雅思阅读小标题的作用有哪些？从具体例子来学习一下

　　在雅思阅读中小标题考察的是对段落结构和思路的掌握，难度比较大，但是有些比较典型的段落存在着非常明显的承上启下的句子，如果能够辩认出这些句子，并且结合备选项可以快速地选出答案。以剑桥雅思第7册第1套题的15题为例。我们一起来了解一下。

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　　C Yet there is a dark side to this picture: despite our progress, half of the world’s population still suffers, with water services inferior to those available to the ancient Greeks and Romans. As the United Nations report on access to water reiterated in November 2001,more than one billion people lack access to clean drinking water; some two and a half billion do not have adequate sanitation services. Preventable water-related diseases kill an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 children everyday, and the latest evidence suggests that we are falling behind in efforts to solve these problems.

　　D The consequences of our water policies extend beyond jeopardizing human health. Tens of millions of people have been forced to move from their homes –often with little warning or compensation-to make way for the reservoirs behind dams. More than 20% of all freshwater fish species are now threatened or endangered because dams and water withdrawals have destroyed the free-flowing river ecosystem where they thrive. Certain irrigation practices degrade oil quality and reduce agricultural productivity. Groundwater aquifers are being pumped down faster than they are naturally replenished in parts of India, China, the USA and elsewhere. And disputes over shared water resources have led to violence and continue to raise local national and even international tensions.

　　备选项

　　ⅰ Scientists’ call for a revision of policy

　　ⅱ An explanation for reduced water use

　　ⅲ How a global challenge was met

　　ⅳ Irrigation systems fall into disuse

　　ⅴ Environmental effects

　　ⅵ The financial cost of recent technological improvements

　　ⅶ The relevance to health

　　ⅷ Addressing the concern over increasing populations

　　ⅸ A surprising downward trend in demand for water

　　ⅹ The need to raise standards

　　Ⅺ A description of ancient water supplies

　　C 段中第一句话Yet there is a dark side to this picture: despite our progress, half of the world’s population still suffers 这句话是明显的承上启下的句子，先承认上一段中的progress然后再思路一转，本段将要讲dark side。那么dark side具体是什么，在句子的后半部分中有提及half of the world’s population still suffers 也就是说本段要讲的dark side 是suffer。然后后面具体讲是如何suffer。如果后面很难看出来的话，不妨在看下一段的首局The consequences of our water policies extend beyond jeopardizing human health.这句中的关键是beyond jeopardizing human health。也就是说D段要讲的是应该是consequences,但是除了jeopardizing human health 所以关于jeopardizing human health 是已经讨论过了的话题，结合这句的位置，可以判断它应该是对上一段的一个总结，或者是概括。

　　结合这两个承上启下的句子，在结合备选标题进行筛选。备选标题是非常概括的，纵观十一个备选项，只有第七个是比较符合的，也是讲和health 相关的问题，至于是对health 是正相关还是负相关没有提到，但是足以说明C段的内容，也就是对health 的负相关，即不好的影响。(环球教育宁波 李丹丹)