英語閱讀理解中詞義猜測題的解題技巧

在平時閱讀中遇到生詞時，學生可能會去查字典，也可能會上網搜索，或者在不影響文章整體理解的前提下采取忽略法，當然也有部分學生采用“猜測”法。詞義猜測題是高考英語閱讀理解的常考題型，下面結合本人的教學實踐就如何應對這一題型，談談自己的看法。

一、詞義猜測題中常見的幾種問題設置

1） The underlined word / phrase in the first paragraph probably means / suggests / refers to.

2） The word “...”in the second paragraph can be replaced by.

3） Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word in the third paragraph？

4） Which of the following best explains the underlined word in the last but one paragraph？

5） The meaning of the underlined word in the last paragraph is related to.

二、應對策略

1. 定義法（Definition）

在閱讀中，通常會出現“means， is， that is to say， or， or rather， namely， in other words...”等表示定義或解釋說明的提示，幫助學生去理解要猜測單詞的意思。

1） Crime is a very serious problem in Britain. One sort of crime which particularly worries people is juvenile crimes—crimes committed by young people.

juvenile crimes對學生來說是生詞，但根據其破折號后的定義crimes committed by young people，就容易猜測出劃線部分的中文意思為“青少年犯罪”。

2） They surrendered， that is， threw out their weapons and walked out with their hands above their heads.

在本句中，根據“that is”后面的內容，能夠猜出“surrendered”為“投降”之意。

3） 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.

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

A. Countries where their people need help

B. Powerful states with happiness

C. Splendid states where people enjoy freedom

D. Empires ruled with absolute power

根據劃線單詞后面的定義“one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses”，可以判斷出本題應選D。

2. 構詞法（Word formation）

在構詞法中，主要包括派生詞、合成詞以及詞性的轉化，而派生詞主要通過詞的前綴和后綴構成，因此學生熟記一些前綴、后綴以及詞性的轉化規則是必須的。例如：ex 前任的，以前的; macro宏，大; anti反對，反; semi半，部分的; post后; vice 副; ship身份，資格; ify動詞標志; able形容詞標志等。

根據構詞法，學生在閱讀中就能夠猜測出以下單詞的意思：exsoldier退伍士兵、 antimissile反導彈、 macroeconomic宏觀經濟的、postwar戰后、semifinal半決賽、 vicepresident副總統、purify使……凈化、variable 可變的，易變的等。

1） New research has found that the ability to quantify may develop much sooner.

根據構詞法，ify 是動詞的標志，學生可以猜測出quantify 表示“確定……的數量”。

2） The computer also counts the loads and gives a signal by phone when the box is full. And a special piece of equipment breaks up the nonrecyclable resources.

根據構詞法，前綴non 表示not，后綴able 是形容詞的標志，所以單詞nonrecyclable表示“不可回收的”。

3. 舉例法（Example）

所謂舉例法，顧名思義學生可以根據所要猜測單詞后所舉的例子，進一步猜出該詞的意思。

The click of button allows people miles away apart to talk or to see each other without even leaving their homes. With the communication gadgets， such as mobiles phones and iPads， people often do not take the effort to visit one another personally.

The underlined word “gadgets” is closest in meaning to “ ”.

A. toolsB. messages

C. barriers D. skills

根據such as后面的 mobile phones and iPads， 學生不難猜出communication gadgets 指的是“通訊工具”，所以答案為A。

4. 上下文（Context）

根據上下文語境及前后句之間的邏輯關系，可以判斷出所猜測單詞的含義。

1） He is a resolute man. Once he made up his mind to do something， he wont give it up halfway.

The word “resolute” means：

A. weakB. firm

C. kind D. clever

根據后面的描述Once he made up his mind to do something， he wont give it up halfway，我們可以猜測出resolute 為“堅決的”，所以答案為B。

2） Helping laidoff workers and unemployed people find jobs is crucial （關系重大的） and pressing task facing the Chinese Government， President stressed yesterday， he urged better service to create work for the unemployed.

根據unemployed一詞以及find jobs，可判斷出laidoff與unemployed是近義詞，從而猜測出laidoff 為“被解雇的”。

3） Most women in China—educated and illiterate， the urban and rural， the young and old work to earn an income in addition to maintaining their roles as housewives and mothers.

The underlined word “illiterate” is closest to “ ”.

A. repeat B. reiterated

C. uneducatedD. sick

根據文中the urban and rural， the young and old可知，and連接的兩個單詞構成反義詞組，所以劃線單詞illiterate 應該是educated 的反義詞，所以答案為C。

5. 常識（common sense）

1） Doctors believe that smoking cigarettes is detrimental to your health.

根據常識smoking與health 之間的關系，學生很容易猜出detrimental 是“有害的”。

2） People who refuse to comply with the law will be punished.

根據常識，學生可以猜測出整句話的中文為“拒絕遵守法律的那些人將受到懲罰”，所以 comply with應為“遵守”之意。

（作者：劉善霞，江蘇省泰州市第三高級中學）