英语中的修辞手段很多，但是大体与中文一致。在SAT考试中出现的典型的考题主要有下列几道：
例一：Paragraph 4 (line 29-37):Yawning can also be a Sign of stress in humans. Once, when observing airborne troops about to take their first parachute jump, I noticed that several of the soldiers were sitting in the plane and yawning. It was 10 A.M., just after a research is a time-consuming coffee break, and I doubted that they were tired; I knew for a fact that they were far too nervous to be bored. When I asked about this, the officer in charge laughed and said it primarily was really quite a common behavior, especially on the first jump.
15. The author uses which of the following in the fourth paragraph (lines 29-37) ?
(A) Understatement
(B) Personification
(C) Analogy
(D) Metaphor
(E) Anecdote
讲解：这道题很简单，作者通过叙述自己的一件亲身经历的事情来证明段落开头的分论点即“Yawning can also be a Sign of stress in humans”所以作者在这里所运用的就是E项 ANECDOTE(轶事)。
例二：Passage 1 (line 3-9)
For millennia, parents have recognized the newborn s basic need for safety, nourishment, warmth, and nurturing. Now science has added stunning revelations about human development from birth to age three., confining that parents and other adult caregivers play a critical role in influencing a child’s development.
9. Lines 3-9 of Passage 1 ("For millennia ... development") draw a parallel between
(A) traditional practices and contemporary critiques
(B) basic human needs and intellectual endeavors
(C) widespread beliefs and scientific findings
(D) parental anxieties and developmental advances
(E) experimental hypotheses and proven theories
讲解：这道题是对平行结构(PARALLEL)这种修辞手段的考查。出题人要求考生识别出作者在文中对上千年来人们的信仰和科学新发现的对比。因此，此题的答案为C项。
例三：Passage 2 (line 46-56)
Doctors, architects, executives, consultants, receptionists, and lawyers all manage to survive economically without "owning" their cognition. I take further comfort in the fact that the human species managed to produce pretty decent creative work during the 5,000 years that preceded 1710, when the Statute of Anne, the world’s first modem copyright law, passed the British parliament. Sophocles, Dante, da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Newton, Cervantes, Bach-- all found reasons to get out of bed in the morning without expecting to own the works they created.
15. The use of the phrase "pretty decent" in Passage 2 (line 50) conveys
(A) solemn detachment
(B) cheerful celebration
(C) ironic understatement
(D) lingering doubt
(E) reluctant approval
讲解：此题难度较大，是使很多考生很困惑的一道修辞手段题。原文作者想要告诉读者：在世界上第一部知识产权法到来之前的几千年历史长河中，人类也创造了“还不错的”艺术作品。很显然，文章结尾的那些伟大艺术家的名字使我们立刻了解到作者所谓的“还不错的”艺术作品并不是他字面的意思。他实际上是运用了一种轻描淡写的方式使自己的语言更具说服力。而这种轻描淡写的方式就是C项中的IRONIC UNDERSTATEMENT.
例四：line 75-82
Uncle: Take care! take care! (warning her with voice and hand that trembled alike.)
Niece: Why? What shadow of power have you over me? Why should I fear you?
Uncle: Take care, madam!
Niece: Scrupulous care I will take, Mr. Sympson. Before I marry, I am resolved to esteem--to admire—to love.
14. In lines 80-82 ("Scrupulous...love"), Miss Keeldar deflects the warning from Mr. Sympson by
(A) deliberately misunderstanding his meaning
(B) scornfully turning the blame back on him
(C) childishly mocking the tone of his comment
(D) lamenting his failure to sympathize with her
(E) justifying her previously sensible behavior
讲解：这是一道很是隐晦的修辞手段题。全文就是一个女孩和自己的监护人争吵得过程。他们的矛盾焦点就是这个女孩子是否要嫁给一个自己不喜欢的男孩子的问题。到了第80行左右，两个人的争论已经到了白热化。监护人警告女孩：“你给我小心点儿!”但是女孩儿却十分聪明的把CARE这个词理解成“照顾”。所以她说“我会小心谨慎的照顾自己的!”很显然，女孩儿时故意错误的理解监护人的意思使其更加生气。CARE这个词的运用其实就是我们修辞手段中的双关语。因此答案是A项。
通过上述的几道真题的讲解我想大家对SAT阅读中的新增题型---修辞手段题有了更近一步的了解。其实，只要我们在考试之前对各种修辞手段有所了解就不会在考试的时候出现无故失分现象。下面我就把几种重要的修辞手段进行总结，希望能够对备考的SAT考生有所帮助。
Understatement：低调的陈述
定义：A figure of speech which contains an understatement of emphasis, and therefore the opposite of hyperbole. Often used in everyday speech and usually with laconic or ironic intentions.
