如何猜测生词词义

第一节　如何猜测生词词义

我们知道“在阅读过程中，孤立的单个词本身是不会产生任何意义的，只有与其他词联系起来，才能构成一定的意义。 ”因此在阅读过程中，遇到生词时，首先要判断这些生词是否重要，是否会影响文章的理解，有些词是完全可以略去不读的(请参阅本章第四节有关内容) 。其次，如果这些生词妨碍了对文章的理解，则要利用各种方法与技巧尽快猜测生词意义。词义的猜测主要从以下三个方面着手:

一、通过针对性的解释猜测词义

(一)推测线索:根据生词的上下文所给出的信息(其它词的意思、词语的搭配或整句的意思或前后句的叙述)猜词。

1． The female mosquito is a vampire and lives on blood．

根据lives on blood，我们可以猜出vampire是指吸血昆虫。

2． Mary piqued John by refusing his invitation。pique的意思可以根据refusing his invitation猜出，即“使某人生气” 。

(二)定义线索:根据上下文对生词进行的定义、说明或解释猜词。具体的线索有:

1．表示定义的词语或短语的信号词，如be，mean，in other words，that is，namely，or，be called，be known as，refer to，i． e．等。

2．定语、同位语及其从句。

3．有些标点符号是对前面内容的解释，如逗号，冒号，破折号及括号等。

请看下列句子:

( 1)Semantics，the study of the meaning of words，is necessary if you are to speak and read intelligently．此例逗号中短语意为“对词义进行研究的学科” 。该短语与前面生词semantics是同位关系，因此我们不难猜出semantics指“语义学” 。(在复述中构成同位关系的两部分之间多用逗号连接，有时也使用破折号、冒号、分号、引号和括号等。 )

( 2)The invention of snorkel，a long air tube that reaches up to the surface，has made it possible for submarines to use their diesel engine even when they are submerged．通过同位语a long air tube that reaches up to the surface，我们可以得知snorkel是指“通气管” (当然，猜测的词义不会这么准确) 。

( 3)Krabacber suffers from SAD，which is short for seasonal affective disorder，a syndrome characterized by severe seasonal mood swings．

根据生词SAD后面定语从句which is short for seasonal affective disorder和同位语a syndrome characterized by severe seasonal mood swings，我们可以推断出SAD含义，即“季节性情绪紊乱症” 。

(三)范例线索:根据文章中的举例，来猜测词义。这一类的信号词有: such as，for example，for instance，like，e． g．等。

Phobia，such as fear of heights， fear of water， or fear of crowds， can be eliminated through conditioning．通过phobia后面的三个例子，可猜测出它的意思(恐惧症) 。

二、通过逻辑猜测词义

(一)同义线索:根据前后文中出现的同义词、近义词或解释性的短语猜测词义。例如:

Cathy did a fine job managing the boutique and was able to attract many new customers to the specialty store．这里specialty store与boutique同义，即“特色商店” 。

(二)反义线索:根据前后文中出现的意义相反和对立的词或词组猜测词义。标志这一类词或词组的信号词有: although，but，however，whereas，nevertheless，on the contrary，in contrast，while，on the other hand，instead，rather than，等。例如:

Unlike his grandfather， who was quite friendly and loveable，Micheal's grand father was quite standoffish．这里通过“friendly and loveable”和“standoffish”的比较，猜出“standoffish”一词的意思为“冷淡的” 。

(三)通过比较和对比关系猜测词义

通过比较和对比两件事物的相似之处或差别，作者能够更加清楚地表达他的意思。这一写作手法也可帮助我们推测词汇含义。表示对比关系的词汇和短语主要是unlike， not， but，however， despite， in spite of， in contrast和while引导的并列句等。

1． Andrew is one of the most supercilious men I know． His brother，in contrast，is quite humble and modest．该例中supercilious对许多人来说可能是个生词，但是句中短语in contrast(相对照的，相对比的)可以提示我们supercilious和后面词组humble and modest(谦卑又谦虚)是对比关系。分析出这种关系后，我们便能猜出supercilious意为“目空一切的，傲慢的” 。

2． My friend is very diligent，but her brother never finishes anything he starts．通过前句和后句的对比，可以猜出“diligent”为“勤奋” 。

3． I like to read novels with intricacy，but my sister like to read novels with simple plots．

此句中，我们通过“intricacy”与“simple plots”的比较，可以猜出“intricacy”的意思为“复杂的情节” 。

(四)通过句子的因果关系猜测词义

当生词出现在含有因果关系的句子中时，可以通过这种关系，结合自身的生活经验或一般常识，对生词进行猜测。例如:

1． All the houses in Taibei collapsed during the earthquake last year．

2． He poured a basin of water on the fire，which was extinguished immediate ly．

这两个句子都可通过句子的原因猜出结果，或者通过句子的结果猜出原因。第一句中，如果不懂“collapsed”这个单词，我们可以通过分析句子的原因“earthquake” ，推出其的意思为“倒塌” 。在第二句中，是因为泼了水，结果火被“extinguished” ，按照一般常识推理， “extinguished”在此句中是“熄灭”的意思。

日常生活经历往往会帮助我们理解某一句中的生词。

1． Peter jumped onto the motorbike and his girlfriend sat behind him on the pillion(摩托车后座) ．

2． The snake slithered through the grass．根据有关蛇的生活习性的知识，我们可以推断出slither词义为“爬行” 。

3． Husband: It's really cold tonight．

Wife:Sure it is． My hands are numb． How about lighting the furnace?根据生活经验，天气寒冷时，手肯定是“冻僵的，冻得麻木的” 。

