阅读专题二. 英语阅读词义猜测
◎ 设问形式
The underlined word...in the second (third…) paragraph refers to (means) ______.By saying...in the firs (second…) paragraph, the author means that ______.
In paragraph …, … can be replaced by ______.
The meaning of … in paragraph… is related to ______.
Which of the following has the closest meaning to...?
The underlined sentence in the … paragraph probably means that _____.
◎ 词义猜测方法：
1. definition 定义法 2. contrast 对比法 3. similarity 相似法 4. cause and effect因果法
5. examples 举例法 6. word formation 构词法 7. context 上下文 8. common sense 普通常识
一、定义法
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通过对其定义、定语（从句）或同位语（从句）来推测出它的词义。常用“to be called, be defined as, be known as, to mean, to refer to, that is (to say), in other words, namely”等词语来提示。还有一些标点符号，如：冒号、破折号、括号等都表示后文要解释前文。如：
1. The schools are reluctant to take time off --- even teachers with tickets for the England-Argentina game had trouble getting the day off. (06福建A)
A. kind B. unwilling C. free D. careless
2. Here is the Pines, whose cook has developed a special way of mixing foreign food such as caribou, wild boar, and reindeer with surprising sauces. (04 福建E)
A. Place in which you can see many mobile homes
B. Mountain where you can get a good view of the valley
C. Town which happens to be near the Banff National Park
D. Restaurant where you can ask for some special kinds of food
3. It will be very hard but very brittle-- that is, it will break easily. A. fragile B. soft C. weak D. strong
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4. The herdsman, who looks after sheep, earns about 650 yuan a year. ( )
二、对比法
通过前面或后面出现的反义词或对比词语推知生词的意思。体现对比关系的词主要有but, yet, however, while, unlike, instead, on the other hand, on the contrary, in contrast with等。标点符号分号也可表示对比。如：
1. Lack of parent willpower may contribute more to juvenile obesity than under-exercising or overeating.（05 天津 D）
A. adult education B. childhood overweight
C. parents’ influence D. growing pains
2．We tried to borrow white shirts everywhere so as to take part in the evening party. But we tried in vain. Every one of us looked disappointed at the bad news.
A. in surprise B. uselessly C. in silence D. usually
3. She is usually prompt for all her classes, but today she arrived in the middle of her first class.
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A. late B. slowly C. punctual D. quickly
4. My mind was in a million different places. Thanks to the strict training, Bell is now no longer nervous and a lot more confident.
A. She was absent-minded B. She was nervous C. She was excited D. She was curious.
5. The main point of the plan is clear to me, but the details are still hazy. ( )
三 相似法
所谓同等关系，指的是一个词，一组词或短语在句中作同一成分，而且它们的词意都属于同一义域。通常有并列连词and或者or等作同等关系的标志词。一些常见的引出同义词的标志性词语有or, like, similar等。如：
1.The new tax law supersedes, or replaces, the law that was in effect last year. A. supervise B. review C. take the place of D. start to enforce
2. Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats, often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause right waves that endangered travelers. People’s food supplies were similarly vulnerable. Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests。（06 重庆 E）
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A. impossible to make sure of B. likely to be protected
C. easy to damage D. difficult to find
3. “The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave,’says friend Pat Williams, “He wasn’t a great actor or a great speaker. He was just Joe Everybody.”
A. Dave was famous B. Dave was ordinary C. Dave was stupid D. Dave was shy.
4. In lab tests, carbon dioxide was better than heat and several other lures in drawing the bedbug out of hiding.
A. used to kill bugs. B. used to attract bugs C. used to tease bugs D. used to feed bugs
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Doctors believe smoking detrimental to your health; they also regard drinking harmful. ( )
四、因果法
我们可通过对原因或结果进行逻辑推理，猜出结果或原因中的生词词义。通常由because, as，since，for，so，thus，as a result，therefore, so that, so／such．．．that等词汇及结构来体现。如：
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1．The plant is often pruned so that it remains only 60 to 90 centimeters high. Pruning is important because it encourages the growth of tender shoots, of young leaves. (05江西D)
A. regular cutting of the plants B. frequent watering
C. regular use of chemicals D. growing the plants high in the mountain
2. But t School uniforms are becoming more and more popular across the USA. That’s no surprise, because they offer many benefits. （05 北京春季 E）
A.tasks B. messages C differences D. advantages
3.
