托福阅读修辞目的题的格式是这个样子的：“why does author mention ”注意这里的why不是定位文中的because来找答案，而是应采取这样一种思维即：题干作为一个细节，其存在的价值是为了支撑前面出现的观点，所以答案在题干细节出现的位置前面去找，也就是找到观点 (注意避开其他同样支撑观点的细节)

　　实例1：

　　Paragraph 6: But neither the human imitativeinstinct nor a penchant for fantasy by itself leads to an autonomous theater.Therefore, additional explanations are needed. One necessary condition seems tobe a somewhat detached view of human problems. For example, one sign of thiscondition is the appearance of the comic vision, since comedy requires sufficientdetachment to view some deviations from social norms as ridiculous rather thanas serious threats to the welfare of the entire group. Another condition thatcontributes to the development of autonomous theater is the emergence of theaesthetic sense.

　　2. Why does the author mention “comedy”?

　　A. To give an example of early types of theater.

　　B. To explain how theater helps a society respond to threats to its welfare.

　　C. To help explain why detachment is needed for the development of theater.

　　D. To show how theatrical performers become detached from other members of society.

　　本题中的comedy虽为一个小词，看似不起眼，但是它所存在的句子，句首为for example，这就构成了明显的举例关系，所以答案还是在前面找这个例子所证明的观点。第一句中的neither直接否定了两个观点，后面出现的therefore带起的句子是个过渡，第三句中才给出了detached view这一观点，因此看A项中没有detached相关的内容，排除，B项提到了welfare，无关信息，排除。C和D提到了detach但是D项中的other members没有提到。故，选C。

　　实例2：

　　The fins are stiff, smooth, and narrow, qualities that also help cut drag. When not in use, the fins are tucked into special grooves or depressions so that they lie flush with the body and do not break up its smooth contours. Airplanes retract their landing gear while in flight for the same reason.

　　1. Why does the author mention that Airplanes retract their landing gear while in flight?

　　A.To show that air resistance and water resistance work differently from each other.

　　B.To argue that some fishes are better designed than airplanes are.

　　C.To provide evidence that airplane engine have studied the design of fish bodies.

　　D.To demonstrate a similarity in design between certain fishes and airplanes.

　　本题中的利用题干中的landing gear很好定位，答案在此信息之前，文章作者用airplane来举例说明landing gear的功能，它受到这个的启发来自于fin are tucked into the grooves ordepressions(鱼鳍藏于侧身凹槽而不会破坏其本身的流线型题型)。而CD选项都提到了design, 但是C提到 了airplane engine，这一概念文中并未提及，所以是错误的，正确答案是D项。