三、通过外部相关因素猜测词义

也就是利用英语中常用的基本构词法，对词的结构进行分析，可以快速有效地猜测出有些词的意义。

(一)根据前缀猜测词义。例如:

He fell into a ditch and lay there，semiconscious，for a few minutes．根据词根conscious(清醒的，有意识的) ，结合前缀semi(半，部分的，不完全的) ，我们便可猜出semiconscious词义“半清醒的，半昏迷的” 。

I'm illiterate about such things．词根literate意为“有文化修养的，通晓的” ，前缀il表示否定，因此illiterate指“一窍不通，不知道的” 。

(二)根据后缀猜测词义。例如:

Insecticide is applied where it is needed．后缀cide表示“杀者，杀灭剂” ，结合大家熟悉的词根insect(昆虫) ，不难猜出insecticide意为“杀虫剂” 。

Then the vapor may change into droplets．后缀let表示“小的” ，词根drop指“滴，滴状物” 。将两个意思结合起来，便可推断出droplet词义“小滴，微滴” 。

(三)根据复合词的各部分猜测词义。例如:

Growing economic problems were highlighted by a slowdown in oil output．Highlight或许是一个生词，但是分析该词结构后，就能推测出其含义。它是由high (高的，强的)和light(光线)两部分组成，合在一起便是“以强光照射，使突出”的意思。

Bullfight is very popular in Spain． Bull(公牛)和fight(打，搏斗)结合在一起，指一种在西班牙颇为流行的体育运动——斗牛。

以上几种猜测词义的方法，可以帮助我们排除阅读理解中出现的一些“拦路虎” ，从而达到“事半功倍”的效果。但单凭猜测词义的方法进行阅读是不够的，只有全面掌握阅读技巧，才能更有效地提高阅读理解能力。

练习

Ⅰ． Guess the probable meaning of the underlined word in each of the fol lowing sentences ( either in English or Chinese． )

1． In order to discover who had a natural ability to learn language，the students were given tests to determine their language aptitude．

2． The cost of a college education is skyrocketing． Since tuition costs are rapidly rising，many students have to take jobs to help meet expenses．

3． Elleen manages money judiciously while I manage money unwisely．

4． Today，Elton is a prominent rock star，but only a few years ago he was unknown．

5． Unlike her gregarious sister，Jane is a shy，unsociable person who does not like to go to parties or to make new friends．

6． One of the obstacles to fast reading is vocalizing—saying the words to them selves in a low voice．

7． Experts in kinesics，in their study of body motion as related to speech，hope to discover new methods of communication．

8． They have lacked the obvious provisions，such as heating，constant hot water supply，etc．

9． The strong wind is decreasing in force，the heavy snow is moving away from the city，and the gray skies are turning blue again． I can't believe that the storm is finally waning．

10． The major points of your plan are clear to me，but the details are still hazy．

11． By anticipating the thief's next move， the police were able to arrive at the bank before the robbery occurred．

12． I became angrier and angrier as Don talked，but I refrained myself from saying anything．

13． Matrimony doesn't seem to agree with Liz—she's been unhappy ever since she got married．

14． Robben is considered as an autocratic leader because he makes decisions with out seeking the opinions of others．

Ⅱ． Choose the one that is closest in meaning to the underlined word in each of the following．

1． Mr． Brown ran into a pedestrian with his car when it got out of control and drove onto the sidewalk (人行道) ．

A) a white cloud 　　B) a person who is walking

C) a large truck 　　D) a bicycle

2． Unlike his brother，who is truly a handsome person，Adam is quite ill- favored．

A) ugly　 　　　　B) attractive

C) pretty 　　　　D) good- looking

3． There are times when one wants to be surrounded by people， but there are also times when one needs solitude．

A) to be alone　　 B) to be cheerful

C) company 　　　　D) calm

4． We offered our condolences to the unhappy woman when her husband died．

A) congratulations　　 B) sympathy

C) advice　　　　 D) instruction

5． The instructor failed the student because of his sporadic attendance record．Occasional attendance in class was unacceptable to the teacher．

A) acceptable 　　　　B) failure

C) infrequent 　　　　D) regular

6． The detectives were deluded by all the false evidence． They were completely

deceived and they arrested the wrong person．

A) wrong 　　　　　　B) arrested

C) misunderstood 　　　D) misled

7． It is better to be reflective about problems than to be thoughtless．

A) thoughtful 　　　B) uncaring

C) interested 　　　D) concerned

8． I think it doubtful that we would ever achieve all that，but I suppose it might be possible to help these crafts to continue． Our nearest smith，in Lampeter，will be retiring when he's sixty and there is nobody set to replace him．

A) a skilled craftsman 　　　　　B) someone who makes pottery

C) someone who makes tents 　　　D) an intellectual

9． The prisoner seemed to relax but actually he was thinking about the possibility of escape． His eyes stared straight ahead，while his hand moved so slowly that the movement was imperceptible． It was only when the keys accidentally fell from the table that the guard suddenly realized that the prisoner's hand had al most reached them．

A) heavy- handed

B) a matter of habit

C) hardly noticeable

D) not capable of fast or immediate action

10． Although the hazards of the trip were many—for example，the unbearable

heat，the lack of water，the possibility of getting lost，the presence of wild an

imals and poisonous snakes—Collins nevertheless decided that she must go．

A) pleasures 　　　　　B) conveniences

C) dangers 　　　　　　　D) equipment

Answers:

Ⅱ． B A A B C D A A C C