生词猜测的依据

刘思宇

高考试卷阅读理解题设置的一个重要原则就是必须含有一定量的生词，而根据上下文猜测词义是提高阅读水平的重要途径。如何通过语言环境和上下文联系，再结合正确的方法快速而准确地猜测出生词，对阅读理解和做好考题相当重要。当然，猜测生词还可以通过派生、分解、转换、加减前后缀等方法来获取生词的词义。

[根据定义猜词义]

文中常用解释性词语引出生词含义，如that is，mean，stand for，namely，in other words，to be等，有时用破折号，括号来表示，或者以同位语、定语从句的形式出现。

例1 Have you ever wondered what a Degree might be worth to you in your job or career？

解析 这里or表示job与career同义，所以career译为职业较妥。

例2 Decision-thinking is not unlike poker....This card game has often been of considerable interest to people.

解析 从后面句子的解释不难看出，poker应是一种玩纸牌游戏。This card game就是poker的解释。

例3 The herdsman， who looks after sheep， earns about 650 yuan a year.

解析 句中herdsman是生词，但后面的定语从句已对该词作了解释，我们马上就能理解它的词义。

[根据同义词猜词义]

例4 He replied quickly. But after he considered the problem more carefully， he regretted having made such a hasty decision.

解析 句中hasty是生词，根据上文所提供的信息所知，hasty是形容词，与quick同义。

例5 The old woman had a strange habit. She kept over 100 cats in her house. Her neighbors all called her eccentric lady.

解析 句中eccentric是生词，根据句中所提供的信息，我们可以断定该词是形容词，与strange是同义。

[根据反义词猜词义]

例6 David does not see it that way. He says that computertown UK was formed for just the opposite reason， to bring computers to people and make them “people-literate”.

We can infer from the text that “computer-literate” means .

A. being able to afford a computer

B. being able to write computer programs

C. working with the computer and finding out its value

D. understanding the computer and knowing how to use it

解析 D。句中的computer-literate是生词，根据文中所提供的信息，同学们可以断定computer-literate与people-literate相反。

例7 Unlike his brother， who is truly handsome man， John is quite homely.

解析 句中unlike是关键词。它提示了John与他的兄弟情况相反。由此可知handsome与homely是反义词。故homely应是ordinary-looking的意思。

[根据因果关系猜词义]

如果上下文中有连词because，as，since，so，therefore，so ... that，such ... that连接，由已知的“原因”推出“结果”，反之亦然。

例8 The biggest power failure happened yesterday. All of our ice cream and frozen foods melted.

解析 同学们可以从停电的原因上猜出冰淇淋、冷冻食品化冰的必然结果，因此melted是“溶化”之意。

例9 There， his sister and brother， taking short and quick breaths and coughing， collapsed on the lawn.

解析 文中的兄妹二人呼吸忽急忽缓，且咳个不停，最终的结果只能是“瘫倒”在草坪上了。上半句是出现的现象，导致结果是“瘫倒”在地。

[根据对比关系猜词义]

如果句中两个意义相对比的词，只要把握其中一词，就不难推出另一词的含义，这时句中会有unlike，although，but，while等信息词。

例10 Thousands of people got stuck in lifts. But no one panicked. We passed the time telling stories.

解析 panicked为生词，数千人困在电梯中，情况应该不妙，可but引出的后半句却告诉我们“人们还在讲故事消磨时间”，因此panicked应为“慌张、恐惧”之意。

例11 One idea about business is that it can be treated as a game of perfect information. Quite the reverse， business， politics， life itself are games which we must normally play with very imperfect information.

解析 由前句中perfect information到后面imperfect information这一组对比关系的词，我们不难推断生词Quite the reverse应表示“对比、相反”的意思。

[根据同类关系猜词义]

同类关系常由such as，like，for example，for instance等词列举同类词汇。

例12 I like many musical instruments such as piano， violin and guitar.

解析 Guitar与钢琴、小提琴同属乐器，结合发音可知其含义为“吉他”。

例13 One morning more than thirty years ago， I entered the Track Kitchen， a restaurant where everyone from the humblest （卑微的） to the most powerful came for breakfast. I noticed an empty chair next to an elderly， unshaven man， who looked somewhat disheveled. He was wearing a worn-out hat and was alone. I asked if I might join him. He agreed quietly and I sat down to have my breakfast.

We cautiously began a conversation and spoke about a wide rang of things. We never introduced ourselves. I was concerned that he might have no money and not be able to afford something to eat. So as I rose to go back to the counter and buy a second cup of coffee， I asked，

“My I get you something？” “A coffee would be nice.”

