任何一篇文章，或长或短，或说明或记叙，都应该有一个主题和主题思想。如何推断主题思想是阅读理解题所要考查的一个主要内容。它要求考生能够根据文章中提供的具体事实，经过思考分析，概括出文章的中心思想或推断出文章中没有具体加以阐释的观点或结论。解这类题难度较大。下面就和同学们谈谈如何推断主题思想。
解决主题思想的问题，通常与解决主题的问题紧密相连。找到了主题，也就找到了主题思想。他们通常是通过主题句来体现的。不少文章在全文或各段的开头便已展示出文章的主题，让人一目了然。但也有许多文章，其中心思想常常贯穿于全文，没有直接用语言表达出来，我们就要根据短文的内容进行归纳整理。若不易归纳，我们可以分别找出每段的主题句，或每段所表达的主要内容，这些主题句或主要内容的综合，就是整篇短文的主题思想。
有标题的文章，要从标题开始阅读。标题就是整篇文章的主题，它对文章起到统领的作用，考生应学会通过读标题，对文章的体裁和内容有初步的了解，有利于对主题思想的推断。
【例1】Sometimes an animal has a plant partner．The relationship develops until the two partners cannot manage without each other．This is so in the corals of the sea．In their skins they have tiny plants which act as“dustman”，taking some of the waste products from the coral and giving in return oxygen（氧气）which the animal needs to breathe．If the plants are killed，or are even deprived（夺去）of light so that they cannot live normally，the corals will die．
What does the paragraph mainly discuss？
A．Some animals and plants depend on each other for existence（生存）．
B．Some animals and plants develop their relationship easily．
C．Some plants depend on each other for food．
D．Some animals live better together．
【解析】该题正确答案为A。A所表达的内容实际就是本段的第一句话，即主题句所表达的内容。只不过是换换说法而已。因此，这是一个主题句表达主题思想的范例。
【例2】Small children often laugh at a lame（跛的）or blind person or someone in bad clothes．But as they grow up，they learn not to hurt people's feelings by laughing at their problems．They learn to laugh at themselves．For example，you make a mistake and lose in a football match．Do you become angry，or can you laugh at yourself and hope to do better next time？If you can，it's a good sign you've really grown up．
The text is mostly about _________．
A．why laughing is good for your body
B．what you should laugh at
C．where you may laugh
D．how you can laugh at yourself
【解析】文章大意是：有些小孩常笑话别人的缺点，如跛、盲，甚至衣着差。但长大后，他们不这样做了，因为他们知道，这样会伤害别人的感情。相反，他们学会了自嘲。对于过错或输球，若你能笑以处之，那么，这就标志着你已真正成熟。由此分析可知，选项B为正确答案。
