雅思阅读作为雅思考试中最重要的一部分内容，常被考生们列入重点复习计划。专家介绍，在雅思阅读培训过程中常有学生反映题目看得懂但是在原文中就是找不到对应的信息，所以雅思阅读失分现象明显。其实，分析以下剑桥雅思真题中的阅读题目，会发现考题对应的原文前后一般都会有些信号词。
雅思阅读文章中的信号词就好比是高速公路上的标识牌，见到了它们，就可以知道目的地距离自己的位置还有多远，需要直走，还是拐弯。考生应根据这些信号词来判断应该采取精读.跳读或是扫读等不一样的阅读方法和技巧。本文中，阅读专家将会分析雅思阅读中信号词对考点指示的微妙作用。
把剑桥4-8阅读中出现的与考点相关的信号词根据其所表达的逻辑关系分成八大类，分别是表顺接和递进，表对比和转折，表相似，表排列次序，表强调作用，表最高级.比较级，表因果关系，表举例子和说明。
一.顺接和递进
例词：also, furthermore, moreover, what is more, in addition…
考点：And Western scientists are starting to draw on this wisdom… (C6, P28, Q31找标题)
解析：And在这句话开头，有一定的递进含义，this wisdom则是指代了前面一句话出现的their wealth of traditional knowledge(因纽特人传统的知识)，所以这两句话有紧密的联系，同学们在读题的时候要通过发现信号词，然后发散地看它的前后句，最后把考点考察的意思补充完整。
二.对比和转折
例词：however, but, although, nevertheless, on the other hand, by comparison, while
考点：But such projects must be built to higher specifications and with more accountability to local people and their environment than in the past. (C7 P24 Q20)
解题：此题是段落大意配对题，在确定H段段落大意时，段落中间but之后出现的那句话就是解题的关键，根据句子中出现的两个比较级，可以确定答案应该为X The need to raise standards.
考点：While suggestopedia has gained some notoriety through success in the teaching of modern languages, few teachers are able to emulate the spectacular results of Lozanove and his associates. (C7 P27 倒数第二段 Q39, 40)
解析：段首句用while引起注意，我们可以根据success, 和后半句中的few teachers, spectacular results, 搞定最后两个填空题。
三.相似
例词：similarly, in other words, that is, put another way, as …
考点: Thus, we concluded that the blind interpret abstract shapes as sighted people do.(C4, P28, Q40)
解析：题目考的是对文章的总结。因此解题时重点看文章中表示结论的句子，thus这个单词给了我们提示，而句子中的as...do表达的是一个相似的逻辑，因此答案可以确定为B。
四.排列次序
例词：firstly, second, another, the second, the most, the best, next, then, now, later, since, eventually, finally…
考点：First, it lacked the necessary technical vocabulary. Second, it lacked the grammatical resources required to represent the world i an objective and impersonal way,... (C5, P49, Q30-31)
解析：题目30-31考的是并列和否定的逻辑关系，原文中的first, second, 对应的就是题目中的neither...nor...这个并列关系，这两题的答案就迎刃而解了。
考点：First mechanism, then mass use of chemical fertiliser and pesticides, then monocultures, then battery rearing of livestock, and now genetic engineering – the onward marching of intensive farming has seemed unstoppable in the last hal- century, as the yields of produce have soared. (C7, P44, Q15)
解析：段首句连用表示次序的信号词，first, then, then… and now, 体现发展的不同阶段。(the stages of development of farming industry C7 P77 选择配对)
五.强调作用
例词：in fact, in essence, in particular, emphasize…
考点：This, in essence, is the problem of modern sociobiology- to discover the degree to which hard-wired genetic programming dictates… (C5, P21, Q18 信息包含题)
解析：信息包含题考察细节是在哪个段落出现，在做此类题目时，要注意信号词与考点的密切相关性，从而迅速找准答案。这里出现了in essence(实质上)，起了一定的强调作用，迅速扫读后，发现同时出现了题目关键词sociobiology, 破折号后面的介词to表目的，与题目中的the general aim of一致对应。
六.最高级.比较级
例词：–est, most, best, more, better, superior, inferior, preferable, exclusively, extremely...
考点：Making a rapid emotional assessment of the events of the moment is an extremely demanding job for the brain, animal or human. (C5, P44, Q24)
解析：题目中出现了最高级the most difficult tasks, 因此在原文中也应该相应的出现最高级。除了明显的the most, -est, 还有些单词本身也含有最高级的含义，比如extremely, exclusively, superficially, 文中的这个extremely demanding对应的就是题目中的最高级，所以答案也确定。
七.因果关系
例词：as, because, since, lead to, as a result, result in, consequently, therefore, thus, the caused of…
考点:Until recently, not much was known about the topic, and little help was available to teachers to deal with bullying. Perhaps as a consequence, schools would often deny the problem.(C6, P94, Q33)
解题：题目问的是学校否认问题反应了什么，就是这个现象的根本原因。因此原文中consequence就给解题提供了信息，根据consequence之前的一句话就可以将答案找到。
八.举例子和说明
例词：for example, for instance, that is to say, i.e., such as, including…
考点：Other substances were then introduced: including fillers, such as woodflour, asbestos or cotton… (C5, P39, Q5 流程图)
解析：我们看到such as后面是举例子，such as后面的例子可以作为定位词，woodflour, asbestos, cotton就是fillers的其中一种。Fillers在这里就是一个概括性的词语，常常是考点。
