英语考研阅读选材，文章内容都会围绕一个中心话题展开，都会有一定的提示点，帮助读者抓好主题。下面就几点常出现的提示点加以说明：

　　一、位置法

　　按照西方人思维习惯，他们喜欢使用演绎法，即先提出重要信息，然后引用材料来论述。考研阅读文章结构大体符合演绎规则，因此，阅读段落首句，对于文章的主题的把握很重要。也有些文章，作者喜欢将文章中心放在段落末句交代，这时，应该注意段落末尾的内容。例，2006年真题Text 1中首段，In spite of “endless talk of difference,” American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is “the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference” characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into “a culture of consumption” launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered “vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite,” these were stores “anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act.” The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.这段话中，首句提出文章的中心话题----美国大众文化的同化力，后面使用大量文字围绕这一观点来论述。

　　二、重现法

　　文章出现较多的或重复出现的事物或观点，往往是文章主要讨论话题，是文章的主题。在阅读过程中，要注重对话题出现次数的感悟能力，从而判定文章主题。例，2007年真题阅读理解Text 2，多次出现IQ test，文章的核心概念就是在说明智力测验，介绍其测试内容，形式等，并指出这一测试的不足。

　　三、词汇法

　　文章主题的阐释，会有一些关键词参杂，如转折词，设问句，总结性的词(therefore, in short, thus, however等)，要通过这些单词的提示来锁定文章主题。

　　例如，Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.中间虽然有逻辑词but，但是我们可以看出，该段的主题为现在存在着不为大家所重视的字母歧视的问题。