再看2003年考题的段首句与主题句(第二句)的关系：
Teachers need to be aware of the emotional, intellectual, and physical changes that young adults experience. And they also need to give serious thoughts to how they can best accommodate such changes.
短文第二句的And…also结构表明与前句的语意为递进关系，其主语和从句中两次出现的代词they均指代前句的teachers；谓语重复使用动词need；such changes指段首句明确表述的“年轻人所经受的情感、智力和身体方面的变化”。把两句话联系起来看，本篇短文的主题便非常清楚：成年人/教师应通过组织适应年轻人特点的活动更好地帮助年轻人/学生们成长。医.学.全在线www.lindalemus.com
再如2002年试题的前两句：Comparisons were drawn between the development of television in the 20th century and the diffusion of printing in the 15th and 16th centuries. Yet much had happened between.第一句“人们把20世纪的电视的发展情况与15至16世纪的印刷普及相提并论”是为下文作铺垫；转折词Yet表明通讯革命并非始于19世纪，从而引出主题：应当正确地看待通讯革命的过程及其影响。
要想尽快地把握短文原意，还要注意主题的展开方式，即注意短文段落的划分及各段的中心思想。
试以2006年的试题为例。讨论美国无家可归者问题的短文有两个自然段，其段首句分别点出该段的中心思想：美国人口中无家可归者的比例越来越大(The homeless make up a growing percentage of America's population.)和任何单一措施都不能有效地帮助这一群体(Finding ways to assist this growing homeless population has become increasingly difficult.)。作者在分析无家可归者流落街头的多种原因之后引用权威观点提出解决办法，即政府不能只着眼于满足这些人的温饱，需要“总体协调，综合治理(There has to be coordination of programs. What's needed is a package deal.)”，首尾呼应，再次点题。
2004年试题的短文共分四段。第一段段首句(Many theories…focus either on the individual or on society as…)之后的两句(Theories centering on the individual suggest that…Theories focusing on the role of society suggest that …)分别介绍两种理论的内容。其余三段的段首句都明确地阐述了各段的主题：第二段评述关注贫穷家庭导致儿童犯罪的理论(Most theories…have focused on children from disadvantaged families…)；第三段 (以就业为例) 探讨社会结构变化可能是导致青少年犯罪的间接原因 (Changes in the social structure may indirectly affect juvenile crime rates.)；第四段主要讲述社会结构变化的另一个方面：家庭结构的改变 (Families have also experienced changes these years.)。短文结尾提出了其他若干可能导致青少年犯罪的原因 (Other identifiable causes of offensive acts include…)，但指出这些理论提出的因果关系还未能确定 (…a direct causal relationship has not yet been established)。
2003年试题共两段，分别说明教师为学生组织活动时要注意的两个主要方面:(1) 提供培养在群体活动中成功地与他人交往的机会以帮助青少年建立自信;(2) 组织多样性的活动以适应青少年兴趣转移快的特点。
除了注意段首句较明确的提示及短文的段落划分外，还可利用文中关键词和词汇的照应关系来尽快把握短文主题。
例如2006年短文讨论帮助无家可归者的问题，除开篇三句连续使用“homeless, homelessness, homeless people”等字样外，全文不断使用“homeless population, homeless individuals, homeless adults”等同义词。此外，表示人数不断增加，问题日益严重的文字也多次出现，如“a growing percentage, this growing homeless population, homelessness has reached such proportions, the number of the homeless will reach nearly 19 million”。同样，表示需要提供帮助的词汇也贯穿全篇，如“To help homeless people, Finding ways to assist …address the many needs of…”等。
2004年探讨青少年犯罪原因的短文中除“理论(theories)”等字样外，还多次出现“青少年犯罪”、“原因”及其同义词、近义词及相关词：juvenile delinquency, commit crimes, criminal behavior, misdeeds, crime rates, offensive acts, criminal act。此外，与“青少年”相关的词汇有：youth, children, families, parents, parental supervision, child等。与“原因”相关的词汇有：causes, contributing influence, to be an influence on…, identifiable causes, affect, lead to, for lack of, resulting, lead…into, tend to increase, a direct causal relationship等。
再如2003年的短文：
Teachers need to be aware of the emotional, intellectual, and physical changes that young adults experience. And they also need to give serious 21 to how they can best 22 such changes. Growing bodies need movement and 23 ， but not just in ways that emphasize competition. 24 they are adjusting to their new bodies and a whole host of new intellectual and emotional challenges, teenagers are especially self-conscious and need the 25 that comes from achieving success and knowing that their accomplishments are 26 by others. However, the typical teenage lifestyle is already filled with so much competition that it would be 27 to plan activities in which there are more winners than losers, 28 , publishing newsletters with many student-written book reviews, 29 student artwork, and sponsoring book discussion clubs. A variety of small clubs can provide 30 opportunities for leadership, as well as for practice in successful 31 dynamics. Making friends is extremely important to teenagers, and many shy students need the 32 of some kind of organization with a supportive adult 33 visible in the background.
In these activities, it is important to remember that young teens have 34 attention spans. A variety of activities should be organized 35 participants can remain active as long as they want and then go on to 36 else without feeling guilty and without letting the other participants 37 . This does not mean that adults must accept irresponsibility. 38 , they can help students acquire a sense of commitment by 39 for roles that are within their 40 and their attention spans and by having clearly stated rules.
