雅思閱讀句子結尾配對：策略與 3 個解題範例

IELTS.org 將句子結尾配對列為 Academic Reading 的第 7 種題型（IELTS Academic Reading 格式（IELTS.org））。你會拿到一個根據文章資訊寫成的句子前半部，並從一連串可能的結尾中，選出最適合接續的選項。三個官方細節形塑了整套策略："There will be more sentence endings than beginnings, so you will not use all of them"；"The sentence beginnings are in the same order as the information in the text"；以及這個題型"tests your ability to understand the main ideas in the text"。

最後一點很重要。句子結尾配對不是單純尋找字詞的任務。正確的結尾通常會改寫文章針對句首主詞所說的內容，而錯誤的結尾則經常以錯誤的關係重複文章中的字詞。

這類題型最常見的錯誤，就是先讀句尾，再回頭到文章裡尋找。請反過來做：句首會告訴你該讀哪裡，文章則會告訴你哪個句尾才正確。

先看每個開頭的最後一、兩個字，並在閱讀清單前預測結尾的形式。下表列出常見的搭配模式。這些模式是快速排除錯誤選項的工具；但仍要務必根據語意確認。

練習文章（為本指南撰寫；並未報導特定研究）：

City planners have long valued street trees for their appearance, but in recent decades attention has shifted to their effect on temperature. A mature tree cools the air around it in two ways: its canopy blocks sunlight before it reaches pavements, and water evaporating from its leaves absorbs heat. The second process depends on the tree having enough water, so during long droughts the cooling effect can weaken just when it is most needed. For this reason, some cities now pair tree planting with underground systems that store rainwater. Critics point out that such systems raise installation costs considerably, and they argue that the money might achieve more if it were spent on reflective roofing instead.

練習文章（專為本指南而寫；內容概述一般爭論，並非針對特定研究）：

It is often claimed that adults cannot learn a new language as well as children. Researchers who study second language learning tend to describe a more mixed picture. Adults usually make faster progress in the early stages, partly because they can apply grammar rules consciously and draw on what they know about their first language. Children, by contrast, start more slowly but are more likely in the long run to develop an accent that sounds native. Some researchers attribute this difference to biological changes in the brain, while others emphasise that children typically receive far more hours of exposure and face less pressure to communicate perfectly from the start.

練習文章（虛構公司，專為本指南編寫）：

When a mid-sized furniture maker decided to replace new plastic with recycled material in its chairs, the managers expected resistance from customers. In fact, sales were largely unaffected; the main problems came from inside the factory. Recycled pellets varied in colour and strength from one delivery to the next, which forced engineers to test each batch before use. Over time, the company reduced this variation by signing long-term contracts with two suppliers rather than buying from whoever was cheapest. The managers now say that the change cost more than planned, but that it gave the firm a selling point that competitors found difficult to copy.

60 分鐘內要完成 40 題，平均每題約有 1.5 分鐘。熟悉方法後，一組三到四題的句子結尾配對通常需要四到六分鐘，因為依序找出每個句首能節省搜尋時間。如果某個句首無法確定答案，先標記你最有把握的猜測，接著做下一題，之後再回頭處理。每題答對可得 1 分，所以千萬不要留下空白。