“方便”语出《法华经·方便品》：“吾从成佛以来，种种因缘、种种譬喻，广演言教，无数方便，引导众生令离所执。”本文这里的所谓方便，理正为方，言巧称便，就是根据形势的变化(这里主要指针对新托福考试的变化)，选择随机应变的教化机智，即学习方法。新托福考试将于2006年8月在中国大陆地区推出。这一消息牵动着千万考生的心。许多考生对于新托福考试的形式感到十分的陌生，由此也对新托福考试产生了相当的恐惧心理。本文将深度剖析新托福考试中阅读部分的特点，目的在于一方面帮助考生全面而深刻地了解新托福阅读部分的考试特点，另一方面帮助考生透彻地分析新托福阅读部分考试的规律。
一、新托福考试阅读部分的六大变化
1. 新托福考试阅读部分中的四个主要按键及功能
在新托福考试阅读部分，阅读文章出现在电脑屏幕的右边(这和GRE机考形式恰好相反，因为在GRE机考阅读部分，阅读文章出现在电脑屏幕的左边)，而相应的题目出现在电脑屏幕的左边。因为文章很长，所以需要借助于滚动条的滚动，才能看到全文。在阅读部分，考生可以通过点击Next button向前浏览所有的问题，也可以通过点击Back button回视前面的问题，并返回到文章的最开头。托福阅读部分还拥有一个review功能的按键，通过点击Review button考生将会在Review Screen看到所有的问题，和看到这些问题的状态---answered, not answered, not yet seen。最后，新托福的阅读部分还有一个Help button，考生点击这个按键之后，将会得到a list of topics for which helpful explanations are available。
2. 新托福考试阅读部分的文章长度、题目数量及考试时间均有变化
原有形式的托福考试，其阅读部分的时间为55分钟，需要完成5篇文章，每篇文章的长度在350字左右，每篇文章后面的题目数量在10道左右，也就是说题目的总数量为50道。而新托福考试阅读部分的具体安排见下表：
READING SECTION
Reading Text Time Allowed Length of Passage Number of Questions
Passage 1 20 minutes 600-700 words 12-14
Passage 2 20 minutes 600-700 words 12-14
Passage 3 20 minutes 600-700 words 12-14
Passage 4 & 5 20 minutes 600-700 words 12-14 each
需要注意的是：
(1) Passage 4 & 5属于加试部分，即考生在阅读部分所遇到的文章数量可能是3篇，也可能是5篇，那么相应的考试的时间为60分钟和100分钟;
(2) 阅读部分的考试时间是Preset的，即阅读部分考试的总时间是固定不变的，但做每篇文章，做每道题目所花费的时间由考生自己灵活掌握;
(3) 阅读文章明显增长，达到了700字左右。
3. 新托福考试阅读文章中的专业词汇的处理和题目定位的处理均有变化
新托福阅读部分一个非常glossary的特点是：A word in blue in a passage indicates that a definition is available for the word. Clicking on the word brings up this definition。也就是说凡是在阅读文章中所遇到的生僻的专业词汇，都会呈现出蓝色，点击后将会给出这个单词的定义和解释。
新托福阅读部分中所有的关于Language Use的问题都是对文章中的一个单词、一句话或者一个段落所发问的，并且对于此类题目定位处理上的一个最为鲜明的特点是：Whenever a question refers to a particular word or sentence in the passage, the word or sentence is highlighted. You don not need to search for it. Detail questions on TOEFL iBT identify the particular paragraph in which the answer can be found, so you do not need to scan the passage in order to find the location of an answer to a detail question.也就是说新托福考试的阅读不再考察Language Use问题定位的能力。这大大降低了题目本身的难度。
4. 新托福考试阅读部分中的干扰选项(distracter)的设置更为复杂
通过上面的第3点我们已经知道在新托福阅读部分考试中，很多的细节题目不再需要定位了，这就降低了题目本身的难度。ETS为了在题目难度上做一平衡，采取的方法是将干扰选项的设置变得更为复杂，大有向GRE靠拢的趋势，不仅干扰选项增多，干扰性也明显增强了，尤其对于Paraphrasing的题型显得尤为突出。
5. 新托福考试阅读部分的题型形式变化多端，分值也呈现出巨大变化
新托福考试题目的形式变得多样化了，相应题目的分值也出现了巨大变化。我们可以把新托福中的阅读题型分为三种：
(1) Click on One Answer: For this multiple-choice type of question, you will choose the best of four possible answers，此类题目是传统的四选一的题目，其分值为1分;
(2) Add a Sentence: For this type of question, you will click on a square to add a sentence to the passage. 这种插入句子题的文章中有4个“[■]”，然后题目给考生一句话，问考生这句话应该插在文章中哪一个所标“[■]”的地方。一般，题目的提问方式是这样的：Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage，此类题目的分值也为1分;
(3) Drag Answer Choices: 此类题型在做法上的最大特点在于它不是要求点击选项，而是拖拉考生认为正确的选项到相应的表格中。其具体形式又可以分为两大类，而其分值也会随着具体形式的变化而变化：
A. Summarizing the Most Important Points题型:
此类题目的提问方式是这样的：An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentenced do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage。这类题目主要考查了考生对于重要论据和重要观点的掌握，分值为2分，具体评分规则如下：
Points Possible Answers Correct Points Earned
3 points
3 2
2 1
0--1 0
B. Understanding details as they relate to the main idea (schematic table)题型：
此类题型主要考查了考生对于结构重要信息的掌握，其提问方式是：Select the appropriate sentences from the answer choices and match them to the type of ---- that they describe. TWO of the answer choices will NOT be used。根据answer choices的数量，7个中选5个或者9个中选7个归类，其相应的分值为3分和4分。具体评分规则如下：
Points Possible Answers Correct Points Earned
3 Points
5 3
4 2
3 1
0--2 0
4 Points
7 4
6 3
5 2
4 1
0—3 0
6. 新托福考试阅读部分增加了4种题型
新托福考试阅读部分增加了4种题型，分别是Paraphrasing题型(同义改写题型)，Understanding Coherence题型(插入句子题型)，Organization Information题型(结构信息表格题型)，Summarizing the Most Important Points题型(总结重要观点题型)。
二、以一篇文章现场感受新托福阅读考试的特点
将文章发给听众，现场感受一下，新托福的文章的特点
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was one of the most fascinating and gripping phenomena to emerge from the brutal period of American slavery. In fact, it was neither underground nor any kind of railroad, but an intricate, loosely organized, and highly secretive network of people dedicated to helping black slaves escape from bondage in the southern states to freedom in the northern United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Because few of its members dared to keep records of their activities, much of the Railroad’s history has been transmitted orally, or lost. Nevertheless, it is possible to reconstruct a vivid picture of the people involved and the great challenges they faced.
