根據(jù)上下文猜測詞義八大技巧

王號召

在閱讀中，我們往往會遇到一些不認識的單詞或短語，或者認識的單詞在文章中有了新的意義，這時，我們就必須根據(jù)上下文對它們的意義進行猜測，使之不影響對文章的理解。需要注意的是，一個單詞通常有好幾個意思，然而我們要解決的是這些詞在文中所表達的意思。因此，不可脫離上下文，只根據(jù)自己以前了解的詞義來確定其意義。那么如何在特定的語言環(huán)境下猜測詞義呢？通常，猜測詞義可采用以下幾種方法：

一、利用同義詞、近義詞猜測詞義

作者可能會用一個同義詞或者近義詞去解釋另一個更難的詞，以便使他的文字意思更清楚，同義詞或近義詞往往出現(xiàn)在同一句或者同一段落中。如：

1. Doctors believe that smoking is detrimental to peoples health. They also regard drinking as harmful.

由下文的also，可以推斷出“detrimental”的意思為harmful, 即“有害的”。

2. All the other members are of the same opinion. They are unanimous.

unanimous與of the same opinion同義，可猜為“一致同意的”。

3. I see people, old and young alike, are now taking tests of intelligence, education and skill. I wonder why there is not test of ones virtue or goodness.

句中or后的goodness解釋了virtue，其意為“善行”。

4. Cleaning up waterways is an enormous task. The job is so large, in fact, that the government may not be able to save some of the rivers and lakes which have been polluted.

文中enormous 的詞義可猜測為與so large 的意思相近。

5. One of the predominant concerns today is the future of our natural resources. This issue is of greatest importance because it is becoming clear to many people that our present resources will not last forever.

文中predominant的詞義可猜測為與of greatest importance的意思相近。

二、利用文中的反義詞猜測詞義

表示對比或相反的詞有unlike; instead; but; while; however; otherwise; on the other hand等。如：

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

根據(jù)文中Unlike的意思,a shy person, who does not like to go to parties, or to make new friends表達了“gregarious”相反的意思，所以gregarious的意思為“好交際的”。

2. Most of them agreed; however, John dissented.

通過however與agreed對比，很容易得到dissented的意思為“反對”。

3. Jane was talking with others while Bliza remained reticent all the time.

根據(jù)while的提示, 前后對照, reticent的含義是"沉默寡言的"。

4. American businessmen expect employees to be punctual. They do not expect that the workers will come late.

文中punctual的意思, 可理解為not come late, 即“準時，不遲到”。

三、利用文中定義、解釋或舉例猜測詞義

通過定義，定語從句，同位語來確定詞義，如詞或詞組 (is; was; mean; that is; thats to say;or; namely; in other words; to put it another way; i.e., such as; like; especially; for instance; for example)。例如：

1. In some cultures, certain foods are taboo. Taboo is a word from the language of the Fiji Islands, used to describe something forbidden.

根據(jù)對Tatoo的解釋，可猜測Taboo為“禁忌”。

2. An expedition is a long, organized trip or journey, which is made into an unfamiliar area for a particular purpose by a group of people.

句中which引導的定語從句進一步解釋了expedition之意為“探險；遠征隊”。

3. Tom was a roamer, a wanderer who could never stay in one place.

句中roamer的意思,可通過其后的同位語wander可猜得是“流浪漢”。

4. Today young couples who are just starting their households often spend lots of their money on appliances, for instance, washing-machines, refrigerators and color televisions.

如不知道appliances的意思，從文中的舉例washing-machines (洗衣機)，refrigerators (冰箱)，color televisions (電視機) 可以猜出該詞的意思為“家用電器”。

5. To train the students to deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words through contextual clues, namely, through the words before or after the words they may not know.

namely后面的內容解釋說明了contextual clues為“情景線索”。

6. In sports, especially athletics, success is often prevented by psychological obstacles, that is, barriers that exist in the mind only.

that is后面的內容解釋說明了psychological obstacles為“心理障礙”。

四、利用標點符號（冒號；破折號；括號）猜測詞義

1. A gorilla always makes me think of the word aloof—not friendly, of distance from others.

破折號后的內容是aloof一詞“不友好；冷漠”的釋意。

2. The government promises to give millions of deprived black the essentials in life -- housing, education, health facilities, and job opportunities.