I feel that since you are my superior, it would be presumptuous of me to tell you what to do .
A. full of respect B. too confident and rude C. lacking in experience D. too shy and quite
4.
When some kind of pain killer was brought out recently, researchers found that the colors
turned the customers off because they made the product look weak and ineffective.
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The underlined part ”the colors turned the customers off” means that the colors_____.
A.attracted the customers strongly B. had weak effects on the customers
C. tricked the customers into shopping D. caused the customers to lose interest
5. She didn’t hear what you said because she was completely engrossed in her reading. ( )
6. All his attempts to unlock the door was futile, because he was using the wrong key. ( )
五、举例法
利用文中的举例猜测词义，常见的提示词有for instance, for example, such as等。
Today, young couples often spend lots of their money on appliances, for instance, washing machines, color televisions and refrigerators. ( )
六. 构词法
英语中很多单词都是有词根家前后缀组成的，知道词根及前后缀的意思， 就可以推断出生词的意思。
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(1) 合成：两个或两个以上的单词组成一个新的单词。如：blackboard, man-made,overthrow
(2) 词性转化：
I was asked to minute the race. “minute”转化成动词，意为“为……计时”
hand(n.)—hand(v.) empty(adj.)—empty(v.)
(3) 词缀：super- (超） mini-(极小的) micro-（极微小的） re-(再，反复) mis-（误）im-（不）
un-/in-/non-/dis(不) -able(能...的) -less(不，无) -wards(向)
eg: childish mispronounce homeless sleep-walk antiageing
1．Many artists find inspiration in traditional Indian designs. A. confidence B. creative ideas C. power D. good advice
2.….My teenage son Karl became withdrawn after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him, but the more I tried, the more he moved away.(04 NMET)
A. preferred to stay alone at home B. lost interest in his studies
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C. refused to talk to others D. began to dislike his mother
3. According to Morrissey, trying to find a diet that can cure your illness, or make you superwoman is a fruitless search.
A. an effort without results B. a search for diet without fruits
C. a diet serving as medicine D. a research on fruitless diet.
4. With their shining brown eyes, wagging tails, and unconditional love, dogs can provide the nonjudgmental listeners needed for a beginning reader to gain confidence.(03 NMET) 七．上下文
利用语境及前后的提示来猜测词义。
1. There was a gardener who looked after his garden with great care. To water his flowers, he used two buckets. One was a shiny and new bucket. The other was a very old and dilapidated one, which had seen many years of service, but was now past its best.
What does the underlined word “dilapidated” probably mean?
A. Dirty. B. Dark. C. Worn-out. D. Plain-looking.
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2. when I first became a reporter I knew a man who gave up a very well-paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small newspaper . At the time I was astonished by what appeared to me to be his completely abnormal mental state. How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area? I wanted to know.
(NMET 2006 广东)
The underlined phrase “turn his bake on ”most probably means ﹍﹍﹍﹍
A. leave for B. return to C. give up D. rely on
3. Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia found. Their experiment on more than 630 Americans showed that they were measurably happier when they spend money on others....
A. help to find B. help to bring C. help to increase D. help to get
4. The whole family had experienced such a storm before and everyone remembered the damage it has caused to stock and crops. There was very little we could do about the crops. But we needed to protect the animals in case the river flooded again.
A. money owned by the family B. goods for sale C. supplies for family use D. farm animals
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5. How has the coyote shown this extraordinary ability?”I guess if you wanted to use one word,it’d be ‘plasticity’.”says Erie Gese,an expert at Utah State University. Coyotes can live alone, in pairs, or in large packs like wolves,hunt at night or during the day , occupy a small region or an area up to 40 square miles,and live on all sorts of food,from lizards（蜥蜴）and shoes, to ants and melons.
The underlined word “plasticity”in Paragraph 2refers to____________.
