同学们一定都知道目前托福阅读中的指代题出题率很低，所以在平时的练习中也没有特别关注过这个题型，但是代词这个知识点真的就可以忽略吗？？

　　其实不然，很多题目都在悄悄地考察大家对于代词的理解和判断，那么我们就一起来看看看以下几种情况。

　　01.原文定位句中有代词

　　例题1：

　　The earliest of the city states of the ancient Near East appeared at the southern end of the Mesopotamian plain, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq. It was here that the civilization known as Sumer emerged in its earliest form in the fifth millennium. At first sight, the plain did not appear to be a likely home for a civilization. There were few natural resources, no timber, stone, or metals. Rainfall was limited, and what water there was rushed across the plain in the annual flood of melted snow. As the plain fell only 20 meters in 500 kilometers, the beds of the rivers shifted constantly. It was this that made the organization of irrigation, particularly the building of canals to channel and preserve the water, essential. Once this was done and the silt carried down by the rivers was planted, the rewards were rich: four to five times what rain-fed earth would produce. It was these conditions that allowed an elite to emerge, probably as an organizing class, and to sustain itself through the control of surplus crops.

　　According to paragraph 1, which of the following made it possible for an elite to emerge?

　　A. New crops were developed that were better suited to conditions on the Mesopotamian plain.

　　B. The richest individuals managed to gain control of the most valuable cropland.

　　C. Control over the few available natural resources made some people four to five times richer than everyone else.

　　D. The building of canals to increase agricultural output required organization.

　　解析：

　　根据题干信息，可以利用 an elite to emerge 定位到段落的最后一句（It was these conditions that allowed an elite to emerge, probably as an organizing class, and to sustain itself through the control of surplus crops.）。 很明显，我们能够看到是这些条件（these conditions） 使精英的出现成为了可能，但并没有对应的选项可以选。

　　那么具体是什么条件呢？我们就不得不往前看一句（Once this was done and the silt carried down by the rivers was planted, the rewards were rich: four to five times what rain-fed earth would produce.）。同样地，我们可以看到这句话里也有一个代词（this），也就意味着还得再看前一句（It was this that made the organization of irrigation, particularly the building of canals to channel and preserve the water, essential.）。很明显，这句话里也有代词（this），那么我们需要再往前读一句（As the plain fell only 20 meters in 500 kilometers, the beds of the rivers shifted constantly.）

　　所以，大家会发现，如果根据题干定位只看段落的最后一句，那么我们是无法正确解题的。因此，当定位句中出现代词，请大家一定要记住看前面的句子。

　　02.选项中有代词

　　例题2：

　　As he collected fossils from strata throughout England, Smith began to see that the fossils told a different story from the rocks. Particularly in the younger strata, the rocks were often so similar that he had trouble distinguishing the strata, but he never had trouble telling the fossils apart. While rock between two consistent strata might in one place be shale and in another sandstone, the fossils in that shale or sandstone were always the same. Some fossils endured through so many millions of years that they appear in many strata, but others occur only in a few strata, and a few species had their births and extinctions within one particular stratum. Fossils are thus identifying markers for particular periods in Earth's history.

　　According to paragraph 4, it was difficult for Smith to distinguish rock strata because:

　　A. the rocks from different strata closely resembled each other

　　B. he was often unable to find fossils in the younger rock strata

　　C. their similarity to each other made it difficult for him to distinguish one rock type from another

　　D. the type of rock between two consistent strata was always the same

　　解析：

　　根据题干信息, 我们可以定位到段落的第二句（Particularly in the younger strata, the rocks were often so similar that he had trouble distinguishing the strata, but he never had trouble telling the fossils apart.）很多同学在做这道题的时候都会犹豫不决地选择C，因为C选项看着和定位句简直一模一样。

　　但是C选项并非正确答案，因为大家都没有关注C选项中的代词（their）。选项中的代词指代的是题干信息中的名词rock strata, 所以C的意思是：岩石层很相似使得Smith很难去辨别岩石类型，而这刚好和原文中意思相反。

　　03.句子插入题

　　句子插入题考查代词指代的题目占比较大，上过课的同学应该都了解，在这里就不赘述了。

　　在大家之后的练习过程中肯定会遇到很多相同的情况，建议大家不要因为指代题出题频率低而忽略了代词。小小代词也是大大的考点。  

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