Then I bought him a cup of coffee， We talked more， and he accepted another cup of coffee， Finally， I rose to leave， wished him well， and headed for the exit. At the door I met one of my friends. He asked，

“How did you get to know Mr. Galbreath？”“Who？”

“The man you were sitting with. He is chairman of the Board of Churchill Downs.”

I could hardly believe it. I was buying， offering a free breakfast， and feeling pity for one of the worlds richest and most powerful men！

My few minutes with Mr. Galbreath changed my life. Now I try to treat everyone with respect， no matter who I think they are， and no matter another human being with kindness and sincerity.

What does the underlined word “disheveled”in paragraph 1 mean？

A. Unfriendly B. Untidy

C. Gentle D. Kind

解析 B。前面的unshaven（不剃须的）和后面的wearing a worn-out hat and was alone都是对外貌的描写，所以可以猜测此处仍然是对外貌的描写，untidy（不修边幅的、邋遢的）符合语境。

[根据构词法猜词义]

在阅读过程中，同学们还会碰到一些熟词的派生词和合成词，如果平时注意词缀的用法，有意识地进行归纳记忆，考试时就会顺利抓住文章大意。

有一道高考英语阅读英语题，仅recycle一词，下文就出现了4个派生词：recyclables，unrecyclables，nonrecyclables，recycled。分别译为“可回收利用的材料”，“不可回收利用的材料”，“无法回收利用的材料”，“被回收利用的材料”。

利用构词法知识猜测词义，关键应在理解词根的基础上，掌握前后缀规律，如re-，non-，un-，im-，in-，dis-等前缀和-able，-an，-ive，-ist，-ise，-ty，-ness，-less等，要懂得这些词缀与词干结合起来可组成新的单词，即派生词。近年高考试卷中出现的派生词，如imperfect，yellowish，popularity，inexpensive，rethink，unmistakable等。

[根据上下文猜词义]

高考试题中，还有一些要求同学们用上下文提供的情景和线索猜测词义的题目。

例14 What did Cory Luxmoore mean when he said “Im on high”？

A. Im rich B. Im famous

C. Im excited D. Lucky

解析 C。从文中可以看出Cory Luxmoore丢失日记后，深感难过，后来日记失而复得，他对记者说Its wonderful， Im on high. 由此可以推断出Im on high应是“快乐，激动”的意思。

例15 The words “deluxe sedans”“minivans” and “station wagons” used in the text refer to .

A. cars in the making B. car rental firms

C. cars for rent D. car makers

解析 C。通过上下文，可判断出这些词应指cars for rent。

例16 Thousands of people living in the Chinese capital will celebrate the start of the Chinese New year by heading for the ski resorts （滑雪场）. Never mind that Beijings dry weather seldom produces snow. It is cold enough in winter for snow-making machines to make a covering for the hills north to the capital. And the rapid growth of a pleasure-seeking middle class has formed the basis for this new craze （热潮）.

Since Beijings first ski resort was opened ten years ago， the sport has enjoyed astonishing increase. There are now more than a dozen resorts. Clothes markets in the city have added bright colored ski suits to their winter collections. Mr. Wei， a manager of a newly-opened ski resort in Beijing， sees the growth of an industry that could soon lead Chinese to head for the ski resorts of Europe， In recent years ski resorts offering natural snow have opened in China. But many are in faraway areas of the country and cant really match the equipment and services of some ski resorts in Europe.

Beijings skiing craze is partly a result of the recent increase in private （私有的） cars. This has led to the growth of a leisure industry in the capitals suburbs （郊区）， which until the late-1990s were unreachable to ordinary people， According to Mr. Wei， about 40% of the visitors to his resort come in their own cars. The rest are bused in by schools， businesses or government Offices.

The problem is making money. Starting ski resorts requires quite a lot of money； hiring land from the local government， preparing the hills， buying snow machines， making sure there are enough water and electricity to run them， and buying ski equipment for hiring out to customers.

The ski resort where Mr. Wei works cost nearly $4m to set up. And as so often in China when someone comes up with a good idea， many others hash in and price wars break out. Beijing now offers some of the cheapest ski training classes in the world， though with most people rather new to the sport， expecting a few more doing the same job.

The underlined words “leisure industry” in Paragraph 3 refer to .

A. transport to ski resorts

B. production of family cars

C. business of providing spare time enjoyments

D part-time work for people living in the suburbs

解析 C。根据上下文关系，文章第三段最后一句“bout 40% of the visitors to his resort come in their own cars. The rest are bused in by schools， businesses or government Offices.”可推知：滑雪运动的开始催生了给人们提供休闲活动这一生意。