根據(jù)破折號可猜出essentials是“必需品”。

3. You can take any of theperiodicals: The World of English, Foreign Language Teaching in Schools, or English Learning.

A. dictionaries B. story-booksC. magazines D. newspapers

根據(jù)冒號后的解釋，我們可以得出C是正確選項。

五、利用所出現(xiàn)生詞的上下文與其意義上的聯(lián)系或下文進一步的敘述猜測詞義

1. The old man put on his spectacles and began to read.

如不知道spectacles的詞義，從下文戴上spectacles后開始閱讀可猜得其詞義為“眼鏡”。

2. Pigeons have a natural instinct to return home, even if they are far away and the trip is hard or dangerous.

根據(jù)后半句讓步狀語從句，可猜測instinct為“本能”。

3. The girl began to feel homesick because she had been away from her family for years.

狀語部分的意思是“她離開家人好幾年了”，對于一個女孩子來說，“想家”的結果是必然的。所以，我們通過狀語從句所提供的信息可以推斷出homesick的意思是“想家的”。

4. I am a resolute man. Once I set up a goal, I wont give it up easily.

通過第二句, 可推出resolute的意思是“堅定的”。

六、利用因果關系猜測詞義

表示因果關系的詞有: because, as，since，for，so，thus，as a result，therefore，so that etc. 例如：

1. since you are my superior (上級), it would bepresumptuousof me to tell you what to do .

A. full of respectB. too confident and rude C. lacking in experience D. too shy and quiet

此題選B。由題意可知因你是我的上司，告訴對方去做什么，一定會顯得自負、不禮貌。

2. The teacher did not hear the knocking at the door because he was completely engrossed in his reading.由因果關系為線索，可確定engrossed的意思為“被吸引”，“全神貫注”。

3. The stream is so turbid that it is impossible to see the bottom even when it is shallow.

由so...that可以確定turbid的意思為“混濁的”。當溪水很淺的時候都不能看到底部，無疑溪水太混濁了。

七、利用經(jīng)驗和常識猜測詞義

1. In spite of the fact the fishermen were wearing souwesters, the storm was so heavy that they were wet through. 暴風雨如此猛烈以至它們全身都濕透了，根據(jù)常識可推斷 “souwester”為“a kind of raincoat”。

2. The heat of sun warms some ocean water. The surface of the water evaporates, forming a cloud of warm, wet air that moves upward.太陽光給海水加熱，海洋表面溫度升高，繼而蒸發(fā)并形成一股暖濕空氣升入空中。由此可推斷“evaporate”為“蒸發(fā)”的意思。

八、利用綜合法猜測詞義

以上幾種猜測詞義的方法不是互不聯(lián)系的, 有時可以同時采用幾種方法猜測詞義。例如：

1. Since then the discovery of nuclear energy has been bitter controversy. In the supporters view, atomic energy offers the only chance of survival for civilization. The opponents, however, think that it is the most direct way to extinction. While extremists on both sides shout slogans, moderates tend to agree that new sources of energy will eventually be developed and that nuclear energy will play its part. 根據(jù)上下文, 可以猜出controversy為“爭端”。在“爭端”中就會有“支持者”supporters和“反對者”opponents, 而兩派中還會有“激進派”extremists和“溫和派”moderates。

2. Sociologists divide families into two general types: the nuclear family and the extended family, which may include three or more generations living together. 根據(jù)定語從句, 可猜測extended family意思是“大家庭”，與extended family意思相反，可猜測nuclear family為“小家庭”。

總之, 在英語閱讀中運用和掌握這些猜詞方法，就會在很大程度上減少生詞的數(shù)量，有助于提高閱讀速度和培養(yǎng)閱讀能力。