natural filters.”
7 the quotation in lines 10-12 contains an example of which rhetorical device ？
A Personification
B Understatement
C Wordplay
D Paradox
E Analogy
分析理解：鲱鱼犹如海湾的肝脏一样。正如同你的身体需要肝脏来排毒。生态系统也需要一个天然的排毒器。不难看出此句话描述两个毫不相关的东西，一个是海湾的鲱鱼，一个是人的肝脏，但是原文突出其两者的共同点为排毒。所以这是类比辞格的用法。即此题选E。
笔者想讲解另外一种修辞，此修辞格虽然不是SAT考察的最基本辞格，但是历年试题频繁出现在选项之中。并且在历年的考题中，以其他的题型方式考过。
⑤Understatement（低调陈述）
Understatement的意思是：a statement that is not strong enough to express facts or feelings with full force（语气不够强，不足以表达事实或感情的陈述）。A Dictionary of Literary Terms 所给的解释是：A figure of speech which contains an understatement of emphasis， and therefore the opposite of hyperbole. Often used in everyday speech and usually with laconic or ironic intentions.也就说，这种修辞格式故意使用有节制的修辞来陈述事实，故意清描淡写，借低调与弱化语言形式来表示强调。所以Understatement故意采取“低调”，化大为小，是deliberately minimize the importance 和play down。一般说来，英语Understatement并无固定格式，通常可以通过词典和语法手段体现。
1 用词汇手段来体现
According to the newspaper， the driver， who was returning from a wedding， seemed puzzled. “I only had two bottle of beer and a cocktail.”
据报道，那位参加完一个婚礼后往回赶的司机一脸迷惑地说：“我只不过喝了两瓶啤酒，一杯鸡尾酒罢了。”
此句话中的seemd puzzled 以及only 把酒后驾车司机的那种不负责任的态度刻画的淋漓尽致，令人厌恶。
2 用语法手段来体现
“ Don’t you figure out that I might have had something to do with it？” said Soapy， not without sarcasm， but friendly， as one greets good fortune.
（O.Henry： The Cop and the Anthem）
“难道你看不出我可能跟这件事有关吗？” 苏比说，口气不是没有讥讽，但态度却友好，仿佛一个要交好运的人。
此例是以双重否定体现understatement， not without sarcasm 就是with sarcasm（语带讥讽）。
简而言之，understatement（低调陈述）的要点就是清描淡写地陈述一种想法。
真题（2006年1月sec9）
Questions 7-19 are based on the following passage.
The following passage is from a 1979 essay by a Native American writer.
Before she had finished her sentence the beaver had flipped over in the water and dragged himself onto the bank， where he lay half dead. The porcupine woman managed to make the shore too. and climbed up onto a bear path. When she had caught her breath， she turned on the beaver and quilled him to death.“The Tanaina live in an environment that could euphe-mistically be described as “difficult.” Survival， especially in the wild， is always precarious. Further， they were， in the prccontact period， a nonlitcrate people.
11. The sentence in which “difficult” appears （lines 54-55） indicates that the author considers the word to be
（A） an exaggeration
（B） an estimate
（C） an understatement
（D） a contradiction
（E） a preconception
题干分析：作者认为54-55行所描述的“困难”一词是什么。有原文分析可知：T所在的环境可以被委婉的描述成“困难”。并且联系下文Survival， especially in the wild， is always precarious.（特别是在荒野之地，生存下来不可能的。）由此判断这里明显非常困难，而原文委婉说困难。此句中情态动词的表达could euphe-mistically be 体现了understatement的运用。
此题并不是一个修辞题的考题，但是考点涉及到修辞中understatement的运用。
