一、根據釋義猜測詞義
在有些文章中,某些生詞的詞義在下文中可以得到解釋或說明。這些解釋有時以定義、定語從句、同位語形式出現;有時用破折號、括號、冒號、引號等符號引出;還有時用that is,or,that is to say,in other words等次引出。例如:
1.Anthropology is the scientific study of man.有定義可知,anthropology就是“研究人類的科學”,由此可推出anthropology是“人類學”。
2.He takes a special interest in botany which concerns the study of plants.根據定語從句中which concerns the study of plants可知botany是“植物學”。
3.Capacitance,the ability to store electric charge,is one of the most common characteristics of electronic circuits.由同位語我們可以很快猜出生詞capacitance的詞義——————電容量。
4.The doctor was on the night-shift—from midnight to 8 o'clock.這里night-shift的意思可以由破折號后面的內容猜出,意思是“夜班”。
5.They are vertebrates,that is,animals that have backbones.這里vertebrates的意思可以由that is后面的內容猜出,意思是“脊椎動物”。
二、通過下文所舉的例子猜測詞義
在有些文章中,下文所舉的例子給讀者提供了猜測生詞的重要線索。例如:
Generally,we like to read periodicals,such as Time Magazine,Newsweek,Reader’sDigest,etc.根據后面所舉的例子可以推斷出periodicals的意思是“期刊”。
三、根據詞語之間的對等關系猜測詞義
以The hot tropical weather creafed a feeling of lassitude and encouraged laziness.這個句子為例,此句中的and連接并列成分created a feeling of lassitude和encouraged laziness。Created與encouraged對應,而lassitude與laziness,由此我們可以推斷lassitude的大概意思是“困乏,無力,無精打采”。
四、根據對比、轉折關系猜測詞義
以If you agree, write “Yes”;if you dissent,write “No”.為例,這里前后對比分明,前句表示肯定,后句表示否定,我們由此可以推斷出dissent與agree意思相反,意思應是“不同意,不贊成‘。
再如:Mr Green always is punctual for everything,but for some reason he was late for an important meeting last week.我們根據but后面的內容he was late,可以知道punctual的意思與其相反,由此推出punctual的意思就是“守時的,準時的“。
因此,同學們在閱讀時,要注意常見的表示轉折的意義的詞,如:but,however,though,otherwise,on the other hand 等。
五、根據因果關系猜測詞義
Mary didn’t notice me when I came into the classroom,because she was completely engrossed in her reading.句意:當我走進教室的時候,瑪麗沒有注意到我,因為她正在——地看書。據此,我們可以推斷engross可能就是“使全神貫注,吸引”的意思。
再如:There were so many demonstrators in Red Square that he had to elbow his way through the crowd.此句為結果狀語從句,根據從句的描述“so many demonstrators”和“crowd”,我們便可推知elbow的詞意為“擠,擠過”。
常見的表示因果關系的詞有:because,since,as,so,so---that,such---that等。
六、根據同義詞的替代關系猜測它在句子或段落中的意思,我們也可以利用熟悉的詞語,根據語言環境推斷生詞詞義。
例如:Although he often had the opportunity,Mr Tritt was never able to steal money from a customer.This would have endangered his position at the bank, and he did not want to jeoperdize his future.作者為避免重復使用endanger一詞,用其同義詞jeoperdize來替代,由此可推知其詞義為“使------陷入危險,危及,危害”。
本文來自:逍遙右腦記憶 /waiyu/yingyuxuexi/20506.html
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