阅读理解猜词悟义七法

籍万杰

从2015年开始，《考试说明》把以往考纲中的“根据上下文推断生词的词义”修改为“根据上下文推断单词和短语的含义”。这一变化说明猜词悟义能力的考查范围更广了。笔者根据教学实践总结出猜词悟义的七种方法，供同学们在阅读和答题时参考使用。

1. 根据定义、同位关系或释义猜测

有些文章，特别是科技说明文，通常会对一些关键词或专业术语下定义。有时后面紧跟一个同位语，对前面的词或短语进行解释，这时可利用同位关系来猜测。有时对某个词或短语以定语从句、冒号、破折号、括号等引出并加以解释说明，同学们可利用后面的解释说明进行猜测。

例1 （2015江苏卷·阅读理解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。可用释义法进行猜测。所猜测单词tyrannies后面进行了解释：one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses（一个很有权势的人统治一大群无助的人）。因此选择D项“用绝对权力来统治的政府”。

例2 （2014辽宁卷·阅读理解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。可根据冒号后的解释来猜测。由后面的解释可知，树是通过合作和相互支持来生存的。

点拨 这类词语通常都是生僻词，多见于科技文中。运用下定义、同位语或解释概念的方式来定义或诠释某一名词是这类文章写作的特点。结构上是先总后分（即先定义后解释）或先分后总（即先说明后结论）。遇到这类题时同学们要注意寻找后面是否有定义、同位语、插入语、定语从句、举例以及破折号、冒号、分号、引号和括号等标点符号，后面的内容很可能是对前面的词语的解释说明。

2. 根据构词法（合成、派生、转化等）猜测

利用构词法生成的单词在英语总词汇中占很大比重。因此有必要熟记一定数量的词根、前缀和后缀，才能够“解剖”单词，对生词能够“望文生义”，提高阅读理解能力。

例3 （2010福建卷·阅读理解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。可用构词法结合文意猜测。out作为前缀构成动词时，有“超越，超过”的意思，与law连用，意思是“越过了法律”，即为法律所不容。再结合In 2005， after the fall of the Taliban（塔利班）， which had outlawed TV， 1 in 5 Afghans had one.可知，2005年塔利班垮台以后，五分之一的阿富汗人有了电视机，而在这之前电视应该是“被禁止的”。ban的意思是“禁止”。

点拨 如果划线单词的某个部分是我们熟悉的词语，可结合相应词缀，利用学过的构词知识，再结合上下文意思，推测出新词的词义。

3. 根据因果关系猜测

若两个事物、现象之间构成因果关系，我们可以根据这种因果逻辑关系推知生词词义。因果关系的语境通常由because，so，thus，therefore，as a result of，since，so that，so/such ... that ...等标志词体现。

例4 （2013陕西卷·阅读理解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可知可以采用因果关系猜词。由前面的原因“我儿子听不懂老师的指示”可以推知后面“Scola干扰了课堂”。故选D项。

点拨 在阅读理解中，根据原因可以预测结果，根据结果也可以反推出原因。利用这种因果逻辑关系可以快速推测单词或短语的含义。

4. 根据上下文的指代关系猜测

英语文章中常使用代词代替上文中的名词或名词短语，将上下文内容连贯起来，使前后关系相呼应。文章中的代词it，that，he，him或them等可以指上文提到的人或物，其中it和that还可以指一件事。有时代词指代的对象相隔较远，需要认真查找；有时需要对前面提到的内容进行总结，才能得出代词所指代的对象。解题时要返回原文找出该代词所在的句子仔细分析，正确理解句子，或继续向上搜索，找出离该代词最近的名词、短语或句子，以之替换该代词，看句子是否通顺。

例5 （2015福建卷·阅读理解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 …（我们会谈论这一天的新闻，无论多么微不足道……）可知，it指代前文中的the news，故选C项。

例6 （2015湖南卷·阅读理解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。该题的指代对象较远。划线处的they与前面的两个they指代的是同一对象，要跨越前面两个代词they，到上一段才能找到所指代的名词cyclists。

点拨 解答代词指代题时一定要准确查找指代的对象。代词前面可能会出现几个名词，此时应结合文意，“追根溯源”，找到其真正的指代对象。

5. 根据同义关系进行猜测

在划线单词或短语前后有时会出现与之同义或近义的词语或结构，它往往暗示了该单词或短语的含义，这时可从熟悉的词语中推知生词的含义。这样的句子中常见的标志词和短语有and，or，like，as well，similarly，too，also，either等。

例7 （2015四川卷·阅读理解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。前文说“不仅知更鸟在人造光下会一直醒着”，下文中的also（也）表明与前面表达的意思相近，即“黑鹂和海鸥也更活跃”。nocturnal应该与awake是近义词，意为“夜间活动的”。故选A项。

点拨 当划线单词或短语与其他单词或短语有并列连词或者表示相同或相似关系的副词连接时，这两项内容在含义上是接近的，由此可确定同等关系中的某个单词或短语所属的义域，进而可推知其大致意思。

6. 根据反义或转折、对比关系进行猜测

当强调的事物之间有区别或对立时，作者往往会运用对比的手法。能体现对比关系的词汇很多，常见的有but，yet，however，while，unlike，instead （of），on the other hand，rather than，on the contrary等。

例8 （2012全国卷II·阅读理解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。本题可用转折对比关系解答。本题可根据划线单词后面的while the real remains are usually locked in a secret storeroom进行推测。while表示转折，所以划线单词与real意思相反，故答案为C，意思是“一个骨骼的复制品”。

点拨 对比是一种常见的写作手法，作者常借用一些信号词来提供相反信息。抓住这些信号词，结合上下文意，就能快速推测词义。

7. 通过对上下文理解猜测词义

有些猜测词义句意题找不到标志性线索，可以利用上下文提供的情景或线索，进行合乎逻辑的综合分析，进而推测词义和句意。这种类型是近年来高考考查的热点。

例9 （2015浙江卷·阅读理解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 （心灵融合） …

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。根据前面提到的… 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。再根据下一段中的Quickly， she and I developed something very similar to a Vulcan mind meld可知，很快作者就和狗相处得很融洽了，几乎达到了心灵融合的地步，也就是说，狗十分信赖女主人。故选D项。

点拨 阅读材料中的词或短语与它前后的词语、句子甚至段落有着相互制约的关系。要充分利用上下文中相关的词汇，结合具体的语境，理顺语言之间的逻辑关系，进而利用语境推测和判断某些词语的含义。