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一、熟悉说明文体裁特点
高考英语对说明文的考查一般为科普说明文。科普说明文结构复杂，句意深奥，学术性强，抽象度高，解题难度大，易于拉开考生分数档次，便于高校分层次选拔人才。科普说明文旨在揭示自然界的奥秘、生物的生存状况和产品工艺原理，解释性、定义性、说明性长句较多，且经常出现多种从句重叠的现象。显然，阅读科普说明文时一定要精神松驰，心情舒畅，始终以冷静的心态阅读原文，理解语意，解答试题。同时应重点突破长句结构特点和逻辑关系，以便对其做出准确理解。
二、熟悉命题特点
高考英语科普说明文常出现下列题型：
1．动植物自我保护方式判断题
动植物在长期生长过程中难免会受到自然环境或其它动植物的影响，其生存经受严峻考验。为了生存它们必须尽其所能保护自身，因此科普说明文在介绍动植物生长特点时常出现动植物自身保护方式的判断题。这种试题多以To defend…, …uses…或How does…protect itself against…?为设问方式。解题时应认真阅读原材料对动植物自我保护方式内容的说明，看其是以进化、逃避还是进攻方式保护自己。
2．标题判断题
科普说明文经常出现标题判断题，考查考生对通篇文意的理解。这种试题常以What would be the best title for this passage?或What is the best title of this passage?为设问方式。因科普说明文主要介绍动植物如何保护自己，因此常以How do/does…defend themselves(itself)为标题。
3．文章大意判断题
科普说明文常出现文章大意判断题，以考查考生对通篇文意的理解。这种试题常以This passage mainly talks about ____. 或What is the main idea of the passage?为设问方式。因科普说明文多介绍鲜为人知的动植物生长特点和产品工艺原理，因此这种试题多以This passage mainly talks about the major surprising findings about….为回答方法。
4．生词词义判断题
科普说明文旨在揭示自然奥秘、动植物生存状况及产品工艺原理，学术性较强的生词较多，所以常配备生词词义判断题。这种试题多以The underlined part “…” in Paragraph…refers to….或What does the underlined word mean?或What is the meaning of the underlined word?为设问方式，考查考生对生词词义的理解。解题时考生应认真阅读原文，分析其对自然奥秘、动植物生存特点、产品工艺原理是如何定义、如何解释的，并以此为突破口抽象概括出生词词义。
5．代词正确指代判断题
科技说明文在对自然奥秘、动植物生存状况及产品工艺原理进行解释说明时，容易出现动作变换频、人称转变多的现象，因此常配备代词指代判断题。这种试题常以it, they, them等表示物的代词为命题点，要求考生依据上下文逻辑关系正确推断其所指代的对象。解题时应认真阅读原文，分析动作转换背景，弄清动作不同执行者，以便准确判断代词的实际指代。
6．科学方法图示判断题
科普说明文常出现图示判断题。这种试题可以生物之间正确的依赖关系为命题点，要求考生判断其正确的依赖关系；也可以产品工艺流程为命题点，要求考生判断产品正确的工艺流程顺序；还可以生产方法为命题点，要求考生判断产品正确的生产方法；还可以机械工艺配制为命题点，要求考生判断产品正确的机械配制。考生一定要认真阅读原文，分析其对生物依赖关系、发明创造产生过程和产品工艺流程过程的介绍，提高理解准确率。读题时应对照原文介绍的情况，弄清各图的不同之处，根据题干需要最终做出正确判断。
7．新产品使用方法判断题
介绍新产品的目的是为了使用新产品，因此科普说明文常出现新产品使用方法判断题。这种试题常以What’s the correct way to use the new invention?或How is the new product used?或How can you use the new product?或What should we do to use the new product?为设问方式，考查考生对新产品使用方法的判断。考生应认真阅读原文对新产品使用方法注意点的介绍，从而找到新产品正确的使用方法。
8．动物能力判断题
动物介绍性科普说明文常出现动物能力判断题，考查考生对特定动物所具有能力的判断。这种试题常以According to the passage,…can/could ____.或What could/can the…do? 解题时考生应认真阅读原文对动物能力的判断，了解动物是否会使用工具，是否善于爬行、飞翔和游泳等。
三、案例解读
（2006年高考英语湖南卷阅读理解D篇）
The discovery of a dwarfed (矮个的) “human being” who lived in Flores, Indonesia, up to 18,000 years ago is changing the way we think about the human family. This “Flores Human” was three feet tall and her brain was smaller than that of the average chimp (黑猩猩), yet she and her relatives apparently lived fully human lives. They seem to have made tools, worked together to find food and cook it, and perhaps even buried their dead with ceremony.