这种修辞格是故意使用有节制的措辞来陈述事实，故意轻描淡写，借低调与弱化语言形式来表示强调。
例子：1.I know he is honest, and I wish I could add he were capable.
我知道他是诚实的，我还希望我能说他是能干的。
此句也是用虚拟语气来体现understatement，I could add he were capable其实是在说“但他不够能干”。
2.The face wasn’t a bad one; it had what they called charm.
面孔不算难看，有一般人所称的妩媚。
此句不是冲淡她的魅力，而是采用低调渲染，意即The face was sweet; her charm conquered everybody. 明似贬抑，实则褒扬.
simile:明喻
定义：A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared.
明喻是一种修辞手法，把两种基本不相像的东西进行比较.
例子：1.He is something of a political chameleon.他有点象政治上的变色龙
2.He looked as if he had just stepped out of my book of fairytales and had passed me like a spirit.
他看上去好像刚从我的童话故事书中走出来，像幽灵一样从我身旁走过去。
sarcasm:讽刺
定义：It attacks in a taunting and bitter manner, and its aim is to disparage ,ridicule and wound the feelings of the subject attacked
例子：1.Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies ,but let wasps break through
法律就像是蜘蛛网，只能抓住小飞虫，轻易让大黄蜂一冲即破。
2.Behind every successful man, there is a woman. And behind every ， unsuccessful man , there are two.
每个成功男人的背后,都有一个女人. 每个不成功男人的背后, 都有两个.
rhetorical question:反问句
定义：a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered a question to which no answer is required: used it for dramatic or emphasis effect
设立一个不需要回答的问题，以起到戏剧或者强调的效果
例子：1.Did you help me when I needed help?
在我需要的时候，你帮助过我吗?
2.Did you once offer to intercede in my behalf?
你曾经理解支持过我吗?
Pun:双关语
定义：The use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more meanings or different associations, or the use of two or more words of the same or nearly the same sound with different meanings, so as to produce a humorous effect.
用一个词去暗示两种或两种以上的意义或引起不同的联想，或者用两个或两个以上发音相同或相近而意义不同的词，以产生一种幽默效果。)
例子：1.Mother: Your hair needs cutting badly.
Daughter: I think it needs cutting nicely, it was cut badly last time .
(badly: a. 非常; b. 坏)
2.Judge: Tell me why you parked there.
Driver: Because, Your Honor, it said “Fine for Parking”
(fine: a. 好的; b. 罚款)
oxymoron：矛盾的修辞
定义：A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined
在修辞中使用不协调或前后矛盾的方法
例子：1.The coach had to be cruel to be kind to his trainees.
教练为了对他的受训者仁慈就要对他们残酷
2.She read the long-awaited letter with a tearful smile.
她带着含泪的微笑读那封盼望已久的信
metaphor：隐喻
定义：A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison.
用一个词来指代与该词所指事物有相似特点的另外一个事物
例子：1.He has a heart of stone. 他有一颗铁石心肠
2.The diamond department was the heart and center of the store.
钻石部是商店的心脏和核心。
hyperbole：夸张
定义：A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect
通过夸张的描述达到某种修辞效果，
例子：1.My heart almost stopped beating when I heard my girl friend’s voice on the phone.
从电话里听到我女朋友的声音，我的心几乎停止跳动。
2.She gave me the impression of having more teeth, white and large and even, than were necessary for any practical purpose.
她给我的印象是：她有一口洁白整齐的大牙，为数之多已超过任何实际需要。
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