

探究高中英语阅读理解之猜测词义题解题策略
作者: 张方超猜测词义题旨在考查考生根据上下文语境猜测某一生词、短语或句子含义的能力,是高考阅读理解常考的题目之一。虽不是考查的重点,每卷1-2道题,但其难度有所增加,应引起足够重视。
一、命题特点
该题型主要考查代词的指代、生词(短语)、熟词生义以及某句子的含义。
二、解题策略
(1)根据上下文语境。该策略适用于大部分的词义猜测题。考生需要做的就是认真理解划线单词所在的句子,以及前后句,瞻前顾后,猜出划线词的含义。
①代词。一般情况下,代词指代的内容在它前面就近的句子里,即“承前指代”和“就近指代”。但也有时候,代词指代的内容在稍远的句子中,如:例1:He raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface of a clear calm lake. Then he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless people than himself now moved towards their certain goal---the tomb. What does the underlined word“them”in the first paragraph mean?
A. Eyes B. Stars C. Lilies D. People
根据上下文语境,他抬眼看天空,看到星星像百合花漂浮在清澈平静的湖面上;下句应该是低头看地上,看到无望的人们行将就木的场景。所以,本题应选择A。
②运用构词法。英语单词常见的构词法有合成法,派生法和转化法。在教学中,我们要记一些常见的构词规则来辅助猜测词义。如:例2: If you have a juicer, you can simply feed in frozen bananas and some berries or sliced fruit. Out comes a “soft-serve” creamy dessert, to be eaten right away. This makes a fun activity for a children’s party; they love feeding the fruit and frozen bananas into the top of the machine and watching the ice cream come out below. (2018全国II)What is “a juicer” in the last paragraph?
A. A dessert. B.A drink. C. A container. D. A machine.
本题可以根据构词法,juice(n.果汁,v. 榨汁);后缀-er/-or表示做某事的人或物,再结合语境,可以得出juicer是榨汁机,即a machine. 其实本段最后一句中也出现了machine一词,所以选D。
(2)利用同义、对比和因果关系。①同义关系:标志词有and,also, similarly等。例3:"Vera Wang, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu are taking on Galliano, Albaz, Marc Jacobs--and beating them hands down in design and sales." (2017全国I)What do the underlined words“taking on”in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. learning from B. looking down on C. working with D. competing against
根据并列连词and和and之后的beating them,我们可以得出taking on 最接近的意思是D. competing against(与...竞争)。
②对比关系:标志词有but,howeve等。例4: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.(2017全国III)What does the underlined word"displaced"in Paragraph 2 mean?
B.Tested B.Separated C.Forced out D.Tracked down.
首先第一句的but表对比,前后意义转折;其次根据语境,but之后应是由于人类发展灰狼逐渐罕见了;所以应选C. forced out (赶走,逼走)。
③因果关系: 标志词有because,so,since等。例5: The flower in the vase withered because there was no water in it.因为花瓶里没有水,所以花_______。很容易得出withered的含义(枯萎的)。另外还可以通过下定义,定语从句,标点符号,同位语或同位语从句,举例子等猜测词义。
三、教学启发和备考建议
针对词义猜测题的命题特点和解题策略,指导我们在教学过程中,要继续强化基础,夯实英语基本功,培养英语核心素养,并广泛涉猎知识,举一反三、灵活应变,平心静气,不骄不躁,夺取高考的胜利。