【阅读】不“识字”却解其意?想想就很爽!

2020/10/10 08:00:00

今年你还会参加多少场英语竞赛/考试?做题时最困难的是什么?相信很多同学会说是:不认识单词,不明白词意。

想不想掌握一项技能,让你不论参加“外研社·国才杯”全国英语阅读大赛,还是四六级、雅思托福、期末考等大小考试,都能够看懂那些陌生的单词?今天小编就来分享一个让你不“识字”但能解其意的神仙妙招!

根据上下文猜测词义

在阅读过程中,遇到生词是在所难免的。这时需要同学们学会根据上下文语境,对词义进行合理推测。常用的推测方法主要有以下三种。

1 通过转折对比的线索

句子中的转折词能够实现意思的转折,我们通常可以根据转折后的意思猜测出前面词的含义,或者根据前面的意思猜测出转折后的含义。

常见转折词:but, yet, however, nevertheless…

例如:frivolous的词义

After having had a really bad day, she wanted to read something frivolous. Normally, however, she preferred serious novels.

猜题思路:

转折词however前面的意思是:在经历了非常不开心的一天后,她想读一些frivolous的东西;而however后面的意思是:通常情况下,她喜欢读严肃的小说。frivolous和serious的意思相反,所以frivolous的意思是“不严肃的,草率的,随便的”。


2 通过同义复述的线索

表示解释的过渡词(组)后面的词语或句子通常是对前面词语含义的复述,所以我们可以根据这些同义复述推测出前面词语的词义。

例如:famished的词义

The little girl was famishedin other words, she was starving.

猜题思路:

常见过渡词(组):or, also known as, in other words, the same as…

表示解释的过渡词组in other words前后句子的含义相同,后面句子的意思是:她正饿着肚子;所以前面句子中的famished等同于starving,意思都是“很饿的”。


3 通过举例暗示的线索

在一段话中,如果出现难以理解的词,后面通常会使用一两个例子对该词进行解释。我们可以根据这些例子的暗示猜测出词义。


例如:ambivalent的词义

His feelings for his cousin were ambivalentsometimes he delighted in her company; at other times he couldn't stand the sight of her.

猜题思路:这个句子的意思是:他对他表妹(姐)的感觉ambivalent,后面的两个句子是对ambivalent这种感觉的举例说明:“有时他喜欢和她待在一起,有时他甚至不愿见到她”,所以ambivalent的意思是“矛盾的”。


真题演练

学完猜词方法,下面我们来体验几道大赛真题。

1. "To remain stable is to refrain from trying to separate yourself from a pain because you know that you cannot. Running away from fear is fear, fighting pain is pain, trying to be brave is being XXXX. If the mind is in pain, the mind is pain. The thinker has no other form than his thought. There is no escape."

(From The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety)

 

Q: Which of the following is most probably the missing word XXXX?

A. brutal

B. scared

C. inspired

D. evasive


2. When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle, everybody said she was the most XXXX child ever seen. It was true, too.

 

She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the faces of her nurse and the other native servants. They always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything. By the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived.

 

Q: What is the meaning of the missing word XXXX in the text?

A. unscrupulous

B. independent

C. disagreeable

D. unfortunate


答案:1. B  2. C


在阅读中,猜测词义是学习生词的第一步,但是我们不能止步于此,而是要牢牢记住、掌握这些猜测出来的词义,这样才能不断扩大、充实自己的词汇量,最终提高阅读能力。从另一个角度来说,你的词汇量越大,你猜词的能力也就越强,猜到的词义就会越准确。

 

下面,我们就来总结下今天猜到的单词词义。


单词

词性

词义

frivolous

adj

不严肃的,草率的,

随便的

brutal

adj

野蛮的,残忍的

scared

adj

害怕的

inspired

adj

受启发的,有灵感的

evasive

adj

推脱的,逃避的

famished

adj

很饿的

ambivalent

adj

矛盾的

unscrupulous

adj

肆无忌惮的,寡廉鲜耻的

disagreeable

adj

讨厌的,令人不快的