帥飛飛
根據(jù)上下文猜測(cè)詞義是高中生在英語(yǔ)閱讀中必須要掌握的一項(xiàng)基本技能,詞義猜測(cè)題也是高考閱讀理解的必考題之一??忌煜ず驼莆粘S玫牟略~技巧,有助于提高英語(yǔ)閱讀理解能力。
一、各個(gè)擊破,掌握詞義猜測(cè)技巧
猜詞技巧,是猜測(cè)生詞、確定詞匯在具體語(yǔ)境中的確切含義的重要手段。生詞不是孤立出現(xiàn)的,而是和上下文中的其它詞、句乃至整個(gè)篇章在意義上、結(jié)構(gòu)上和邏輯上存在著聯(lián)系的,因而有多種猜詞技巧。
1. 舉例法。
有些生詞的后面,會(huì)列舉一些實(shí)例。此外,如果還有一些對(duì)比作為補(bǔ)充的話(huà),就比較容易推斷出這個(gè)生詞的意思。例:
Some trains carries cargo, such as rice, oil and military supplies (軍用物資),while others carries only passengers.
解析:cargo對(duì)我們大多考生來(lái)說(shuō),都是一個(gè)生詞;如果根據(jù)后面表示舉例的短語(yǔ)such as,以及所列舉的一系列貨物;而且,句中有一個(gè)while表對(duì)比,說(shuō)明cargo和passengers是對(duì)應(yīng)關(guān)系。因此可以猜測(cè)出cargo的意思應(yīng)該是“貨物”。
2. 情景法。
根據(jù)上下文的情境猜測(cè)生詞或者短語(yǔ)的意思,是比較常用的一個(gè)方法,也是比較管用的一個(gè)方法。例:
The little boy sat on the floor and cried his eyes out for the loss of his favorite toy car.
解析:從the loss of his favorite toy car和sat on the floor這些情景描述,不難猜測(cè)出cried his eyes out的意思是“嚎啕大哭”。
3. 構(gòu)詞法。
構(gòu)詞法作為產(chǎn)出新詞的一個(gè)主要方法,也有助于我們根據(jù)詞根和詞綴,推斷出生詞的意思。例:
My brother manages money judiciously while my sister manages money unwisely.
解析:我們可以運(yùn)用構(gòu)詞法猜測(cè)出unwisely的意思。wise是學(xué)過(guò)的詞,意思是“明智的”,加上后綴-ly變成副詞wisely,“明智地”,再加上否定前綴un-構(gòu)成其反義詞unwisely,“不明智地”。同時(shí),通過(guò)while,我們知道judiciously和unwisely是一對(duì)反義詞,從而可以利用反義詞法,進(jìn)一步猜測(cè)出judiciously的意思為“明智地”。
4. 釋義法。
有時(shí),某一個(gè)詞對(duì)于大多數(shù)讀者而言是個(gè)生詞。為了讓這個(gè)詞易于理解,作者會(huì)用一句話(huà)來(lái)給這個(gè)詞下定義。一般情況下,定義或解釋直接在系動(dòng)詞“is”的后面,有時(shí)也在某些標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)中,如括號(hào)中、破折號(hào)后或引號(hào)中,有時(shí)也使用一些副詞,如namely和that is等。例:
The word culture has a different meaning for anthropologists (people who study humankind).
解析:由括號(hào)中的定義“研究人類(lèi)的人”可知anthropologists的意思是“人類(lèi)學(xué)家”。
5. 同義詞法。
有時(shí)候,為避免重復(fù)使用某詞,作者會(huì)用這個(gè)詞的同義詞來(lái)替代它,我們可以利用熟悉的詞語(yǔ),根據(jù)語(yǔ)言環(huán)境推斷生詞詞義。例:
It is believed that smoking cigarettes is detrimental to our health. Drinking is also regarded as harmful.
解析:從句中的also知道detrimental和harmful是同義詞,不難推斷出detrimental的詞義為“不利的,有害的”。
6. 反義詞法。
有些生詞和我們熟悉的詞之間通過(guò)but和however等詞的連接,形成明顯的反義關(guān)系,比較容易通過(guò)熟詞猜出生詞的意思。例:
Some points of your proposal are clear to me, but most are still hazy.
