猜测词义的方法(策略)

猜测词义的方法

不少人在阅读中经常碰到生词，要是问他怎么办，他的回答是查词典。一碰到生词就查词典并不

是一个好的阅读方法。因为这样做势必影响阅读速度，而且因为查词典的次数越多，阅读信心也丧失

得越多有时会导致阅读半途而费。再说，就是在词典里查到了某个词，一看解释有十条八条的，也不

知应该选哪一条。因此笔者的建议是：尽量少查词典，碰到生词时猜猜看。

也许有人会问，怎么个猜法? 当然孤零零的生词是很难猜出来的如“candid，quelled，and inundated”这几个字如孤立地猜，确实很难猜但是如果把它们放在句子中，可能很快就能猜出意思。

Since you want a candid opinion of your new pants, I honestly think they are too tight.

Candid means _______.

(A) complimentary (B) straightforward and honest (C) creative

The kindergarten teacher quelled the racket in her classroom by promising that she'd finish the funny story she had started yesterday.

Quelled means .

(a) taught (B) recorded (C) quieted

The town was inundated with water when the river overflowed during the storm.

Inundated means ______.

(A) flooded (B) sprinkled (C) blessed

在上面的句子中，那些不熟悉词的上下文有些暗示，提供了一些线索，因此，可能猜出candid意即straightforward(直截了当)；quelled意即 quieted(使安静)；inundated意即flooded(遭水灾)。

猜测词义是必须掌握的重要阅读技巧。因为作者在写作时，估计到读者有时会碰到不认识的词，

他会通过上下文给出一点暗示或线索，让读者在上下文的语境中理解这些词。作为读者，应该学会寻

找这些线索。

阅读的过程是一个思维的过程，是一个与作者交流的双向的过程。我们一边阅读，一边要问自己

好多“为什么”，并假设出可能的答案，然后去找出真正的答案来证实自己的假设。根据上下文猜测词

义也是这种创造性思维的一部分。假如动不动就去查词典(当然有时还需要查词典)，那就等于放弃了

进行创造性思维的可能性，从发展思维方法上说，是很遗憾的。

之所以不要—碰到生词就查词典，还因为假如这个词是重要的，作者一定会使它重复出现，因此，

在没有查词典之前，根据上下文，能猜出它的意思。

学会猜测词义的好处之一，假如为了理解“生词”而前后左右去寻找线索，那就一定把注意力集中

到句子上，而不是个别词语上，久而久之，就一定会自然而然地提高对句子的理解，对句际之间关系

的理解，乃至对整个篇章的理解能力。

好处之二，假如根据上下文的意思猜出了—个新的词语，就等于增加了词汇量。这个词语是在表

达意思的语境中学到的，不是干巴巴地靠背生词表，背词典而学来的，对它的印象一定很深刻。而且

知道这个词语与其他词语的关系，就知道应该怎样在句子中使用这个词语。这样学得的词汇二是轻易

忘不了的。

好处之三，假如掌握了这个技巧，就一定会省下好多查词典的时间，加快阅读速度，增加阅读的

总量，也必定导致增强阅读信心。久而久之，还会收到意想不到的结果，扩大了词汇量。

那到底应该怎样根据上下文猜测词义呢?下面介绍一些方法。

·定义法

提示词is(are)called，that is，i.e., is referred to as，定语从句，同位

语从句等。

1. A line slanting from one corner to the opposite corner is called a diagonal line.

2. An animal with four feet is referred to as quadruped.

·重述法

提示词or, put another way, 破折号，冒号，括号等。

3. In leukemia-- one kind of cancer -- too many white blood cells are produced in

the body.

4. When you have a disease like measles or chicken pox, your body cells produce substances called antibodies which destroy the germs or make their poisons harmless. When you get well, you have enough of these antibodies left to protect you from getting the disease again. This protection, or immunity, against some disease may last the rest of your life.

·举例法

提示词 for example, such as, e.g.等。

5. Electricity is sent out to homes and factories over wires, but it cannot be sent for long distances because it leaks out of the wires. Insulators, especially robber, glass, and wood, are used to help prevent this leakage of electricity.

6. Agents of erosion, like wind, moving water, and glaciers, are always at work changing the earth's surface.

·常识及上下文相关信息法

7. Luther was very sad when his grandfather died, but thanks to the inheritance his grandfather left him, he could afford to go to college.

8. Baltimore at mid-century began to boom. By 1790 it has risen to become the new republic's fourth largest city with aspirations to overtake the three still ahead.

·同义词和反义词法

9. Bob and Rose were as different as night and day; he was taciturn but she was talkative.

10. Considering the harshness of the crime, the light punishment that he received seemed quite lenient.

·构词法

11. My horse, despite its unimpressive appearance, had covered sixty miles under the scorching sun without any difficulty.

Passage 1

Aside from perpetuating itself, the solo purpose of the American Academy and Institute of Art and Letters is to "foster, assist and sustain an interest" in literature, music, and art. This is done by enthusiastically handing out money. Annual cash awards are given to deserving artists in various categories of creativity: architecture, musical composition, theater, novels, serious poetry, light verse, painting, and sculpture. One award subsidizes a promising: American writer's visit to Rome. There is even an award for a very good work of fiction that failed commercially--one won by the young John Updike for The Poor-house Fair and, more recently, by Alice Walker for In love and Trouble.

The awards and prizes total about $750 000 a year, but most of them range in size from $12 500, a welcome sum to many young practitioners whose work may not bring in that much money in a year. One of the advantages of award is that many go to the struggling artists, rather than to those who are already successful. Members of the Academy and Institute are not eligible for any cash prizes. Another advantage is that, unlike the National Endowment for the Arts or similar institutions throughout the world, there is no government money involved.