怎样解中考英语阅读理解词义推断题

吴小玲

近年来中考英语阅读理解试题非常注重对考生词义推断能力的考查，出现了代词指代判断题、熟词新义判断题和生词词义判断题，其解题方法如下：

一、分析人称演变过程，推断代词正确指代

代词指代判断题要求考生借助语境逻辑推断人称代词和指示代词的正确指代。人称代词指代判断题主要要求考生判断it（指代动物、无生命事物、特定事件和人），they（指复数的人、动物、物品和事件，属主格），them（指复数的人、动物、物品和事件，属宾格），he，she等代词的指代对象。指示代词指代判断题主要要求考生对this, these, that, those等代词指代对象进行准确判断，以考查考生对特定的人、物和事件的再认能力。历年中考实践表明代词指代判断题多出现在人称转换多、动作变换频的语境中。解题时考生应认真阅读特定代词所在句和前后邻近句的内容，弄清人称转换和动作变换的详细过程，把握其来龙去脉和前因后果，只有这样才能准确推断其所指代的对象。

例1：（2013年南京卷）

原文：There are three parts to the Global Positioning System. The first part is the receiver. You can hold it in your hand, or have it fixed into your car, plane, etc. The second part is a group of satellites orbiting the Earth. The receiver contacts at least four of the satellites and calculates （计算） its position. The third part of the system is a network of ground stations. They are all over the world. They control the satellites and make sure they are working well.

试题：43. The underlined word “They” in paragraph 3 means “”.

A. ReceiversB. GPS devices

C. SatellitesD. Ground stations

解析：D。认真阅读分析画线词所在句及前两句可知，前两句为画线词所在句背景信息，因此画线词They就指前一句中的They，也指再前一句中的ground stations。

例2：（2013年南昌卷）

原文：Nathans work has appeared in museums around the world. Children love his art because it is made out of the same toys that they play with at home and adults love his work because it is fascinating. Since it began in 2007, Nathans exhibition “The Art of the Brick” has been very popular with museum visitors everywhere.

试题：84. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Nathans work.

B. Nathans exhibition.

C. Nathans art.

D. Nathans selfportrait.

解析：B。认真阅读分析原文可知，it应指代Nathans exhibition。

例3：（2013年扬州卷）

原文：Bill Krejci, a web designer, felt that he needed to do something more for this amazingly honest man. So on February 18th, he set up a special page to raise money for him. In just four days, Billy received over $85,000 and there seems to be no end yet.

That is not enough. Billy is living with a person who is generous instead of living in the streets. And thats not all—Thanks to the news report, he got together again with his older brother, Edwin Harris who he had been unable to find for 27 years.

试题：40. The underlined word “That” in Paragraph 4 refers to（指代）“”.

A. returning the ring

B. setting up a page

C. living in the streets

D. receiving money

解析：D。由于原文第三节和第四节信息是连贯的，因此That应指代第三节最后一句内容即receiving money。

二、分析原始含义和所在句语境，推断熟词新义

众所周知，英语单词的词义非常丰富，搭配能力很强，这样一些熟词随语境不同就会产生新含义，这种新含义来自原含义又体现新特点。解题时同学们应将原含义与新语境有机结合起来，综合考虑，整体思维，从而准确判断熟词在特定语境中的新含义。

例1：（2013年天津卷）

原文：The city is still an amazing mix（混合体）of people from different countries. The people from 150 countries live and work in Dubai, and foreigners now outnumber Dubai natives（本地人）by eight to one!

试题：63. What does the underlined word “outnumber” mean?

A. To be smaller in size than another group.

B. To be more in number than another group.

C. To be bigger in area than another group.

D. To be smaller in area than another group.

解析：B。by eight to one为outnumber所示动作的结果，结合其表面意义可知其意为“在数目上超过”。

例2：（2013年山西卷）

原文：You have waited 45 minutes for the valuable 10 minutes break. But when the bell for the next class rings, you cant believe how quickly time has passed. If you have this experience, youll know how time flies when you are having fun and drags when you are bored. Now scientists have come up with a reason why this happens.

试题：56. What does the underlined word “drags” probably mean?

A. passes slowlyB. runs quickly

C. moves actively

解析：A。原文第一节前两句表明快乐会使人觉得时间过得快，而厌烦会使人觉得时间过得慢，可见drags应为how time flies的反面意义，结合drag的本义“拖、拉”可知drags应指时间过得慢。

三、分析语境逻辑，推断生词含义

分析近年中考英语阅读理解题不难发现，生词词义判断题是中考英语阅读理解词义判断题中考查最多的试题，因推断力度大、分析要求高、解题难度较大。解题时考生必须借助上下文语境逻辑，利用转折、递进、条件、因果、让步、并列、对比或定义解释等语境逻辑仔细分析已知信息和生词之间的关系，从而准确推断其正确含义。

例1：（2013年无锡卷）

原文：“Well, no. Does a boy get the opportunity to paint a fence every day? Youve never painted a fence, have you? Auntie says I have to do it with great care!”

试题：31. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “opportunity” in the passage?

A. Reward.B. Interest.

C. Ability.D. Chance.

解析：D。原文第六节中的Youve never painted a fence, have you?表明粉刷篱笆的机会不多，由此可以推出画线词与Chance意义最接近。

例2：（2013年南通卷）

原文：Using rainwater is another simple way to save clean water. You can use rainwater to wash your hands after gardening, flush the toilet, and wash your car, your pet, your driveway when they are dirty.

试题：36. The underlined word “flush” in Paragraph 4 means “”.

A. clean something with water

B. pour water over something

C. make something wet with water

D. get water out of something

解析：A。认真阅读分析画线词所在句可知，wash your hands after gardening, flush the toilet, and wash your car, your pet, your driveway when they are dirty都是用雨水可以做的事情，结合the toilet可知flush意为“用水冲洗”。

例3：（2013年武汉卷）

原文：Martin Lynch, an American businessman, had been going on vacation to a small Mexican fishing village for a number of years. One morning while going for a walk along the beach, he saw his friend Pablo Perez, a local fisherman. Martin watched Pablo unload his boat and pack the fish in a box.

试题：69. The underlined word “unload” in the passage means .

A. put… intoB. take… away from

C. break downD. set off

解析：B。认真阅读分析画线词所在句可知，pack the fish in a box为unload his boat后的结果，由此可见unload意为“卸货”，即take… away from。