由历年考研英语真题可知，阅读理解部分的试题中，大多数是针对段落的细节设计的，其目的是为了测试考生对组成段落的主体部分的理解。在每年的考试中，细节题的数量是最多的，大约占50%，其中涉及对文章中复杂句，列举，例证，引用，转折，因果关系等的处理，因此做好这类题至关重要。
另外，细节题的测试在另一方面也可以考察考生对段落结构的理解程度，哪些是辅助论点，哪些是主要脉络，只有对这些细节有一定的了解，我们才能更深入地领会文章。海文考研提醒大家文章的细节并不是孤立的，它总要与其他事实前后呼应，一般来说，作者总会把同等性质的事实放在一起，并借助不同的衔接手段进行组合，从而达到说服读者或阐明观点的目的。
其提问方式不外乎有以下几种：
The authorprovides following examples except …?
According to theauthor, all of the following are true except (that)____。
Which is among thebest possible ways to…?
Which of thefollowing would NOT be an example____?
Which of thefollowing is the LEAST likely…?
对于细节题我们要从词义与语法(句法)着手，从这个角度来说，此类考题又可被细划分以下几个次范畴：
1)因果标志语
表因果关系的标志词可具体分为：
a。表原因
because of, since,for, as, now that, seeing that, owing to, caused by, the main reason for…is
b. 表结果
hence, thus, so,therefore, consequently, as a consequence, accordingly, for that reason
2)结论标志语
in general,generally speaking, in short, in a word, to be brief in all, in simple words
3) 转折与对比题
but, however,nevertheless, otherwise, dissimilarly, unlike, on the contrary, in contrast, inopposition to, on the opposite side
4) 比较类型标记语
similarly,likewise, in similar fashion, in similar way, in the same matter, just as
5) 列举标志语
one… another…stillanother, first…second…third
6) 举例标志语
for example, as anexample, as an instance, take…as an example, let me cite… as a proof
细节题举例说明
2001年Passage 1
Specialization canbe seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation ofscientific knowledge. By splitting up the subject matter into smaller units,one man could continue to handle the information and use it as the basis forfurther research. But specialization was only one of a series of relateddevelopments in science affecting the process of communication. Another was thegrowing professionalisation of scientific activity。
54. The directreason for specialization is _________。
[A]the developmentin communication
[B]the growth ofprofessionalisation
[C]the expansionof scientific knowledge
[D]the splittingup of academic societies
该题考察的是实行专业化的直接因素是什么，根据本文第一句即可找到答案C为正确选项，其中“as a responseto”即表示的是因果关系。
类似的解题思路可应用到以下文章中：
What accounts forthe great outburst of major inventions in early America—breakthroughs such asthe telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine?
Among the manyshaping factors, I would single out the country’s excellent elementary schools;a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiumsto inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, spatial thinkingabout things technological。(1996)
1.According to theauthor, the great outburst of major inventions in early America was in a largepart due to ________。
[A] elementaryschools
[B] enthusiasticworkers
[C] the attractivepremium system
[D] a special wayof thinking
The researchersstudied the behaviour of female brown capuchin monkeys. They look cute. Theyare good-natured, cooperative creatures, and they share their food readily.Above all, like their female human counterparts, they tend to pay much closerattention to the value of goods and services than males. (2005)
2.Female capuchinmonkeys were chosen for the research most probably because they are ________。
[A] more inclinedto weigh what they get
[B] attentive toresearchers’ instructions
[C] nice in bothappearance and temperament
[D] more generousthan their male companions
这两道题共同的特点就是题目中都有一个表示程度的限定词。第一道题中的限定词是in a large part，第二道题中的限定词是mostprobably，这两个词语的出现本身就有一个暗示，说明选项中应该有不止一个原因，但是题目要求回答出其中最重要的一个因素。原文定位第一道题，可以发现定位句“I would single out the country’s excellent elementary schools；a labor forcethat welcomed the new technology；the practice of giving premiums to inventors；and above allthe American genius for nonverbal，spatial thinking about things technological”中含有四个并列成分，分别是“excellentelementary schools” , “a labor force”， “the practice of giving premiums to inventors”和“the Americangenius for nonverbal，spatial thinking about things technological”。上述四个内容在选项中都有出现，很多同学会因为先入为主的思维习惯选择A。但是当我们注意到题干中的限定信息是要求找其中影响最大的一个因素，我们就要比照四个因素哪个影响最大。原文中的第四点前出现了above all，这个短语表示“最重要的是”，所以此题应该选择D。
类似的2005年的考题中也出现了同样的情况，题干中出现most，选项中出现了列举。“They look cute. They are good-natured，cooperative creatures，and they sharetheir food tardily. Above all，like theirfemale human counterparts，they tend topay much closer attention to the value of goods and services’ than males”这些列举也分别被设计成了干扰项。但是其中受到强调的是above all 后面的这个因素。“liketheir female human counterparts，they tend topay much closer attention to the value of goods and services’ than males”，所以此题答案为A。
上面的分析可以看出，阅读理解并不是简单的读懂文章就可以把题作对。还要能够审清题目，理解题目要求。
细节题解题方法
针对细节题，考生要注意分析句子和句子之间的关系，是因果、递近、转折还是什么？尤其要注意文章的第一句和最后一句，以及每段的第一句和最后一句与其它句子的关系，体会每句话在文章中的作用。在阅读过程中，要培养自己对文章主要讨论对象、关键词，作者和专家的观点，以及语气的把握。特别注意作者和专家的观点，专家和专家之间的观点是否相同或相反或互补，以及作者和专家的语气是赞成还是反对，是关注还是乐观等等。如果是真题，还要仔细分析考点和正确、干扰选项的规律、特征。在此过程中，可把文章尽可能的多读几遍，甚至翻译一下，提高对文章中单词、短语、句型等的反应速度，阅读速度自然也就提高了。
此外，阅读的步骤也十分重要。许多考生拿到文章之后从头读起，读完再去一个一个选答案。这种方法十分传统，叫整体阅读法。其优点是可以有一种全局感或整体感。缺点是文章太长，读后细节记不住，再去找答案又费劲又容易出错，许多细节都混淆在一起了，得分经常不高。建议同学们用一下查找阅读法：读完第一段就做第一题。然后看第二个问题问的什么，带着这个问题去看第二段，然后是第三段、第四段，依此类推。(注意，有一种问题可能此方法不太适用，那就是：主旨性问题)。查找式阅读法虽然把文章看得支离破碎，但得分往往很高，因为你刚看一段就去做一道题，这样对细节会把握得很准。