It was a major surprise to find tools associated with the new human family member. The tools are like those formerly seen only with European fossils (化石) from our own species, Homo sapiens (智人), and the oldest of them were made 94,000 years ago. Homo sapiens is thought to have arrived in the island about 40,000 years ago, much too late to be responsible for the tools. If this tiny human made the tools, then the inside structure (结构) of its brain must have been more like our own than a chimp’s, despite being just a third the size of ours.
This “new human” was suspected to be a dwarfed branch of Homo erectus (直立人). When creatures are separated in regions with rare resources but few enemies, being big is a disadvantage, and evolution tends to shrink them, a process known as island dwarfing. Could natural seletion make a human smaller while keeping—even improving—mental ability? Quite possibly, believes Christopher Wills of the University of California.
Has the “Flores Human” even shown the ability of language? “I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools, use fire, and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication，” Wills says. Did “Flores Human” possess the basic components of human culture—such as the burying of the dead with ceremony? Emiliano Bruner of the Italian Institute points out that Indonesia’s hot, wet environment is bad forfossilization. It is reasonable to assume, he says, that the 18,000-year-old bones of the most complete Flores woman were well-preserved because she was buried with special care.
67. According to the passage, “Flores Human” ____.
A. lived a partly human life
B. was a branch of Homo sapiens
C. used tools before Homo sapiens arrived
D. had a brain as large as a common chimp’s
析：C动物能力判断题。原文第一节They seem to have made tools…体现答案。
68. The underlined part “this tiny human” in Paragraph 2 refers to ____.
A. a chimp B. Flores Human
C. Homo sapiens D. Homo erectus
析：B生词词义判断题。由原文首节可知，本文主要介绍矮个“人类”Flores Human，因此该词应指代Flores Human。
69. This passage mainly talks about ____.
A. the tools made by “Flores Human”
B. the language used by “Flores Human”
C. the evolution of “Flores Human”
D. the major surprising findings about “Flores Human”
析：D文章大意判断题。认真阅读分析原文不难发现，原文主要介绍鲜为人知的矮个“人类”的背景信息，由此不难找到答案。
70. According to the passage, it is believed that “Flores Human”____.
A. was dwarfed by its enemies
B. could use language
C. left a lot of fossils in the hot and wet environment
D. reached Flores 40,000 years ago
析：B动物能力判断题。由原文第四节Has the “Flores Human” even shown the ability of language? “I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools, use fire, and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication.”可以推出Flores Human有使用语言的能力。
高考英语对说明文的考查一般为科普说明文。科普说明文结构复杂，句意深奥，学术性强，抽象度高，解题难度大，易于拉开考生分数档次，便于高校分层次选拔人才。科普说明文旨在揭示自然界的奥秘、生物的生存状况和产品工艺原理，解释性、定义性、说明性长句较多，且经常出现多种从句重叠的现象。显然，阅读科普说明文时一定要精神松驰，心情舒畅，始终以冷静的心态阅读原文，理解语意，解答试题。同时应重点突破长句结构特点和逻辑关系，以便对其做出准确理解。
二、熟悉命题特点
高考英语科普说明文常出现下列题型：
1．动植物自我保护方式判断题
动植物在长期生长过程中难免会受到自然环境或其它动植物的影响，其生存经受严峻考验。为了生存它们必须尽其所能保护自身，因此科普说明文在介绍动植物生长特点时常出现动植物自身保护方式的判断题。这种试题多以To defend…, …uses…或How does…protect itself against…?为设问方式。解题时应认真阅读原材料对动植物自我保护方式内容的说明，看其是以进化、逃避还是进攻方式保护自己。
2．标题判断题
科普说明文经常出现标题判断题，考查考生对通篇文意的理解。这种试题常以What would be the best title for this passage?或What is the best title of this passage?为设问方式。因科普说明文主要介绍动植物如何保护自己，因此常以How do/does…defend themselves(itself)为标题。
3．文章大意判断题
科普说明文常出现文章大意判断题，以考查考生对通篇文意的理解。这种试题常以This passage mainly talks about ____. 或What is the main idea of the passage?为设问方式。因科普说明文多介绍鲜为人知的动植物生长特点和产品工艺原理，因此这种试题多以This passage mainly talks about the major surprising findings about….为回答方法。
4．生词词义判断题
科普说明文旨在揭示自然奥秘、动植物生存状况及产品工艺原理，学术性较强的生词较多，所以常配备生词词义判断题。这种试题多以The underlined part “…” in Paragraph…refers to….或What does the underlined word mean?或What is the meaning of the underlined word?为设问方式，考查考生对生词词义的理解。解题时考生应认真阅读原文，分析其对自然奥秘、动植物生存特点、产品工艺原理是如何定义、如何解释的，并以此为突破口抽象概括出生词词义。
5．代词正确指代判断题
