GMAT阅读中，识别文章中作者的观点或者态度会对解题有着举足轻重的影响。我们拿两个简单的题目来进行一个比较：

　　(下面的题目请大家做出True/False 的判断)

　　V1

　　Passage: 小明认为，只要吃苹果就可以长高。

　　但是，小红觉得其实吃苹果并不能帮助长高。

　　Q: The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　Challenge a view ( )

　　答案：False

　　V2

　　Passage:小明认为，只要吃苹果就可以长高。

　　但是，最近研究揭露出吃苹果其实无法帮助长高。

　　Q: The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　Challenge a view ( )

　　答案：True

　　这两个版本的文章内容几乎一样，但是题目答案却大相径庭。原因在于题目在问文章的主要目的，其实就是作者的主要目的;而V1中是小明和小红两者观点的争论，作者没有发表自己的看法，所以不能说这篇文章的主要目的是为了去挑战某个观点。因此，我们会发现，作者观点的识别会对我们解题产生很深远的意义。所以，同学们之后在理解文章时要注意观点的出现，以及对观点视角的识别与判定。

　　下面，我们来看一篇阅读题目：

　　(这是一篇易错文章，同学们可以先自己尝试，再看解析)

　　Although many lines of evidence indicate that birds evolved from ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs, some scientists remain unconvinced. They argue that theropods appeared too late to have given rise to birds, noting that Archaeopteryx lithographica – the oldest known bird – appears in the fossil record about 150 million years ago, whereas the fossil remains of various nonavian maniraptor theropods – the closest known relatives of birds – date only to about 115 million years ago. But investigators have now uncovered bones that evidently belong to nonavian maniraptors dating to the time of Archaeopteryx. In any case, failure to find fossils of a predicted kind does not rule out their existence in an undiscovered deposit. Skeptics also argue that the fused clavicles (the “wishbone”) of birds differ from the unfused clavicles of theropods. This objection was reasonable when only early theropod clavicles had been discovered, but fossilized theropod clavicles that look just like the wishbone of Archaeopteryx have now been unearthed. Finally, some scientists argue that the complex lungs of birds could not have evolved from theropod lungs, an assertion that cannot be supported or falsified at the moment, because no fossil lungs are preserved in the paleontological record.

　　1.The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　A. compare the development of two hypotheses concerning the evolutionary origin of birds

　　B. suggest revisions to the standard theory of the evolutionary history of birds

　　C. evaluate the usefulness of fossil evidence in determining the evolutionary history of birds

　　D. challenge the theory that birds evolved from ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs

　　E. respond to criticisms of the theory that birds evolved from ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs

　　2.In the context of the passage, the phrase “fossils of a predicted kind”(line 16) most likely refers to which of the following?

　　A. Theropod fossils with fused clavicles

　　B. Theropod fossils that are similar in structure to Archaeopteryx fossils

　　C. Theropod fossils dating back more than 150 million years

　　D. Fossils indicating the structure of theropod lungs

　　E. Fossils indicating the structure of Archaeopteryx lungs

　　3.Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as an argument made by scientists who are unconvinced that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs?

　　A. There are no known theropod dinosaur fossils dating from a period after the time of Archaeopteryx.

　　B. There are no known theropod dinosaur fossils that indicate the structure of those dinosaurs’ lungs.

　　C. Theropod dinosaurs appear in the fossil record about 150 million years ago.

　　D. Theropod dinosaurs did not have fused clavicles.

　　E. Theropod dinosaurs had certain bones that look just like those of Archaeopteryx.

　　文章解析

　　本篇文章中作者观点体现在以下几处：

　　Although many lines of evidence indicate that birds evolved from ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs, some scientists remain unconvinced. They argue that theropods appeared too late to have given rise to birds, noting that Archaeopteryx lithographica – the oldest known bird – appears in the fossil record about 150 million years ago, whereas the fossil remains of various nonavian maniraptor theropods – the closest known relatives of birds – date only to about 115 million years ago. But investigators have now uncovered bones that evidently belong to nonavian maniraptors dating to the time of Archaeopteryx. In any case, failure to find fossils of a predicted kind does not rule out their existence in an undiscovered deposit.Skeptics also argue that the fused clavicles (the “wishbone”) of birds differ from the unfused clavicles of theropods. This objection was reasonable when only early theropod clavicles had been discovered, but fossilized theropod clavicles that look just like the wishbone of Archaeopteryx have now been unearthed. Finally, some scientists argue that the complex lungs of birds could not have evolved from theropod lungs, an assertion that cannot be supported or falsified at the moment, because no fossil lungs are preserved in the paleontological record.

　　文章结构

　　scientists author

　　theropods- too late ×(有可能是undiscovered)

　　clavicles 有差异 clavicles相同

　　lung 有差异 化石中无法保存lung

　　题目解析

　　1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

　　[主旨题]

　　A. compare the development of two hypotheses concerning the evolutionary origin of birds

　　错误。作者在评论科学家的论点，不是在比较(compare)。

　　B. suggest revisions to the standard theory of the evolutionary history of birds

　　错误。作者没有想修订标准理论(标准理论应该对应刚开始提到的很多证据表明的两者之间存在进化关系)

　　C. evaluate the usefulness of fossil evidence in determining the evolutionary history of birds

　　错误。作者想要评价的是科学家的论点，而不是化石证据的有效性。

　　D. challenge the theory that birds evolved from ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs

　　错误。作者想要挑战的应该是“not evolved”。

　　E. respond to criticisms of the theory that birds evolved from ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs

　　正确。Criticisms对应文中的scientists;而作者就是在回应scientists给出的各种看法。

　　2.In the context of the passage, the phrase “fossils of a predicted kind” most likely refers to which of the following?

　　A. Theropod fossils with fused clavicles

　　B. Theropod fossils that are similar in structure to Archaeopteryx fossils

　　C. Theropod fossils dating back more than 150 million years

　　D. Fossils indicating the structure of theropod lungs

　　E. Fossils indicating the structure of Archaeopteryx lungs

　　题目解析：

　　In any case, failure to find fossils of a predicted kind does not rule out their existence in an undiscovered deposit.由此可知fossils of a predicted kind是没有成功找到的化石类型。我们已经发现的有晚于鸟的恐龙化石以及与鸟同时期的恐龙化石，所以还没有发现的就是比鸟更早的恐龙化石。因此答案为C。

　　3.Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as an argument made by scientists who are unconvinced that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs?

　　问科学家的看法

　　A. There are no known theropod dinosaur fossils dating from a period after the time of Archaeopteryx.

　　错误。科学家发现的恐龙化石就是在鸟之后的。

　　B. There are no known theropod dinosaur fossils that indicate the structure of those dinosaurs’ lungs.

　　错误。这是我们刚才识别的作者视角。

　　C. Theropod dinosaurs appear in the fossil record about 150 million years ago.

　　错误。发现与鸟同时期的恐龙化石的是investigators。

　　D. Theropod dinosaurs did not have fused clavicles.

　　正确。对应：Skeptics also argue that the fused clavicles (the “wishbone”) of birds differ from the unfused clavicles of theropods.

　　E. Theropod dinosaurs had certain bones that look just like those of Archaeopteryx.

　　错误。科学家们一定是觉得恐龙与鸟有差异，而不是look just like的关系。