預備課程：IELTS閱讀測驗
IELTS PREPARATION CLASS--THE READING TEST

IELTS閱讀測驗略讀技巧

為了要瞭解所閱讀的文章，當考生在作這部分的測驗時，第一件該作的事，就是先瀏覽一下標題和任何的副標題。如果有任何的圖片或圖形，瀏覽一下這些圖片，這樣可以幫你瞭解文章相關的情況。

略讀
略讀文章的主要理由就是要能瞭解每一段的段落大意。這非常重要，因為：

- 你沒有時間閱讀完所有文章，而試題也是以此方向來設計的，因此，你必須要略讀。
- 你很可能無法瞭解許多在文章中所出現的單字，所以，你可能會浪費一些時間嘗試去瞭解字意。
- 有一些問題是特別設計來測驗你的略讀技巧。

如何略讀？
當略讀文章時，你通常只需要讀每一段的第一句話（若遇到較長的段落，就讀前兩句話）。因為，第一句話通常會引導出整段所要討論的主題。而段落剩下來的部分，一般來說會衍生出一些證據或論點。這一部份，是你在作略讀時，所不必知道的。在結論段裡，重點很可能放在最後一句，因此，在最後一段裡，你可能必須要閱讀文章中的最後一句話。

當你閱讀時，把本文標示出來，是一個可以幫助你回答問題很好的作法。你可以在本文中，將關鍵字畫線或者在段落旁寫下本段的主題，通常一至兩個字就足夠了，成功略讀的關鍵在於你涵蓋全文的速度。

當你在略讀時，遇到一個你不懂的單字或片語，試著藉由觀察句子附近的字，來找出其意思。比如說，在你不懂的單字前面是個形容詞，那麼這個未知的字將會是個名詞；或者，在不懂的單字之前是個副詞，那麼這個未知字可能會是個動詞。你不必知道這個單字的確切意思，只要試著去瞭解段落的主旨大意即可。

在完成略讀之後，就是回答問題的時候了，這時你應該要將在問題中的關鍵字畫線，然後，參照之前所畫線或標示字，如此，能幫你找出問題的答案。當你在看問題時，當中的關鍵字不會總是跟本文中的一模一樣，因此，你應該要想想有沒有其他的同意字。底下是個簡單的例子：

Big dog-large dog
Tall building-high building
Fat boy-round boy

練習測驗（你要在20分鐘之內，完成這篇文章）

首先，先閱讀底下這篇新聞報導，然後找出每段最適合的標題。

秘訣：閱讀第一段，然後，看一下列出來的所有的標題，選擇一個你認為最適合。接下來，讀第二段，選一個標題，如此類推。

Schools that mean business must push for prestige

The choice is huge, but file ranking of MBA courses is encouraging business schools around the globe to become increasingly competitive. Business schools can seem confusing places. The cause of the confusion is their main product, the MBA programme.

The problem derives in part from the proliferation of options, making it difficult for potential students to come to an informed decision. There are now more than 1,000 MBA programmes in the United States, 700 in Europe-including more than 300 in Britain - and some 525 in the rest of the world, with the greatest concentration in the Asia Pacific region.

The boom has recently hit South Africa: 10 years ago there were half a dozen programmes, now more than 40 are provided, most by foreign business schools. The nature of these programmes causes confusion, too. While in some respects they differ little --- 75 percent of them are general management programmes - the standard product that existed 10 years ago is no more. Now, only 42 per cent of programmes are full-time, the rest being part-time, modular and distance.

Some full-time programmes are delivered through evenings-only lectures and some modular programmes are full-time because there is so much project work. More than 90 percent of programmes are in English, but others are available in 23 languages, with Spanish the most common.

Many - especially executive programmes - require years of experience before entry. But "executive" can also mean a part-time programme that has been accelerated in some way and is shorter. So the potential student - probably about to spend about £15,000 - is faced with a bewildering array of products, often described in differing terminology.

Business schools, with some notable exceptions, have not been good at explaining themselves as they do not want to get into debates regarding the ratings with the argument that an MBA is an MBA, the only difference is the name of the issuing school, and prestigious schools come with hefty price tags. In order to help the layman, newspapers have often stepped in to make sense of this confusing world, judging schools and programmes, and providing rankings.

Readers like rankings but, in general, the schools do not. The European schools, in particular, argue that rankings are misleading as they often do not compare like with like,and use a narrow range of often-inappropriate measures. Such league tables are hotly contested and some schools have boycotted them. Nonetheless, their number is growing because the tables tell the potential customers what they need to know. However, this is just one factor that underpins the success of schools and MBA programmes. Not only must they be good, they must also be known. Prominence and prestige are the two most desirable characteristics of an MBA programme. Schools want their programmes - and graduates want their degrees - to be instantly recognised and respected.

Prominence has been largely overlooked in the assessment of MBA programmes, despite the fact that this can be a less controversial measure. Such a measure of MBA programmes is now available, thanks to the Internet - another channel of communication established between business schools and their market.

Directory-based websites provide constantly updated information on a large number of MBA programmes to enable potential students to obtain details, make comparisons and thus more informed choices.

One comprehensive and popular MBA programme information site is at www.MBAinfo.com It provides details on 2,300 MBA programmes from 1,100 schools in 127 countries. More than 4000 people a day visit the site. When analyzing 300,000 such visits from last year to measure the worldwide popularity of the programmes of particular schools, surprising facts emerged. The top 10 most popular programmes in the world received more than 10 per cent of visits to the site.

The most prominent MBA programmes in the US included those at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and at Colorado and Colorado State and the University of Dallas. In Britain, the top 10 programmes were not only at London Business School, Cambridge, Warwick, Henley and the Open University but also at Oxford Brookes University. The top spot in Britain was taken by Heriot-Watt, which was number, six in the world. Europe also featured Insead (France), IMD (Switzerland), IESE (Spain) and Eap (France). The rest of the top 10 was dominated by Canadian and Australian schools, with Waterloo, Canada, in top spot and Melbourne, Australia, in second place. GIMT, a private school in South Africa, was number three.

The MBA is the principal product in the most market-oriented sector of higher education. Given tile globalisation of business, increased communication, and the ability to deliver programmes to individuals wherever they are, the complexity and competitiveness of this pioneering educational marketplace can only increase. To work effectively, though, business schools need to keep potential students well informed. That is the weakness of the present situation and one that all parties should have an interest in improving.

Match the headings to the paragraphs in the text. The first paragraph has been done for you.

a. Top MBA courses around the world
b. Website Directories.
c. How the courses are taught.
d. The most competitive area of Higher Education.
e. Multiple options cause difficulties for students choosing an MBA.
f. Debates about ratings.
g. Rising number of MBA's and the confusion they cause.
h. The main product of business schools.
i. Less emphasis on the assessment of the prominence of an MBA.
j. A site for information on the MBA
k. Rankings are misleading.
l. Executive programmes.

要看正確的答案，請按這裡。

Prepared by Mr Sean Jones, IELTS course instructor and examiner.