閱讀理解猜詞悟義七法

籍萬杰

從2015年開始，《考試說明》把以往考綱中的“根據上下文推斷生詞的詞義”修改為“根據上下文推斷單詞和短語的含義”。這一變化說明猜詞悟義能力的考查范圍更廣了。筆者根據教學實踐總結出猜詞悟義的七種方法，供同學們在閱讀和答題時參考使用。

1. 根據定義、同位關系或釋義猜測

有些文章，特別是科技說明文，通常會對一些關鍵詞或專業術語下定義。有時后面緊跟一個同位語，對前面的詞或短語進行解釋，這時可利用同位關系來猜測。有時對某個詞或短語以定語從句、冒號、破折號、括號等引出并加以解釋說明，同學們可利用后面的解釋說明進行猜測。

例1 （2015江蘇卷·閱讀理解D） Some 2，500 years ago Greece discovered freedom. Before that there was no freedom. There were great civilizations， splendid empires， but no freedom anywhere. Egypt and Babylon were both tyrannies， one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses.

65. What does the underlined word “tyrannies” in Paragraph 2 refer to？

A. Countries where their people need help.

B. Powerful states with higher civilization.

C. Splendid empires where people enjoy freedom.

D. Governments ruled with absolute power.

解析 D。可用釋義法進行猜測。所猜測單詞tyrannies后面進行了解釋：one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses（一個很有權勢的人統治一大群無助的人）。因此選擇D項“用絕對權力來統治的政府”。

例2 （2014遼寧卷·閱讀理解C） Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest， Simard shows just how wrong he was. In fact， the opposite is true：trees survive through their co-operation and support， passing around necessary nutrition “depending on who needs it”.

29. The underlined sentence “the opposite is true” in Paragraph 2 probably means that trees .

A. compete for survival

B. protect their own wealth

C. depend on each other

D. provide support for dying trees

解析 C。可根據冒號后的解釋來猜測。由后面的解釋可知，樹是通過合作和相互支持來生存的。

點撥 這類詞語通常都是生僻詞，多見于科技文中。運用下定義、同位語或解釋概念的方式來定義或詮釋某一名詞是這類文章寫作的特點。結構上是先總后分（即先定義后解釋）或先分后總（即先說明后結論）。遇到這類題時同學們要注意尋找后面是否有定義、同位語、插入語、定語從句、舉例以及破折號、冒號、分號、引號和括號等標點符號，后面的內容很可能是對前面的詞語的解釋說明。

2. 根據構詞法（合成、派生、轉化等）猜測

利用構詞法生成的單詞在英語總詞匯中占很大比重。因此有必要熟記一定數量的詞根、前綴和后綴，才能夠“解剖”單詞，對生詞能夠“望文生義”，提高閱讀理解能力。

例3 （2010福建卷·閱讀理解B） Five million more families in sub-Saharan Africa will get a TV over the next five years. In 2005， after the fall of the Taliban（塔利班）， which had outlawed TV， 1 in 5 Afghans had one. The global total is another 150 million by 2013—pushing the numbers to well beyond two thirds of families.

60. The underlined word “outlawed” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.

A. allowed B. banned C. offered D. refused

解析 B。可用構詞法結合文意猜測。out作為前綴構成動詞時，有“超越，超過”的意思，與law連用，意思是“越過了法律”，即為法律所不容。再結合In 2005， after the fall of the Taliban（塔利班）， which had outlawed TV， 1 in 5 Afghans had one.可知，2005年塔利班垮臺以后，五分之一的阿富汗人有了電視機，而在這之前電視應該是“被禁止的”。ban的意思是“禁止”。

點撥 如果劃線單詞的某個部分是我們熟悉的詞語，可結合相應詞綴，利用學過的構詞知識，再結合上下文意思，推測出新詞的詞義。

3. 根據因果關系猜測

若兩個事物、現象之間構成因果關系，我們可以根據這種因果邏輯關系推知生詞詞義。因果關系的語境通常由because，so，thus，therefore，as a result of，since，so that，so/such ... that ...等標志詞體現。

例4 （2013陜西卷·閱讀理解D） Was he talk about my wonderful Scola？My son could not follow the teachers directions， he told me， and thus， Scola was disrupting the class. Didnt he know my son did not speak English yet？

58. What does the underlined word “disrupting” in Paragraph 4 probably mean？

A. Breaking B. Following C. Attending D. Disturbing

解析 D。由thus可知可以采用因果關系猜詞。由前面的原因“我兒子聽不懂老師的指示”可以推知后面“Scola干擾了課堂”。故選D項。

點撥 在閱讀理解中，根據原因可以預測結果，根據結果也可以反推出原因。利用這種因果邏輯關系可以快速推測單詞或短語的含義。

4. 根據上下文的指代關系猜測

英語文章中常使用代詞代替上文中的名詞或名詞短語，將上下文內容連貫起來，使前后關系相呼應。文章中的代詞it，that，he，him或them等可以指上文提到的人或物，其中it和that還可以指一件事。有時代詞指代的對象相隔較遠，需要認真查找；有時需要對前面提到的內容進行總結，才能得出代詞所指代的對象。解題時要返回原文找出該代詞所在的句子仔細分析，正確理解句子，或繼續向上搜索，找出離該代詞最近的名詞、短語或句子，以之替換該代詞，看句子是否通順。

例5 （2015福建卷·閱讀理解B） We would talk about the news of the day； no matter how insignificant， it was never taken lightly.

61. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to “ ”.

A. one new thing B. a request

C. the news D. some comment

解析 C。由上文中的We would talk about the news of the day； no matter how insignificant …（我們會談論這一天的新聞，無論多么微不足道……）可知，it指代前文中的the news，故選C項。

例6 （2015湖南卷·閱讀理解A） Other road users， including horse riders， manage to obey the rules so why not cyclists？

Its about time they had to be registered and insured， so when they do hit a pedestrian or a vehicle， or cause an accident， at least they can be traced and there might be an opportunity to claim.

59. The underlined word “they” in the third letter refers to .

A. accidents B. vehicles C. pedestrians D. cyclists

解析 D。該題的指代對象較遠。劃線處的they與前面的兩個they指代的是同一對象，要跨越前面兩個代詞they，到上一段才能找到所指代的名詞cyclists。

點撥 解答代詞指代題時一定要準確查找指代的對象。代詞前面可能會出現幾個名詞，此時應結合文意，“追根溯源”，找到其真正的指代對象。

5. 根據同義關系進行猜測

在劃線單詞或短語前后有時會出現與之同義或近義的詞語或結構，它往往暗示了該單詞或短語的含義，這時可從熟悉的詞語中推知生詞的含義。這樣的句子中常見的標志詞和短語有and，or，like，as well，similarly，too，also，either等。

例7 （2015四川卷·閱讀理解D） And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light. Blackbirds and seagulls are also being more nocturnal.

44. What does the underlined word “nocturnal” in Paragraph 5 mean？

A. Active at night.

B. Inactive at night.

C. Active during the day.

D. Inactive during the day.

解析 A。前文說“不僅知更鳥在人造光下會一直醒著”，下文中的also（也）表明與前面表達的意思相近，即“黑鸝和海鷗也更活躍”。nocturnal應該與awake是近義詞，意為“夜間活動的”。故選A項。

點撥 當劃線單詞或短語與其他單詞或短語有并列連詞或者表示相同或相似關系的副詞連接時，這兩項內容在含義上是接近的，由此可確定同等關系中的某個單詞或短語所屬的義域，進而可推知其大致意思。

6. 根據反義或轉折、對比關系進行猜測

當強調的事物之間有區別或對立時，作者往往會運用對比的手法。能體現對比關系的詞匯很多，常見的有but，yet，however，while，unlike，instead （of），on the other hand，rather than，on the contrary等。

例8 （2012全國卷II·閱讀理解D） Even the Ethiopian public has only seen Lucy twice. The Lucy on exhibition at the Ethiopian National Museum in the capital， Addis Ababa， is a replica while the real remains are usually locked in a secret storeroom.

54. What do the words “a replica” in Paragraph 2 refer to？

A. A painting of the skeleton.

B. A photograph of Lucy

C. A copy of the skeleton.

D. A written record of Lucy.

解析 C。本題可用轉折對比關系解答。本題可根據劃線單詞后面的while the real remains are usually locked in a secret storeroom進行推測。while表示轉折，所以劃線單詞與real意思相反，故答案為C，意思是“一個骨骼的復制品”。

點撥 對比是一種常見的寫作手法，作者常借用一些信號詞來提供相反信息。抓住這些信號詞，結合上下文意，就能快速推測詞義。

7. 通過對上下文理解猜測詞義

有些猜測詞義句意題找不到標志性線索，可以利用上下文提供的情景或線索，進行合乎邏輯的綜合分析，進而推測詞義和句意。這種類型是近年來高考考查的熱點。

例9 （2015浙江卷·閱讀理解D） In 2004， when my daughter Becky was ten， she and my husband， Joe， were united in their desire for a dog. As for me， I shared none of their canine lust.

…

They didnt. From day two （everyone wanted to walk the cute puppy that first day）， neither thought to walk the dog. While I was slow to accept that I would be the one to keep track of her shots， to schedule her vet appointments， to feed and clean her， Misty knew this on day one. As she looked up at the three new humans in her life （small， medium， and large）， she calculated， “The medium one is the sucker in the pack.”

Quickly， she and I developed something very similar to a Vulcan mind meld （心靈融合） …

56. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to “The medium one is the sucker in the pack.” （Paragraph 3）？

A. “The middle-aged person loves me most.”

B. “The medium-sized woman is the hostess.”

C. “The man in the middle is the one who has the final say.”

D. “The woman is the kind and trustworthy one in the family.”

解析 D。根據前面提到的… I would be the one … Misty knew this on day one.可知，在Misty眼里，the medium one就是指作者。再根據下一段中的Quickly， she and I developed something very similar to a Vulcan mind meld可知，很快作者就和狗相處得很融洽了，幾乎達到了心靈融合的地步，也就是說，狗十分信賴女主人。故選D項。

點撥 閱讀材料中的詞或短語與它前后的詞語、句子甚至段落有著相互制約的關系。要充分利用上下文中相關的詞匯，結合具體的語境，理順語言之間的邏輯關系，進而利用語境推測和判斷某些詞語的含義。