虽然阅读对于中国考生来说相对容易，不过TOEFL阅读更注重对细节的理解。
只要不是推理题，题目的答案会在文章中直接表明。
所以千万不要选择自己分析出来的答案。简而言之就是只选原文中出现过的。
刚开始做题时错误率很高，知道这个道理后，错误率明显降低。现在出现错误的原因主要在于时间不够用，难以定位到关键点，因此之后应进一步提高长难句的分析能力。
希望以后顺利分手TOEFL！
本篇阅读做题结果(用时：21分钟)
【错题分析】
文章第一段
In seeking to describe the origins of theater, one must rely primarily on speculation, since there is little concrete evidence on which to draw. The most widely accepted theory, championed by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, envisions theater as emerging out of myth and ritual. The process perceived by these anthropologists may be summarized briefly. During the early stages of its development, a society becomes aware of forces that appear to influence or control its food supply and well-being. Having little understanding of natural causes, it attributes both desirable and undesirable occurrences to supernatural or magical forces, and it searches for means to win the favor of these forces. Perceiving an apparent connection between certain actions performed by the group and the result it desires, the group repeats, refines, and formalizes those actions into fixed ceremonies, or rituals.
问题：
According to paragraph 1, why did some societies develop and repeat ceremonial actions?
A. To establish a positive connection between the members of the society
B. To help society members better understand the forces controlling their food supply
C. To distinguish their beliefs from those of other societies
D. To increase the society’s prosperity
我的答案 B 正确答案 D
错因：长难句理解错误。
解析：
ceremonial action 作关键词定位至第一段的最后一句：说人们是感觉到了他们的仪式性的活动和他们所期望的那种结果之间的联系之后他们才做这些事情的。前一句说：他们把无论好坏的结果都归因于超自然的力量，他们做这些事情是为了赢得超自然力量的眷顾，所以D为了整个社会的繁荣是正确答案。
文章第二段
Stories (myths) may then grow up around a ritual. Frequently the myths include representatives of those supernatural forces that the rites celebrate or hope to influence. Performers may wear costumes and masks to represent the mythical characters or supernatural forces in the rituals or in accompanying celebrations. As a people becomes more sophisticated, its conceptions of supernatural forces and causal relationships may change. As a result, it may abandon or modify some rites. But the myths that have grown up around the rites may continue as part of the group’s oral tradition and may even come to be acted out under conditions divorced from these rites. When this occurs, the first step has been taken toward theater as an autonomous activity, and thereafter entertainment and aesthetic values may gradually replace the former mystical and socially efficacious concerns.
问题：
7.According to paragraph 2, what may cause societies to abandon certain rites?
A. Emphasizing theater as entertainment
B. Developing a new understanding of why events occur
C. Finding a more sophisticated way of representing mythical characters
D. Moving from a primarily oral tradition to a more written tradition
我的答案 C 正确答案 B
错因：完全是单词问题，“causal”本意为“原因的；因果关系的”，但凡知道这个单词的意思，都不可能选错。
单词真是太重要了！！
解析：
以abandon rites做关键词定位至全段倒数第三句，有个as a result，说明之前的句子是导致人们放弃这种仪式的原因，也正是问题的答案。随着人们越来越智慧，他们对超自然的能力的认识，还有超自然能力和他们所期待的结果之间的因果关系会变化，也就是很多人不再认为是超自然的能力在左右他们，所以B有了新的认识是正确答案。
A：entertainment概念在本段最后才提到。
C：sophisticated 概念在前句提到，原文As a person becomes more sophisticated，是说人变得复杂了，而不是复杂的代表神秘角色的方式。
D：原文完全没有提到。
总结题：
我的答案 AEF 正确答案 BEF
解释：
整篇文章是典型的现象解释结构，针对戏剧的为什么起源及如何起源给出几种解释。给出句Anthropologists have developed many theories to help understand why and how theater originated.是对全文大意的概括。典型正确答案应该分别概括几种关于起源的解释。
A 原文没说storyteller会到处走，所以A选项不对；
B 正确，对应第一段段；
C 错，原文第二段第四句说人越来越聪明之后，对超自然力量的识会变化，没说社会越复杂，好事越来越多；
D错，原文没说；
E正确，是对原文第三段第四段的概括；
F正确，是对原文第五段的概括。
附原文：
The Origins of Theater
In seeking to describe the origins of theater, one must rely primarily on speculation, since there is little concrete evidence on which to draw. The most widely accepted theory, championed by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, envisions theater as emerging out of myth and ritual. The process perceived by these anthropologists may be summarized briefly. During the early stages of its development, a society becomes aware of forces that appear to influence or control its food supply and well-being. Having little understanding of natural causes, it attributes both desirable and undesirable occurrences to supernatural or magical forces, and it searches for means to win the favor of these forces. Perceiving an apparent connection between certain actions performed by the group and the result it desires, the group repeats, refines, and formalizes those actions into fixed ceremonies, or rituals.
Stories (myths) may then grow up around a ritual. Frequently the myths include representatives of those supernatural forces that the rites celebrate or hope to influence. Performers may wear costumes and masks to represent the mythical characters or supernatural forces in the rituals or in accompanying celebrations. As a people becomes more sophisticated, its conceptions of supernatural forces and causal relationships may change. As a result, it may abandon or modify some rites. But the myths that have grown up around the rites may continue as part of the group’s oral tradition and may even come to be acted out under conditions divorced from these rites. When this occurs, the first step has been taken toward theater as an autonomous activity, and thereafter entertainment and aesthetic values may gradually replace the former mystical and socially efficacious concerns.
Although origin in ritual has long been the most popular, it is by no means the only theory about how the theater came into being. Storytelling has been proposed as one alternative. Under this theory, relating and listening to stories are seen as fundamental human pleasures. Thus, the recalling of an event (a hunt, battle, or other feat) is elaborated through the narrator’s pantomime and impersonation and eventually through each role being assumed by a different person.
A closely related theory sees theater as evolving out of dances that are primarily pantomimic, rhythmical or gymnastic, or from imitations of animal noises and sounds. Admiration for the performer’s skill, virtuosity, and grace are seen as motivation for elaborating the activities into fully realized theatrical performances.
In addition to exploring the possible antecedents of theater, scholars have also theorized about the motives that led people to develop theater. Why did theater develop, and why was it valued after it ceased to fulfill the function of ritual? Most answers fall back on the theories about the human mind and basic human needs. One, set forth by Aristotle in the fourth century B.C., sees humans as naturally imitative—as taking pleasure in imitating persons, things, and actions and in seeing such imitations. Another, advanced in the twentieth century, suggests that humans have a gift for fantasy, through which they seek to reshape reality into more satisfying forms than those encountered in daily life. Thus, fantasy or fiction (of which drama is one form) permits people to objectify their anxieties and fears, confront them, and fulfill their hopes in fiction if not fact. The theater, then, is one tool whereby people define and world or escape from unpleasant realities.
But neither the human imitative instinct nor a penchant for fantasy by itself leads to an autonomous theater. Therefore, additional explanations are needed. One necessary condition seems to be a somewhat detached view of human problems. For example, one sign of this condition is the appearance of the comic vision, since comedy requires sufficient detachment to view some deviations from social norms as ridiculous rather than as serious threats to the welfare of the entire group. Another condition that contributes to the development of autonomous theater is the emergence of the aesthetic sense. For example, some early societies ceased to consider certain rites essential to their well-being and abandoned them; nevertheless, they retained as parts of their oral tradition the myths that had grown up around the rites and admired them for their artistic qualities rather than for their religious usefulness.
