阅读理解，本质是读者获得信息的一种思维活动，在当今的信息社会里，被广泛应用于人们的生产生活中。而对于广大学生来说，培养良好的阅读习惯，能从庞杂的外语资料中迅速、准确地抓住有效信息，不仅是完成大学学业的要求，也是将来工作的需要。 在阅读过程中，逻辑思维至关重要，是解题的关键。
阅读理解，从另一个角度看是读者解读作者逻辑思路的过程，因此有必要对常见的逻辑思路进行总结。从阅读理解测试类型来看，主要分为两类：篇章理解（reading for the main idea）和细节理解（recognizing important facts or details），后者从历年四级考题来看占80％左右。
一、篇章理解的逻辑思路
对于全文的理解，读者主要用总结（sum-up）、概括（outline）、归纳（induce）、推理（deduce）等思路。
在篇章理解部分，考试中常考的问题有这些：
1.The author concludes that...
2.It may be inferred from the passage that...
3.According to the passage, what is... ?
4.What is the author’s attitude toward... ?
5.In the author’s view, ...
6.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
粗略归类一下，有这些类型：中心思想题（1）；态度题（4，5）；结论题（1，2）和判断题（6）。做这类问题时，一般先快速阅读全文，看其逻辑思路是总括主题，分别阐述，还是逐层递进，环环相扣。由于写作思路不一而足，阅读思路也要千变万化，视具体的情况而定。例如：
…
Heroes are catalysts for change. They have a vision from the mountaintop. They have the skill and charm to move the masses. They create new possibilities.Without Gandhi, India might still be part of the British Empire. Without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., We might still have segregated（隔离地） buses, restaurants and parks. It may be possible for large scale change to occur without leaders with magnetic personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, the vision uncertain, and the committee meetings endless. (2002,12,28)
看完之后，读者会有如下思路：英雄是变革的催化剂（总括观点）——有远见；能鼓动群众；能创造机遇（分述论据）——没有他们，步伐会慢，前景不定，会议会没完没了（反面总结，深化观点）。接着看试卷针对本段提出的问题：
The author concludes that historical changes would ________.
A) be delayed without leaders with inspiring personal qualities
B) not happen without heroes making the necessary sacrifices
C) take place if there were heroes to lead the people
D) produce leaders with attractive personalities
询问作者观点一般是在逻辑思路的最后，显然是在后面的结论句，也就是由but连接的句子中，but后的内容是语义的重心，是作者的观点，这样就排除了干扰项Ｃ），而选出了正确答案Ａ）。
二、细节理解的逻辑思路
细节理解部分主要涉及如下逻辑思维：直接推论、因果、例证、条件、转折、对比以及正误判断等。关于细节理解题，考生经常遇到的问题有这些：
1. By saying..., the author means that ...
2. ... because ... .
3. Why...?
4. The example of ...shows that...
5. If...
6. Although ...
关于这些问题的解答思路可以大体分为这样几类：直接推论题1；因果思维题2、3；例证题5；假设题5； 6则是转折思维题。总之，解细节理解题的要求与篇章理解题不同，要求考生逐字逐句地认真读题，用心思考，从逻辑意义中理解作者的出题思路，从而得出正确答案。例如：
In recent years, Israeli consumers have grown more demanding as they’ve become wealthier and more world-wise. Foreign travel is a national passion; this summer alone, one in 10 citizens will go abroad. Exposed to higher standards of service elsewhere, Israelis are returning home expecting the same. American firms have also begun arriving in large numbers. Chains such as KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are setting a new standard of customer service, using strict employee training and constant monitoring to ensure the friendliness of frontline staff. Even the American habit of telling departing customers to“Have a nice day”has caught on. ‘Let’s be nicer’, says Itsik Cohen, director of a consulting firm. “Nothing happens without competition.”
Privatization, or the threat of it, is a motivation as well. Monopolies that until recently have been free to take their customers for granted now fear what Michael Perry, a marketing professor, calls “the revengeful consumer”. When the government opened up competition with Bezaq, the phone company, its international branch lost 40% of its market share, even while offering competitive rates. Says Perry, “People wanted revenge for all the years of bad service.” The electric company, whose monopoly may be short-lived, has suddenly stopped requiring users to wait half a day for a repairman. Now, appointments are scheduled to the half hour.The graceless E1 A1 Airlines, which is already at auction, has retrained its employees to emphasize service and is boasting about the results in an ad campaign with the slogan, “you can feel the change in the air.” For the first time, praise outnumbers complaints on customer survey sheets. (CET-4, 2002, 12, 28)
请看所设计的题目：
1.It may be inferred from the passage that _______.
A) customer service in Israel is now improving
B) wealthy Israeli customers are hard to please
C) the tourist industry has brought chain stores to Israel
D) Israeli customers prefer foreign produce to domestic ones
这道题要求用推理的思路逐个筛选。根据第二段中“The electric company, whose...survey sheets.”可以判断Ａ）是正确答案。
2.In the author’s views, higher service standards are impossible in Israel _________.
A) if customer complaints go unnoticed by the management
B) unless foreign companies are introduced in greater numbers
C) if there’s no competition among companies
D) without strict routine training of employees
解此题先看一下第一段的逻辑思路：随着富裕，Israeli消费者的要求提高了（起因）——高水平的服务出现了（观点）——表现为三家公司的竞争（例证）——没有竞争就没有一切（结论）。因此，通过逆向思维很容易选出Ｃ）。
3. If someone in Israel today needs a repairman in case of a power failure, ________ .
A) they can have it fixed in no time
B) it’s no longer necessary to make an appointment
C) the appointment takes only half a day to make
D) they only have to wait half an hour at most
题目给出了一种假设，要求根据假设选出一种结果。根据第二段中：“ The electric company, ... Now, appointments are scheduled to the half hour. ” D）为正确答案。
4. The example of E1 A1 Airlines shows that _______ .
A) revengeful customers are a threat to the monopoly of enterprises
B) an ad campaign is a way out for enterprises in financial difficulty
C) a good slogan has great potential for improvement service
D) staff retraining is essential for better service
这是典型的例证题，看文章第二段的最后两句，我们不难总结出：由于Ｅ1 Ａ1对其员工进行服务意识的再培训，并提出了相应的口号，在其进行的社会调查中，首次赞扬者多于抱怨者。因此正确答案是Ｄ）。
5. Why did Bezaq’s international branch lose 40% of its market share?
A) Because the rates it offered were not competitive enough.
B) Because customers were dissatisfied with its past service.
C) Because the service offered by its competitors was far better.
D) Because it no longer received any support from the government.
这是一道因果关系题。根据第二段中的“its international ... years of bad service”很容易找到答案Ｂ）。
考生只要在平时的阅读训练中，认真练习逻辑思维；在考试中，合理应用逻辑思维，一定会在四级考试中取得理想的成绩。