题型科普：主旨题在四级阅读考试中考到的几率并不大。从1999年算起到现在，一共考过13道主旨题，06年四级改革后并没有出现过主旨题。但是因为很多题目的答案与文章主题或段落主题有一定的关系，所以很有必要通过主旨题目的练习，来加强找文章或段落主题的能力。
　　题型形式：
　　主旨题从提问方式上看，可以分为三种。
　　主要内容题（what’s the passage mainly about?）
　　写作目的题（what’s the author’s writing purpose?）
　　最佳标题题（which of the followings is the best title?）
　　解题思路：
　　主旨题解题，三个方法。
　　1.       主题词法（主题词一般出现在题干中和各段段首）
　　2.       主题句法（主题句一般在文章的第一段或文章开头例子后的总结或解释）
　　3.       各段首句法（重点读包含主题词的段落首句）
　　题目练习：
　　Most episodes of absent-mindedness—forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room—are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded it deeply.”
　　Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in you wardrobe (衣柜). “Your memory itself isn’t failing you,” says Schacter. “Rather, you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed.”
　　Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. “A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago,” says Zelinski, “may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox.” Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory relies on just that.
　　Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness, says Schacter. “But be sure the cue is clear and available,” he cautions. If you want to remember to take a medication (药物) with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don’t leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.
　　Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you’re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Everyone does this from time to time,” says Zelinski. The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you’ll likely remember.
　　30.   What is the passage mainly about?
　　A) The process of gradual memory loss.
　　B) The causes of absent-mindedness.
　　C) The impact of the environment on memory.
　　D) A way if encoding and recalling.（B）
　　题目解析：
　　方法一：主题词法。
　　同学可以从第一段，第三段，第四段，第五段开头都读到一个词，absent-mindedness.这就是文章主题词。主旨题的正确答案当然要包括文章主题词。B选项正确无误。
　　方法二：主题句法。
　　其实主旨题最佳的做题方法应该是主题句法，因为主旨题正确答案都是考官根据主题句改写的。
　　主题句的位置和文章的写作特点有关。四级阅读文章一般有两种写作手法。一种是文章第一段直接给出中心内容；另一种是第一段先写一个例子，用例子吸引读者，例子结束后引出主题。所以主题句要么再第一段，要么在文章开头的例子后的总结或解释。
　　以这篇文章为例，第一段第一句就出现了文章主题词。这明显不是个例子，而是中心内容。恶狠狠的读下这个主题句的主干，Most episodes of absent-mindedness are caused by a simple lack of attention. 对应正确选项B，The causes of absent-mindedness.
　　方法三：各段首句法：
　　即使主题词找到不确定，主题句找不到或读不懂，我们一起看一下各段首句。
　　所谓各段首句法并不是说每段首句都一定有帮助，其实只要读到某段的首句能帮助做题就足够了。
　　比如第三段，Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness.第四段，Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness, 这两段又阐述了两个导致absent-mindedness的成因。所以正确答案B，The causes of absent-mindedness.