在閱讀中, 我們往往會遇到一些不認(rèn)識的單詞或短語, 或者認(rèn)識的單詞在文章中有了新的意義、如果這些詞或短語不影響對文章主要內(nèi)容的理解, 我們便可以將它們略過, 繼續(xù)閱讀。如果了解這些詞語的意思對正確理解文意很重要, 這時, 我們就必須根據(jù)上下文的聯(lián)系, 對它們的意義進(jìn)行猜測, 使之不影響對整篇文章的閱讀理解。需要注意的是, 一個單詞通常有好幾個意思, 我們要解決的是這些詞在文中所表達(dá)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。通常, 猜測詞義可采用以下幾種方法：
一、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(jìn)一步的敘述, 猜測詞義。
1.The female mosquito is a vampire and lives on blood.
如不知道vampire的詞義, 從上文1ives on blood(*吸血而生存)則可得知其詞義為吸血昆蟲。
2.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"。
3.I＇m sorry I＇ve been monopolizing you. Your other dinner companion should have the chance to talk to you, too.
根據(jù)第二個句子的意思, 可猜出monopolize之意為"獨占"。
4.If I were a boy again, I would practise perseverance oftener, and never give up a thing because it was hard or inconvenient.
根據(jù)and never give up a thing ...可猜測perseverance之意為"堅韌不拔" .
5.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"。
6.14,000 sanitation workers who carry off, yearly, three million tons of refuse and keep 7,500 miles of streets clean and free of snow.
從上下文可猜出sanitation workers為"環(huán)衛(wèi)工人"。
7.Human beings are a unique species. They have larger brains than any other beings. They have the gift of speech and can communicate their thoughts, ideas, and feelings.
從上下文可猜出the gift of speech為“語言天賦”。
8.Our earth is very old. It holds many secrets about life in the past. Archaeologists dig in the ground and bring out these secrets. They discover objects thousands of years old that inform us about how people lived long ago. 不難猜出Archaeologists 為“考古學(xué)家” 。
9.One of the newest American expressions is "Where is the beef?" It questions if something is as good or as honest as it claims to be.
根據(jù)第二個句子的意思, 可猜測"Where is the beef?" 之意為“拿出證據(jù)來” 。
10.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(jié)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”。
11.The teacher did not hear the knocking at the door because he was completely engrossed in his reading.
以因果關(guān)系為線索, 可確定engrossed的意思為“被吸引”, “全神貫注”。
12.I am a resolute man. Once I set up a goal, I won＇t give it up easily.
通過第二句, 可推出resolute的意思是"堅定的"。
二. 利用文中的舉例猜測詞義。
常見的舉例的提示詞有：for example, such as , for instance 等。
1.Some artists plan their paintings around geometric forms like squares, circles and triangles.
如不知道"geometric forms"的意思, 可從文中所列舉的三角形、正方形、圓形來猜得其意義為“幾何圖形”。
2.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(jī)）, refrigerators（冰箱）, color televisions（電視機(jī)）可以猜出該詞的意思為“家用電器”。
3.There were disastrous fires in some cities, such as the great fire of London in 1666.
such as 列舉出如1666年倫敦大火一類“災(zāi)難性”（即disastrous）的火災(zāi)。
4. The government promises to give millions of deprived black the essentials in life -- housing, education, health facilities, and job opportunities.
可猜出essentials是“必需品”。三. 利用文中說明詞義的同位語或定語, 猜測詞義。
1.The invention of snorkel, a long air tube that reaches up to the surface, has made it possible for submarines to use their diesel engine even when they are submerged.
句中snorkel一詞的意思, 可通過其同位語a long air tube that reaches up to the surface來猜得。由此我們可以確定該詞的意思為“通氣管”。
2.Tom was a roamer, a wanderer who could never stay in one place.
roamer是生詞, 但wanderer是由我們所熟悉的wander變化而來的名詞, 那可以推出的意思是“流浪漢”。
3.Nearby is the race course, where the town＇s most famous car race is held each year on May 30th.
以where引導(dǎo)的定語從句為依據(jù), course應(yīng)是汽車賽舉行的地點, 所以排除“過程”, “課程”, “航向”, 而要定義為“跑道”。
4.The type of meter is called multimeter, which is used to measure electricity.
通過定語從句which is used to measure electricity（用來測量電的）, 我們可以將multimeter的詞義確定為“萬用表”。
5.They will be on the night shift ---- from midnight to 6 a.m. - next week.
