张新会
(石家庄二中雄安校区河北安新中学,河北 安新 071600)
在高中阶段,阅读理解也是高考英语试卷中所占比例最大的必考内容并且体裁广泛。所以学生在进行广泛的阅读的同时,遇到生词再所难免。常用的猜测词义的方法有:
构词法是高中生必须掌握的语法项目之一,主要是通过词根或词干,从词的前缀,后缀,合成或转化来判断出词的词性和词义。如表示否定的前缀常见的有dis,un,im,in,il,ir等。如:
(一)Shylock is so iron-hearted that he required a pound of flesh instead of money.
(二)The reorganization of the whole class is a tough task for the head teacher after a long vacation.
这种情况下,生词往往出现在前面,而定义或解释跟在生词的后面。复述即换用不同的词语重新表达同一内容,可以是单词,短语,也可以是从句。要注意复述部分与被复述部分往往构成同位语关系,在句中多用逗号连接,有时用破折号,冒号或者分号来连接。如:
(一)His uncle is a zoologist,an expert who does research on animals.
(二)As a freshman,a student who is in his first year in college,he behaves very politely.
在一篇含有因果关系的文章中,往往原因在前,因果在后,或者结果在前,原因在后。这可以根据特定的逻辑关系进行判断。如:
(一)The river is so turbid that it is impossible to see the bottom clearly even when it is shallow.
(二)He is such a shrewd businessman that he loses no money in any trade.
这类题要求学生运用语言知识和分析能力去搜寻和领会相关信息之间存在的逻辑关系,往往会出现but,unlike,in spite of,however等一些介词或副词。如:
(一)Mary is wearing so traditional while her twin sister is so modish.
(二)My husband love violent sports very much,but I show a distaste for them.
语言表达中,人们通常利用同义词或者近义词来避免词汇重复,使文章生动活泼,增加文章的色彩。有的阅读理解中,作者往往会用反义词来揭示事物的不同点,形成鲜明的对比以增强鲜明的效果。如:
Thin people might feel depressed during cold weather.Overweight people,on other hand,may feel unhappy in hot summer months.
一词多义的现象是常见的。阅读理解中出现某些生词或者一词多义的词汇时,文章的作者通常会在下文举个例子,使词义易懂。常见的例证词有:for example,such as,like等。如:
Most of us know to control basic drives such as hunger when we are very young.此例中drive是熟词新义,读了such as后的具体例子,考生就会很快理解drive的特定意义。再如:
(一)I am a terrible coward when it comes to dealing with sick people,i.e.it scares me and I avoided it.
(二)This parrot is an amazing mimic.For example,it may say “hello” and “goodbye” to you if you say those words to your family in front of it often.
语言是文化的载体。在阅读文章中,作者会或多或少渗透一定的特定文化。在阅读中,学生也必须考虑到一定的语言文化背景,也要求利用自身的生活经验和科学常识进行分析推断。如:
(一)Chongqing is a livable city,all people there feel comfortable and happy with the good environment.
(二)Most people in Chongqing love hot-pot so much no matter how spicy it is.
(三)Terracotta warriors and horses in Xi’an attract a lot of visitors from abroad every year as they are the heritages of the world.
总之,在阅读过程中,词义猜测是学生不可缺少的重要能力之一。如果学生能够运用和掌握这种能力,就会很大程度上减少生词的数量,有助于提高阅读速度和提升阅读能力。英语阅读理解能力的提升和成绩的提高是一个循序渐进的过程,学生只要找到适合自己的训练方法并坚持下去,就能攻下阅读理解这个难关。