英语阅读理解中词义猜测题的解题技巧

在平时阅读中遇到生词时，学生可能会去查字典，也可能会上网搜索，或者在不影响文章整体理解的前提下采取忽略法，当然也有部分学生采用“猜测”法。词义猜测题是高考英语阅读理解的常考题型，下面结合本人的教学实践就如何应对这一题型，谈谈自己的看法。

一、词义猜测题中常见的几种问题设置

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、应对策略

1. 定义法（Definition）

在阅读中，通常会出现“means， is， that is to say， or， or rather， namely， in other words...”等表示定义或解释说明的提示，帮助学生去理解要猜测单词的意思。

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对学生来说是生词，但根据其破折号后的定义crimes committed by young people，就容易猜测出划线部分的中文意思为“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，根据“that is”后面的内容，能够猜出“surrendered”为“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

根据划线单词后面的定义“one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses”，可以判断出本题应选D。

2. 构词法（Word formation）

在构词法中，主要包括派生词、合成词以及词性的转化，而派生词主要通过词的前缀和后缀构成，因此学生熟记一些前缀、后缀以及词性的转化规则是必须的。例如：ex 前任的，以前的; macro宏，大; anti反对，反; semi半，部分的; post后; vice 副; ship身份，资格; ify动词标志; able形容词标志等。

根据构词法，学生在阅读中就能够猜测出以下单词的意思：exsoldier退伍士兵、 antimissile反导弹、 macroeconomic宏观经济的、postwar战后、semifinal半决赛、 vicepresident副总统、purify使……净化、variable 可变的，易变的等。

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

根據构词法，ify 是动词的标志，学生可以猜测出quantify 表示“确定……的数量”。

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.

根据构词法，前缀non 表示not，后缀able 是形容词的标志，所以单词nonrecyclable表示“不可回收的”。

3. 举例法（Example）

所谓举例法，顾名思义学生可以根据所要猜测单词后所举的例子，进一步猜出该词的意思。

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

根据such as后面的 mobile phones and iPads， 学生不难猜出communication gadgets 指的是“通讯工具”，所以答案为A。

4. 上下文（Context）

根据上下文语境及前后句之间的逻辑关系，可以判断出所猜测单词的含义。

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

根据后面的描述Once he made up his mind to do something， he wont give it up halfway，我们可以猜测出resolute 为“坚决的”，所以答案为B。

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

根据unemployed一词以及find jobs，可判断出laidoff与unemployed是近义词，从而猜测出laidoff 为“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

根据文中the urban and rural， the young and old可知，and连接的两个单词构成反义词组，所以划线单词illiterate 应该是educated 的反义词，所以答案为C。

5. 常识（common sense）

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

根據常识smoking与health 之间的关系，学生很容易猜出detrimental 是“有害的”。

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

根据常识，学生可以猜测出整句话的中文为“拒绝遵守法律的那些人将受到惩罚”，所以 comply with应为“遵守”之意。

（作者：刘善霞，江苏省泰州市第三高级中学）