科技说明文在对自然奥秘、动植物生存状况及产品工艺原理进行解释说明时，容易出现动作变换频、人称转变多的现象，因此常配备代词指代判断题。这种试题常以it, they, them等表示物的代词为命题点，要求考生依据上下文逻辑关系正确推断其所指代的对象。解题时应认真阅读原文，分析动作转换背景，弄清动作不同执行者，以便准确判断代词的实际指代。
6．科学方法图示判断题
科普说明文常出现图示判断题。这种试题可以生物之间正确的依赖关系为命题点，要求考生判断其正确的依赖关系；也可以产品工艺流程为命题点，要求考生判断产品正确的工艺流程顺序；还可以生产方法为命题点，要求考生判断产品正确的生产方法；还可以机械工艺配制为命题点，要求考生判断产品正确的机械配制。考生一定要认真阅读原文，分析其对生物依赖关系、发明创造产生过程和产品工艺流程过程的介绍，提高理解准确率。读题时应对照原文介绍的情况，弄清各图的不同之处，根据题干需要最终做出正确判断。
7．新产品使用方法判断题
介绍新产品的目的是为了使用新产品，因此科普说明文常出现新产品使用方法判断题。这种试题常以What’s the correct way to use the new invention?或How is the new product used?或How can you use the new product?或What should we do to use the new product?为设问方式，考查考生对新产品使用方法的判断。考生应认真阅读原文对新产品使用方法注意点的介绍，从而找到新产品正确的使用方法。
8．动物能力判断题
动物介绍性科普说明文常出现动物能力判断题，考查考生对特定动物所具有能力的判断。这种试题常以According to the passage,…can/could ____.或What could/can the…do? 解题时考生应认真阅读原文对动物能力的判断，了解动物是否会使用工具，是否善于爬行、飞翔和游泳等。
三、案例解读
（2006年高考英语湖南卷阅读理解D篇）
The discovery of a dwarfed (矮个的) “human being” who lived in Flores, Indonesia, up to 18,000 years ago is changing the way we think about the human family. This “Flores Human” was three feet tall and her brain was smaller than that of the average chimp (黑猩猩), yet she and her relatives apparently lived fully human lives. They seem to have made tools, worked together to find food and cook it, and perhaps even buried their dead with ceremony.
It was a major surprise to find tools associated with the new human family member. The tools are like those formerly seen only with European fossils (化石) from our own species, Homo sapiens (智人), and the oldest of them were made 94,000 years ago. Homo sapiens is thought to have arrived in the island about 40,000 years ago, much too late to be responsible for the tools. If this tiny human made the tools, then the inside structure (结构) of its brain must have been more like our own than a chimp’s, despite being just a third the size of ours.
This “new human” was suspected to be a dwarfed branch of Homo erectus (直立人). When creatures are separated in regions with rare resources but few enemies, being big is a disadvantage, and evolution tends to shrink them, a process known as island dwarfing. Could natural seletion make a human smaller while keeping—even improving—mental ability? Quite possibly, believes Christopher Wills of the University of California.
Has the “Flores Human” even shown the ability of language? “I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools, use fire, and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication，” Wills says. Did “Flores Human” possess the basic components of human culture—such as the burying of the dead with ceremony? Emiliano Bruner of the Italian Institute points out that Indonesia’s hot, wet environment is bad forfossilization. It is reasonable to assume, he says, that the 18,000-year-old bones of the most complete Flores woman were well-preserved because she was buried with special care.
67. According to the passage, “Flores Human” ____.
A. lived a partly human life
B. was a branch of Homo sapiens
C. used tools before Homo sapiens arrived
D. had a brain as large as a common chimp’s
析：C动物能力判断题。原文第一节They seem to have made tools…体现答案。
68. The underlined part “this tiny human” in Paragraph 2 refers to ____.
A. a chimp B. Flores Human
C. Homo sapiens D. Homo erectus
析：B生词词义判断题。由原文首节可知，本文主要介绍矮个“人类”Flores Human，因此该词应指代Flores Human。
69. This passage mainly talks about ____.
A. the tools made by “Flores Human”
B. the language used by “Flores Human”
C. the evolution of “Flores Human”
D. the major surprising findings about “Flores Human”
析：D文章大意判断题。认真阅读分析原文不难发现，原文主要介绍鲜为人知的矮个“人类”的背景信息，由此不难找到答案。
70. According to the passage, it is believed that “Flores Human”____.
A. was dwarfed by its enemies
B. could use language
C. left a lot of fossils in the hot and wet environment
D. reached Flores 40,000 years ago
析：B动物能力判断题。由原文第四节Has the “Flores Human” even shown the ability of language? “I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools, use fire, and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication.”可以推出Flores Human有使用语言的能力。