A.the ability to fit the environment B.notorious smartness
C.hunting ability D.being human-tolerant
八．常识
运用逻辑推理能力，自身的生活经验及生活常识，根据上下文能读懂的部分，正确猜出生词词意，是一种行之有效的猜测词意的方法。比如了解一些英美国家的天文地理、风俗习惯、宗教信仰、政治结构、社会制度等，可以帮助加深对文章的理解。
1．Fishes live in water and have fins which help them to swim. Most fishes have slimy skins covered with scales, so it is difficult to get firm hold of them.
2．Birds fly with their wings, and they pick up their foods, and then eat them with their beaks and they use their claws for tearing, seizing, pulling or holding objects.
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3. When a doctor performs an operation on a patient, he usually gives an anesthetic to make him unconscious, because he does not want his patient to feel pain or to know what is happening to him.
4. In old days, when girls from rich families were married to their husbands, they expected to bring with themselves a large quantity of dowry. 巩固练习
1．He had been getting better, but during the night his condition deteriorated.
A. get worse B. improve C. was recorded D. developed
2. The young man failed in his experiment. He seemed to have lost all his hope. Just at that time his father came to help him, saying, “ don’t despair, child. If you work harder, you’ll succeed in the end.”
A. to fail in the experiment B. to help someone
C. to succeed in the end D. to lost one’s hope
3. There was a talk between an English visitor and a Chinese leader. The visitor could speak nothing but English, and the leader could speak only Chinese. They couldn’t understand each
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other. How could they talk on ? now came an interpreter, who could speak both Chinese and English. So the talk between the English visitor and the Chinese leader went on with the help of the interpreter.
A. a thing which gives quick translation of words spoken in another language
B. a person who gives an immediate translation of words spoken in another language’
C. a person who can speak nothing but English
D. a person who can speak nothing but Chinese
4. There is a legend that, long ago on Qing-Ming holiday, a young man named Xu Xian was coming back home when suddenly it started to rain heavily. He ran at once to an old tree so as to keep out of the rain. When he reached the tree, he saw a beautiful lady and her servant standing there. The young man and the beautiful lady fell in love with each other at first sight.
A. a letter from England
B. a story from old times
C. a book by Lu Xun
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D. a novel by Charles Dickens
5. The young man was bashful that he did not speak to the pretty girl. A. afraid B. shocked C. shy D. surprised
6. When george Washington was quite a little boy, he chopped down the young tree his father loved best. This made his father very angry. Later, the boy told his father the truth that he had cut down the tree. And this made his father happy.
A. to shop B.to make C. to cut D. to love
7. A group of soldiers were going to fight with the enemy in the village. In order to win the battle the officer had to order two soldiers to go scout the village at night, because he wondered how many soldiers there were in the village, and where the enemy soldiers were hiding.
A. to look for a place to live in
B. to search a place to get information
C. to leave a place for another one
D. to get to a place to attend a meeting
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8. Researchers are worried about the increasing pressure on pilots and ground controllers. And increasing collisions, occurring at or near an airport, have called attention to the need for more aids to aviation control.
A. accidents in which two planes hit each other
B. misunderstanding between pilots and ground controllers
C. quarrels among passengers
D. breakdowns of new types of instrument
9. Mrs. White lost his husband not long ago. It is now difficult for the widow to feed a family of four because she has no job and is given only a little money by the government.
A. a window whose glass is broken
B. a woman whose husband is dead
C. a man whose wife is dead
D. a child whose parents are dead
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10. His grandfather was a shepherd in those days. His job was to take care of sheep for the landlord. He was made to work long hours, but given little to eat.
A. a person who looks after children
B. a person who looks after sheep
C. a person who works long hours
D. a person who has little to eat
11. Tobacco taxes improve public health, they raise money and most particularly, they deter people from taking up the habit as teens, which is when they are addicted.
A. discourage B. remove C. benefit D. free
12. So far scientists have focused mainly on public buildings.”We have a very limited number of studies, so we’re almost looking at the problems through a straw.(吸管)”
A. the problem is not approached step by step.
B. the research so far have faults in themselves.
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C. the problem is too difficult to solve.
D. the research in this area is not enough.
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