研究近年高考阅读理解，我们会发现，命题者越来越注重考查学生把握全文和中心思想的能力。因此，每年阅读理解中的主旨大意题都达5题左右。主旨大意题提问的形式主要有两类：一类是Main Idea型；一类是 Topic或Title型。
主旨大意题常见的设题形式有：
1．Which of the following best expresses the main idea？
2．Which of the following can best summarize the main idea of this text？
3．Which is the best title for the text？
4．Which is the subject discussed in the text？
这类问题都是全局性的问题，只有读完全文，且做完相关语篇的其它题后才能做这类题，因为做完了局部性的细节题后，自然会对文章大意有一定的了解。具体地说，解这类题应注意以下几点：
1．读首句抓大意。
说明文、议论文等多采用这种结构，文章段落的中心，即主题句在文章开头。因此，要寻找这类文章的主旨大意就需研究文章的首句。
Kleptomania is an illness of the mind that gives a person the desire to steal．Such a person is not really a thief．They are sick and cannot help themselves．All small children act naturally and as they grow up they normally learn to control their actions．People with kleptomania for certain medical reasons have failed to develop control over their desire to take things that do not belong to them．With medical help they may become normal citizens again．The things that a kleptomaniac steals are seldom of GREat value．They often give away what they have stolen or collect objects without using them．
Question：What is the topic of the text？
A．Young Thieves．B．An Unusual Illness． C．Reasons for Stealing． D．A Normal Child's Actions．
该题的答案，就是由文章第一句话而得，答案为B。
2．读尾句抓大意。
有时文章的主题句安排在文章的结尾，作为对全篇的总结。
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin．Everyone was astonished to see him． There was just one problem．Merlin had no way to stop his roller skater．He rolled on and on．Suddenly he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall．Down fell the mirror，breaking to pieces．Nobody forgot Merlin's grand entrance for a long time！
Question：What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the paragraph？
A．The roller skates needed further improvement．
B．The party guests took Merlin for a fool！
C．Merlin succeeded beyond expectation．
D．Merline got himself into trouble．
这段文字从Merlin入场的细节开始叙述，到最后一句做了总结：“大家很长一段时间都没有忘记Merlin不同凡响的入场。”可见Merlin取得了意想不到的成功。答案为C。
3．读首尾段抓大意。
有些文章或段落的开头和结尾部分都有主题句。这种结构是为突出主题思想而使用两次点题的写作方法。这两个主题句在句子结构和用词上有所不同，而且在内容上前句和后句也不重复。
As prices and building costs keep rising，the“do-it-yourself”（DIY）trend（趋势）in the U．S．continues to grow．
．．．
John and Jim are not unusual people．Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fightthe high costofliving．If you want to become a“do-it-yourself”，you can go to DIY classes．And for those who don't have time to take a course，there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself．
Question：What would be the best title for the text？
A．The Joy of DIY．B．You Can Do It Too！ C．Welcome to Our DIY Course！ D．Ross and Hatfield：Believers in DIY．
读文章第一段和最后一段会发现答案是B。
4．从段落中抓大意。
有些文章或段落的主题句居中，这种文章或段落往往以一句或几句话引出要表达的主题，在主题句出现后，再举例子陈述细节或继续论证。
In the 1930s，a lot of people in the USA were out of work．Among these people was a man named Alfred Butts．He always had an interest in word games and to fill his time he planned a game which he called“Lexico”． However，he was not completely satisfied with the game，so he made a number of changes to it and changed its name from“Lexico”to“Alph”and then to“Criss Cross”．He wanted to make some money from his new game but he didn't have any real commercial（商业性的）success．
Question：The text is mainly about ____ ．
A．Lexico B．three men C．a word game D．Alfred Butts
根据这一段落中间部分的叙述，我们能推断出答案是C。
5．归纳要点抓大意。
有些文章或段落无明显的主题句，只是暗示性地体现主题。这就要求考生在阅读过程中根据文中所叙述的事实或提供的线索来概括总结主旨大意。
In Shanxi Province you may be offered brains to eat． Frightened？You shouldn't be，because these brains are only a kind of food，which is famous for its unusual name and rich nutrition（营养）．
Brains as a kind of food were invented more than 300 years ago by Fu Shan，an artist whose mother had been ill for a long time．To help her become well again，he studied medicine and invented a kind of soup（汤）made of meat，vegetables and a number of Chinese medicines．Rice wine was also used in the soup to help illness caused by old age．Fu's soup became the talk of the town．Many people came to see him．One day a restaurant owner asked him what was in the soup．“I'll tell you，”Fu said，“but if your restaurant is going to sell the soup，you must call it brains because of its shape and color．And your restaurant should be renamed after my mother．”
Question：The best headline for this newspaper article is ____ ．
A．A Good Son B．A SpecialSoup C．How to Make Brains D．How to Live a Long Life
要解答此题，必须通读全文。读完全文，并结合各段大意，本文主旨凸现出来，答案应是B。