Established as early as the late 16th century, when the first captive laborers were brought to the New World from Africa, the Railroad consisted of an informal arrangement of “stationmasters”—people who provided food and refuge, their “station”—the houses, shops, or barns where they provided shelter, and “conductors”—those who guided escaped slaves along the difficult routes to safety. All kinds of people worked on the Railroad, including preachers, politicians, farmers, storekeepers, former slaves, and even Native American. Most had no knowledge that they worked as part of an organization that reached all across the United States—but they were united by their hatred of the institution of slavery and their desire to help those struggling to escape.
Perhaps the most famous of Railroad workers was Harriet Tubman. Born a slave in Maryland, Tubman escaped through the Railroad at the age of 25, and eventually became a conductor herself. Over a ten—year period, she made nearly 20 trips back into the South to lead to safety many members of her family, and dozens of others besides, perhaps as many as 300 in all.
The conditions faced by runaways were severe. Often forced to travel at night, they would navigate by the North Star. Rivers, swamps, and forests lay in their way. They could carry little food, and depended on stationmasters and conductors to keep them from starvation. Sometimes the lucky ones could travel by wagon, ship, or horse, but most had to go on foot. If they were unable to actually leave the southern states, they might have no choice but to take up residence deep in swamps or in mountainous areas, separated from their families and isolated from the world, or to join communities of Native Americans.
The risks faced by fugitives were formidable Recapture was unthinkable. Escapees would endure terrible punishments, including mutilation or amputation of limbs, harder labor even than before was virtually guaranteed, or sale “down the river”—deeper into the South and even farther from freedom. After the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850, a new class of professional slave—hunters arose, paid handsomely to catch runway slaves and return them to their owners; they could even pursue their quarry into the free northern regions. Young men were the most successful in traveling the Railroad, though sometimes women and children would also manage to escape. Strength and speed were critical. Slaves would occasionally employ disguises, trying to pass themselves as messengers on errands, or even, in the case of the lighter—skinned slaves, as whites. Holidays and weekends were the best times to escape, or any other circumstance that permitted a head start on the authorities.
Activities on the Railroad reached a peak in the last few decades before the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861.The great political tension created by the institution of slavery was already tearing the country apart. Whites in the South generally felt that slavery was an indispensable part of their culture. Their economy certainly depended on it, and moreover, they resented being dictated to from the North and from Washington. Those in the North, on the other hand, could only see the brutality in slavery, and the hypocrisy it meant in a country claiming to be founded on the principle of freedom and equality for all mankind. Though terribly destructive, the Civil War ultimately settled the question, and with the ratification of the 13th amendment to the U.S. Construction on December 18, 1865, it became law what “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist in the United States.”
三、结束语
谈到这里，我们已经将新托福考试阅读部分的特点做了详尽地剖析，同时也比较深刻和全面地分析了如何做到substantial understanding的问题，也就是给出了方法论的问题。有了这样的方法论，其余的工作应该是会水到渠成的。最后想用三句话来结束本文，希望这三句话能给在新托福征途上的考生以鼓励和启迪：Nothing more than diligence can predict your success。If you lie upon roses when young, you’ll lie upon thorns when old. With time and patience the leaf of the mulberry becomes satin.