四、根据转折或对比关系进行猜测
根据上下句的连接词,如but, however, otherwise等就可以看到前后句在意义上的差别,从而根据某一句的含义,来确定另一句的含义。另外,分号也可以表示转折、对比等意义。如:
(NMET2002, E篇) 74.What does the underlined word“hassle”(paragraph 1) probably mean?
A. a party designed by specialists
B. a plan requiring careful thought
C. a situation causing difficulty or trouble
D. a demand made by guests
通过上下句,A child’s birthday party doesn’t have to be a hassle; it can be a basket of fun...可以看出,hassle和a basket of fun肯定是近乎相反的意义。所以不难判断,答案为C。
五、根据同位关系进行猜测
阅读中出现一些难词,有时后面就是一个同位语,对前面的词进行解释,这种解释有时也用or连接。如:
1.(NMET2001, D篇)...and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call Anglo-Saxon (or Old English), a Germanic language.
Anglo-Saxon也就是古英语(Q吧)(Old English),是日耳曼语(a Germanic language)的一种。
2. (NMET2002, A篇) the“Chunnel”, a tunnel(隧道) connecting England and France, is now complete.此句中a tunnel是Chunnel的同位语。因此,The“Chunnel”就是英法之间的海底隧道。
六、根据构词法(转化、合成、派生等)进行猜测
在英语中,有很多词可以在前面加前缀,在后面加后缀,从而构成一个词,乍看起来,这个词可能是生词,但掌握了一定的构词法知识,就不难猜出它的词义。如:
1. (NMET2002, B篇) Market research shows that Gold and others who buy organic food can generally give clear reasons for their preferences—but their knowledge of organic food is far from complete.
我们知道,prefer的意思是“宁愿、愿意、喜爱”,根据上下文可以判断prefer的名词形式preference的含义应是“偏爱、爱好”。
2. (NMET2002, E篇)“Our parties are aimed for children 2 to 10,”Anaclerio said,“and they’re very interactive(互动)and creative in that they build a sense of drama based on a subject...”
文中interactive是由前缀inter-(相互的)和active(活动的、活跃的)而构成的,即使文中不给出其含义,根据上下文的意思也可以判断,该词的含义应是“互动的”。
七、根据生活常识猜测词义
In old days, when girls from rich families were married to their husbands, they expected to bring with themselves a large quantity of dowry.
根据常识,在旧社会,有钱人家的姑娘出嫁当然要带很多“嫁妆”。
总之,利用各种已知信息,灵活运用猜词技巧,你就会在阅读文章时如鱼得水,游刃有余。
[责任编辑:moninfu]