解析:根據(jù)but,可以判定clear和hazy是一對(duì)反義詞,clear的意思是“清晰的”,因此hazy的意思應(yīng)該是“模糊不清的”。
二、綜合運(yùn)用,提高閱讀理解能力
高考閱讀真題中對(duì)詞義猜測(cè)的考查,主要是要求考生根據(jù)上下文信息推測(cè)一些單詞、詞組和句子在特定語(yǔ)境中的特定含義,綜合運(yùn)用猜詞技巧有助于提高這一類(lèi)題的準(zhǔn)確率。
1. 綜合運(yùn)用對(duì)比法、構(gòu)詞法和情景法解題。
根據(jù)已學(xué)過(guò)的詞,利用構(gòu)詞法,并結(jié)合上下文情景猜測(cè)出生詞的意思,是解決閱讀理解中生詞障礙和擴(kuò)充詞匯量的有效方法之一。
(2017年全國(guó)Ⅲ卷·29)Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States, but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans around.
*What does the underlined word“displaced”mean?
A. tested??? B. separated???? C. forced out??? D. tracked down
解析:首先,文中出現(xiàn)了but,其前后是對(duì)比和轉(zhuǎn)折的關(guān)系,灰狼以前在這些地方曾經(jīng)很多,but之后就應(yīng)該是表達(dá)灰狼在這些地方不多了。其次,考生學(xué)過(guò)place,根據(jù)構(gòu)詞法知道displaced是placed的反義詞。此外,還要結(jié)合上下文情景,文章中提到了wolves had practically disappeared from the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans around.抓住了這幾句話(huà),尤其是其中的disappeared和fewer humans,就能選出正確答案C。
2. 綜合運(yùn)用對(duì)比法和情景法解題。
作者在寫(xiě)作時(shí)經(jīng)常把兩個(gè)或更多的人和事物放在一起進(jìn)行對(duì)比,展現(xiàn)出其區(qū)別所在。我們要深刻理解作者的意圖,抓住except for, but, while, however, otherwise, instead等一些表示轉(zhuǎn)折的關(guān)鍵詞,利用對(duì)比法猜測(cè)詞義。
(2019年全國(guó)I卷·25)But hes nervous.“Im here to tell you today why you should...should...”Chris trips on the“-ld”, a pronunciation difficulty for many non-native English speakers. His teacher, Thomas Whaley, is next to him, whispering support.“...Vote for ... me...”Except for some stumbles, Chris is doing amazingly well. When he brings his speech to a nice conclusion, Whaley invites the rest of the class to praise him.
*What does the underlined word“stumble”in paragraph 2 refer to?
A. improper pauses????????? B. bad manners
C. Spelling mistakes???????? D. sill jokes
解析:首先,要運(yùn)用對(duì)比法來(lái)猜測(cè)生詞的意思。通過(guò)Except for可以知道其前后兩個(gè)意思是相反的,doing amazingly well的意思是“做得非常好”,那么不難猜測(cè)出some stumbles的意思是表現(xiàn)欠佳。其次,要弄清楚stumble究竟是什么意思,還需要運(yùn)用情境法來(lái)解題。根據(jù)上文中出現(xiàn)的“Im here to tell you today why you should...should...”以及老師的提示“...Vote for... me...”可以推斷出,由于感到緊張(nervous),Chris在演講過(guò)程中出現(xiàn)了結(jié)巴和不恰當(dāng)?shù)耐nD。其他三個(gè)選項(xiàng),則明顯不符合語(yǔ)境。
3. 利用舉例法解題。
(2014年全國(guó)II卷·29)One of the latest trends in American childcare is Chinese au pairs. Au Pair in ...
“I thought it would be very useful for him to learn Chinese at an early age,”Joseph Stocke, the managing director of a company, says of his 2-year-old son,“I would at least like to give him the chance to use the language in the future.”After only six months of being cared for by a 25-year-old woman from China, the boy can already understand basic Chinese daily expressions, his dad says.
*What does the term“au pair”in the text mean?
A. A mother raising her child on her own.
B. A child learning a foreign language at home.
C. A professor in language education of children.
D. A young foreign woman taking care of children.
解析:為了幫助讀者更好地理解au pair,作者用了一整段的篇幅舉了一個(gè)例子:Joseph Stocke兩歲的兒子接受來(lái)自中國(guó)的25歲年輕女子的照顧,能理解基本的中文日常會(huì)話(huà)。文章明確指出:“After only six months of being cared for by a 25-year-old woman from China, the boy can already understand basic Chinese daily expressions, his dad says.”從這個(gè)例子中的being cared和25-year-old woman等詞語(yǔ)表達(dá)中,可以猜測(cè)出au pair是指A young foreign woman taking care of children。