由破折號之間的解釋內(nèi)容, 我們可以了解到night shift意思為“夜班”。
6.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(nèi)容解釋說明了contextual clues為“情景線索”。
7.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(nèi)容解釋說明了psychological obstacles為“心理障礙”
一、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(jìn)一步的敘述, 猜測詞義。
1.The female mosquito is a vampire and lives on blood.
如不知道vampire的詞義, 從上文1ives on blood(*吸血而生存)則可得知其詞義為吸血昆蟲。
2.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"。
3.I＇m sorry I＇ve been monopolizing you. Your other dinner companion should have the chance to talk to you, too.
根據(jù)第二個句子的意思, 可猜出monopolize之意為"獨占"。
4.If I were a boy again, I would practise perseverance oftener, and never give up a thing because it was hard or inconvenient.
根據(jù)and never give up a thing ...可猜測perseverance之意為"堅韌不拔" .
5.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"。
6.14,000 sanitation workers who carry off, yearly, three million tons of refuse and keep 7,500 miles of streets clean and free of snow.
從上下文可猜出sanitation workers為"環(huán)衛(wèi)工人"。
7.Human beings are a unique species. They have larger brains than any other beings. They have the gift of speech and can communicate their thoughts, ideas, and feelings.
從上下文可猜出the gift of speech為“語言天賦”。
8.Our earth is very old. It holds many secrets about life in the past. Archaeologists dig in the ground and bring out these secrets. They discover objects thousands of years old that inform us about how people lived long ago. 不難猜出Archaeologists 為“考古學(xué)家” 。
9.One of the newest American expressions is "Where is the beef?" It questions if something is as good or as honest as it claims to be.
根據(jù)第二個句子的意思, 可猜測"Where is the beef?" 之意為“拿出證據(jù)來” 。
10.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(jié)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”。
11.The teacher did not hear the knocking at the door because he was completely engrossed in his reading.
以因果關(guān)系為線索, 可確定engrossed的意思為“被吸引”, “全神貫注”。
12.I am a resolute man. Once I set up a goal, I won＇t give it up easily.
通過第二句, 可推出resolute的意思是"堅定的"。
二. 利用文中的舉例猜測詞義。
常見的舉例的提示詞有：for example, such as , for instance 等。
1.Some artists plan their paintings around geometric forms like squares, circles and triangles.
如不知道"geometric forms"的意思, 可從文中所列舉的三角形、正方形、圓形來猜得其意義為“幾何圖形”。
2.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(jī)）, refrigerators（冰箱）, color televisions（電視機(jī)）可以猜出該詞的意思為“家用電器”。
3.There were disastrous fires in some cities, such as the great fire of London in 1666.
such as 列舉出如1666年倫敦大火一類“災(zāi)難性”（即disastrous）的火災(zāi)。
4. The government promises to give millions of deprived black the essentials in life -- housing, education, health facilities, and job opportunities.
可猜出essentials是“必需品”。三. 利用文中說明詞義的同位語或定語, 猜測詞義。
1.The invention of snorkel, a long air tube that reaches up to the surface, has made it possible for submarines to use their diesel engine even when they are submerged.
句中snorkel一詞的意思, 可通過其同位語a long air tube that reaches up to the surface來猜得。由此我們可以確定該詞的意思為“通氣管”。
2.Tom was a roamer, a wanderer who could never stay in one place.
roamer是生詞, 但wanderer是由我們所熟悉的wander變化而來的名詞, 那可以推出的意思是“流浪漢”。
3.Nearby is the race course, where the town＇s most famous car race is held each year on May 30th.
以where引導(dǎo)的定語從句為依據(jù), course應(yīng)是汽車賽舉行的地點, 所以排除“過程”, “課程”, “航向”, 而要定義為“跑道”。
4.The type of meter is called multimeter, which is used to measure electricity.
通過定語從句which is used to measure electricity（用來測量電的）, 我們可以將multimeter的詞義確定為“萬用表”。
5.They will be on the night shift ---- from midnight to 6 a.m. - next week.
由破折號之間的解釋內(nèi)容, 我們可以了解到night shift意思為“夜班”。
6.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(nèi)容解釋說明了contextual clues為“情景線索”。
7.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(nèi)容解釋說明了psychological obstacles為“心理障礙”