一套好的试卷，难度适宜，能否原创一套好的试卷，是考验每一位老师的教学经验。魏勇老师就自己的命题经验，与各位老师分享他是如何调控阅读理解试题的难度。
在平时的常规教学中，布置考试是教师不可避免的一项任务。我总会听到同事说：“最近学生学习的积极性不高了，应该出套简单的卷子，让学生考好点，给他们打打气。”或者是“最近这些孩子有些飘了，出套难点的卷子打击一下他们，让他们收收心。”可是，如果直接使用成卷，试卷的难度不好把控，考试的效果可能会适得其反。那么，如何根据学生的学情，原创一套难度适宜的试卷呢？下面，我就自己的命题经验，与各位同仁一起探讨如何调控阅读理解试题的难度。
01
文本的选择
以下是一篇选自科学美国人网站的科普性文章。文章的内容是海洋的噪音导致宽吻海豚采用简化叫声并提高音量的方式来进行交流，而这样做，对小海豚的成长是不利的。该文章原文词数为330，比较符合出题的标准。这样的文章在试卷中往往是压轴的阅读理解题，很多学生一看到科普类文章，就会产生畏难情绪，不知该如何着手。要想降低这篇文章的难度，可以压缩文章的总词数，删除一些补充性的内容以及修饰性的句式，只保留文章的中心含义即可。如果需要保持科普类文本的难度，这篇文章的词数是合适的，只需要对有些专业性的内容进行修改即可。
Bottlenose dolphins simplify and raise the pitch of their whistles to be heard above underwater shipping noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.
The oceans are getting louder. And coastal areas are some of the noisiest, as in this underwater recording, captured 17 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland.
The noise could be a problem for marine mammals, which, like us, use sound to communicate.“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar, we have to shout to each other, they might have to do that too.”Helen Bailey is a marine biologist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
She and her colleagues recorded two months of underwater sounds, in that same area off the coast of Maryland. They used automated software to fish out 200 bottlenose dolphin whistles from the noise, and visually compared the spectrograms. Here’s a normal whistle.
But what they found was that dolphins dumbed down the complexity of their whistles and raised their pitch, when they were competing with shipping noise. Which apparently helps, but could also hurt, their ability to communicate.
“By using simpler calls, yes, there is a risk they’re not communicating as much information as they would if it was quieter. Also for younger dolphins they actually learn these sounds from hearing other dolphins. So they’re hearing this much simpler language.”
The results—and a few of those spectrograms—are in the journal Biology Letters. [Leila Fouda et al., Dolphins simplify their vocal calls in response to increased ambient noise]
The survey site is the proposed future home of a wind farm—which could mean lots of noise as the huge towers are installed. Until then, it’s the chronic roar of ships and boats that Bailey wants people to ponder.“I think people think about boats in terms of the emissions, just like with cars. And I think what we need to think about is sound is also an emission.”
简单的文本：
Bottlenose dolphins（宽吻海豚）can raise their sounds to be above underwater shipping noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.
The oceans are getting louder. Because there is more noise. The noise could be a problem for sea animals, which use sound to communicate.“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar, we have to shout to each other, and they might have to do that too.” Helen Bailey is a scientist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
She and her team recorded two months of underwater sounds. They used a software to record 200 bottlenose dolphin whistles from the noise, and did some research.
But what they found was that dolphins made their whistles simple and raised their sounds, when they were competing with shipping noise. It helps, but could also hurt their ability to communicate.
“By using simpler calls, there is a risk that they’re not communicating as much information as they would do in the quiet place. Also for younger dolphins they learn these sounds from hearing other dolphins. So they’re hearing this much simpler language.”
What’s worse, there will be a wind farm near the coast, which could mean lots of noise. Until then, the sound of ships will go on damaging the dolphins. “I think people think about boats in terms of the emissions, just like with cars. And I think what we need to think about is sound is also an emission.” Helen Bailey said.（245字）
困难的文本：
Bottlenose dolphins（宽吻海豚）simplify and raise the tune of their whistles to be heard above underwater shipping noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.
The oceans are getting louder. And coastal areas are some of the noisiest, as in this underwater recording, captured 17 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland.
The noise could be a problem for marine mammals, which, like us, use sound to communicate.“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar, we have to shout to each other, and they might have to do that too.” Helen Bailey is a marine biologist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
She and her colleagues recorded two months of underwater sounds, in that same area off the coast of Maryland. They used automated software to fish out 200 bottlenose dolphin whistles from the noise, and visually compared the spectrograms（图谱）.
But what they found was that dolphins cut down the complexity of their whistles and raised their tune, when they were competing with shipping noise. It apparently helps, but could also hurt their ability to communicate.
