閱讀能力是外語學習者必須掌握的一項基本技能，也是高等教育自學考試公共英語科考查的重點之一。在歷年的考題中，閱讀理解已成為必不可少的重要組成部分。許多考生在做閱讀理解時，通常只是依靠讀懂短文的大意，或孤立地對照某個細節來確定短文后面的問題的答案。有的考生干脆只憑印象答題，缺少必要的分析、判斷和推理，成績不理想也就不足為怪了。因此，了解浙江自考公共英語閱讀理解的特點，掌握一定的閱讀理解技巧，對考生來說顯得尤為重要。
  近年來，浙江自考公共英語閱讀理解以說明文居多，內容涉及科技、文化、教育以及社會生活等各方面。考生要正確理解文章，除掌握足夠的詞匯、較扎實的語法知識和一定的背景知識外，還應熟悉英語文章的結構特點。英語語篇一般直接切入正題，然后層層展開。以說明文為例，其常用的推展方式有以下四種：1）按時間或空間順序說明2）舉例說明3）通過比較進行說明4）從不同的方面和角度來說明。

  其他的文體，如敘述體、新聞體和論證體雖然與說明體的寫作結構不同，但都有自己特定的程式。了解這些程式有助于考生在平時的學習中注意培養英語語篇的思維習慣，對從宏觀上把握文章的脈絡和主旨，進一步領會作者的觀點大有裨益。下面結合1998年下半年自學考試英語（二）試卷中的第一篇閱讀理解短文談談如何從分析寫作結構入手做好閱讀理解題。

Passage 1

What's the best way for you, as an employer, to deliver bad news to an employee? First of all, you have to break the news yourself, face to face with the recipient（接受者）. You can't write memos to tell people they will not get raises this year or that they have made an error or are not performing as well as expected. You have to show them how you feel about the matter and that you are personally sorry and sympathize with them. If you indicate that you are ready to listen to their reactions to your bad news, you will undoubtedly save yourself from their wrath. Above all, you must be ready for an emotional reaction from the recipient of bad news. Give people time to digest your news and to control the emotion they invariably feel. Although it is never easy to break bad news, if you follow these steps, you will at least soften the blow.

21）The author's main idea is that _______ .

（A）bad news is hard to impart

（B）all employers have to criticize their employees

（C）there are ways of softening the impact of bad news

（D）people respond emotionally to bad news

22）The author's main idea is expressed ________ .

（A）in the first sentence

（B）in the last sentence

（C）in the middle of the paragraph

（D）nowhere

23）The author's main idea is supported by ________.