“By using simpler calls, yes, there is a risk they’re not communicating as much information as they would if it was quieter. Also for younger dolphins they actually learn these sounds from hearing other dolphins. So they’re hearing this much simpler language.”
The results—and a few of those spectrograms—are in the journal Biology Letters.
The survey site is the proposed future home of a wind farm—which could mean lots of noise as the huge towers are installed. Until then, it’s the chronic roar of ships and boats that Bailey wants people to ponder.“I think people think about boats in terms of the emissions, just like with cars. And I think what we need to think about is sound is also an emission.”（314字）
02
命题的范围及难度的把控
根据《考试大纲》对于考生阅读能力的要求：
1. 理解主旨要义；
2.理解文中具体信息；
3.根据上下文推断单词和短语的含义；
4.做出判断和推理；
5.理解文章的基本结构；
6.理解作者的意图、观点和态度。
我们可以在试题命制中以前四项要求为主要的命题形式，即细节理解题、推理判断题、词义猜测题和主旨大意题。下面我以上文中较难的文本为例，介绍命题思路和方法。
1.细节理解题
细节理解题考查的是考生对于文本中细节内容的掌握。通常以when, where, what, which, who, how much/many等疑问词开头引出问题。正确选项的设置通常是直接使用原文词句或者使用原文词句的同义词句。而干扰项的设置则包括以下几点：
（1）答非所问：选项是原文信息，但不是题目要求的内容，或者只是利用原文中的词汇编造选项；
（2）无中生有：选项符合常理，但无法在原文中找到语义的来源和依据；
（3）张冠李戴：把属于甲的特征放在乙的身上。
（4）偷梁换柱：选项所使用的句子结构、词汇等与原文相似度较高，只是在细节地方更换了一两个词，造成句意的改变。
文章第五段第一句为“But what they found was that dolphins cut down the complexity of their whistles and raised their tune, when they were competing with shipping noise.”，其句意为“但他们发现，当海豚在与航运噪音进行对抗时，会降低哨声的复杂性，并提高音调。”笔者在此处设置了一道细节理解题：
When will the bottlenose dolphins raise their tune according to the text?
A. When they want to catch more fish in the sea.（无中生有）
B. When they want to compete with ship noise.（原句）
C. When they want to record their sound.（张冠李戴）
D. When they want to teach the young dolphins.（偷梁换柱）
如果想要降低这道细节理解题的难度，可增加无中生有的选项，如：
When will the bottlenose dolphins raise their tune according to the text?
A. When they want to catch more fish in the sea.（无中生有）
B. When they want to compete with ship noise.（原句）
C. When they want to sing loud songs with others.（无中生有）
D. When they feel angry with the ships.（无中生有）
2.推理判断题
推理判断题主要考查考生的批判性思维能力以及较深刻的理解能力，考生不仅仅要读懂文章的字面意思，还要体会作者在文章中所隐含的真实意图。这样的试题通常其题干中会出现infer, imply, indicate, suggest, show等词汇，考查内容有推断写作目的和意图、作者的观点和态度、文章的深层含义；判断文章的出处。而干扰项的设置包括以下几点：
（1）自以为是：以自己的观点代替作者的观点；
（2）过犹不及：推理过头，夸大原文中的细节；
（3）曲解意图：歪曲作者的目的和意图；
（4）答非所问：直接照搬原文中的信息，并非按照题干要求进行推理判断。
根据文章第六段内容“By using simpler calls, yes, there is a risk they’re not communicating as much information as they would if it was quieter. Also for younger dolphins they actually learn these sounds from hearing other dolphins. So they’re hearing this much simpler language.”可知,如果一直使用简单高亢的声音，那么宽吻海豚就会面临危机，不会像安静的时候那样交流更多的信息，而年幼的海豚是通过倾听来学习的，即如果这种情况一直持续下去，宽吻海豚的能力就会退化。笔者设置的推理判断题如下：
What will happen to the bottlenose dolphins if the situation continues?
A. More and more bottlenose dolphins will love to make loud noise.（自以为是）
B. People will lose the bottlenose dolphins forever.（过犹不及）
C. They will have to make long journeys in the ocean.（过犹不及）
D. They will lose the ability to convey complicated information.（深层阅读，合理推断）
如果要简化推理判断题，可以考查学生对文本体裁的理解或者对作者观点态度的判断。如：
What is the author’s attitude towards the wind farm?
A. Negative.
B. Positive.
C. Ambiguous.
D. Supportive.
根据文章最后一段最后两句可知，作者认为噪音也是一种污染，而该段第一句提到风力发电站会产生大量噪音，由此可知作者对于建设风力发电站的态度是消极的，故答案为A。
如果要增加试题的难度，可以考虑在干扰项中增加自以为是的选项，混淆考生的思维。如：
根据文章第三段第二句“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar, we have to shout to each other, and they might have to do that too.”可知，Helen Bailey以人们在嘈杂的酒吧里通过提高音量来进行交流为例，说明在噪音大的环境中，宽吻海豚也会像人类一样无法轻声细语地进行交流。试题可以设为：
What can we infer from Helen Bailey’s remarks in the third paragraph？
A. Loud noise may damage the hearing of Bottlenose dolphins.（自以为是）
B. Noise may make the bottlenose dolphins have trouble listening to each other.（合理推理）
C. Bottlenose dolphins may move away from the noisy coastal areas.（自以为是）
D. Bottlenose dolphins may only communicate with each other by sound.（自以为是）
3.词义猜测题
猜测词义有两种，一种是猜测生词生义，一种是猜测熟词生义。词义猜测题往往在文章的上下文中有提示，考生可以根据上下文的语境进行推理。有难度的词义猜测题可以考查短语、熟词生义等。而干扰项的设置可以通过熟词的基本含义来误导学生。笔者在文章第四段设置了一道词义猜测题：
She and her colleagues recorded two months of underwater
sounds, in that same area off the coast of Maryland. They used automated software to fish out 200 bottlenose dolphin whistles from the noise, and visually compared the spectrograms （图谱）.
What does the underlined phrase“fish out”mean in the fourth paragraph?
A. To separate.
B. To record the sound.
C. To catch.
D. To swim like a fish.
根据该段内容可知，研究者们记录了海底的声音长达两个月，这其中包含了各种噪音，他们再利用软件把宽吻海豚的声音从各种噪音中“提炼，分离”出来，进行视觉化的图谱比较。故答案为A。
而考查指示代词的词义猜测题就比较简单了，干扰项可以是范围过大、过小或错误等，如文章的第三段内容：The noise could be a problem for marine mammals, which, like us, use sound to communicate.“Just like if we’re in a noisy bar, we have to shout to each other, and they might have to do that too.” 可以设题如下：
What does the underlined word“they”refer to?
A. Marine mammals.（指代上文）
B. The dolphins.（范围过小）
C. Human beings.（范围错误）
D. Sea animals. （范围过大）
该段第一句表明，噪音对于像人类一样使用声音来交流的海洋哺乳动物而言，是一个问题，故答案为A。
4.主旨大意题
主旨大意题通常考查考生对文章通篇的理解能力。常见的考查方式包括考查篇章主旨（概括全文的主题）、段落主旨（某一自然段或某几自然段的主题）和文章的最佳标题。而干扰项的设置通常包括以下几点：
（1）以偏概全：用某一自然段的大意来概括整篇文章的中心思想 ；
（2）断章取义：以事实、细节替代全文或某段的主要观点；
（3）过度概括：选项归纳概括的范围过大，超出文章阐述的内容；
（4）捏造事实：与文章内容毫不相干或与文章内容相悖。
因为考生往往通过阅读文章的第一段或者最后一段来对文章总体内容进行概括，那么，命题人在命题时，反套路而为之，就会增加试题的难度。此外，考生常会选择简短的选项，那么在命制文章标题概括题的干扰项时，反其道而行，容易让考生掉入“陷阱”。如：
What is the best title for the text?
A. Sound Is Also an Emission
B. Bottlenose Dolphins Raise the Tune
C. Bottlenose Dolphins Raise the Tune to Teach the Young
D. Bottlenose Dolphins Make Easy Calls to Compete with Ship Noise
根据文章主要内容可知，宽吻海豚通过简化叫声并提高音量的方式来进行交流，是为了对抗船舶的噪音，故答案为D。
而要降低这种题型的难度，命题人可以按照考生的常规思维，对文章的大意进行总结，使选项符合文章标题简短、醒目、概括的特点，四个选项长度相当，干扰项错误明显一些，这样可以让考生信心大增。如上述试题，可以设为：
What is the best title for the text?
A. How to Protect the Marine Mammals—Bottlenose Dolphins?
B. Bottlenose Dolphins Raise the Tune to Help the Wind Farm
C. Bottlenose Dolphins Raise the Tune to Communicate with Ships
D. Bottlenose Dolphins Make Easy Calls to Compete with Ship Noise
总而言之，在命制阅读理解试题的时候，简单或者困难，都是为了检验教师的教学效果，以便更好地为学生服务，更好地改进教师的教学方略，教师不能为了难住学生而刻意出偏、难、怪的试题。而应该以整套试题为纲，合理配比，以期达到预设目的。
（作者单位：宁夏石嘴山市第一中学）