英语阅读中如何根据上下文猜测词义?

猜测词义也是一种英语阅读能力.英语阅读理解试题中有不少这样的题目.任何一个实词,只有在一定的上下文中才能表示一个确定的词义.所谓上下文(context),正如英语辞典所解释的,其作用就是帮助确定上下文中的词、短语或句子的意义.据此,我们可以尽可能地利用上下文来猜测词义,即从已知推求未知,也就是用我们所熟悉的词或短语来猜测我们不熟悉的词的词义.猜测词义时,我们可以从三个方面来考虑：1）根据上下文已知部分进行逻辑上的推理.2）运用语法知识进行语法分析.3）依靠常识和经验做出判断.根据上下文猜测词义的方法有下列几种：(1)根据定义或解释猜测词义.例如下面的阅读材料：a bag is useful and the word “bag” is useful.it gives us some interesting phrases(短语).one is “ to let the cat out of the bag.” it is the same as “to tell a secret”….now when someone lets out (泄漏)a secret,he “lets the cat out of the bag.” 短文后面有一个理解题目：john “lets the cat out of the bag” means he ________.a.makes everyone know a secret b.the woman bout a cat c.buys a cat in the bag d.sells the cat in the bag 在这篇文章里,“let the cat out of the bag”虽然是一个新出现的短语,但紧接着后面就给出解释it is the same as “to tell a secret.根据这一解释,我们就可判断出正确答案应为a.(2)根据情景和逻辑进行判断.例如：2004年北京市海淀区中考试题阅读材料a.其中第三段是这样的：as they go around town,the police help people.sometimes they find lost children.they take the children home.if the police see a fight,they put an end to it right away.sometimes people will ask the police how to get to a place in town.the police can always tell the people which way to go.they know all the streets and roads well.文章后面有这样一道题：53.in the text,“put an end to” means “___________”.a.stop b.cut c.kill d.fly 根据文章所提供的情景,如果警察看到有人在打架,他们肯定会去制止.因为制止打架斗殴是警察的职责.根据这一推理,答案应该是a.(3)根据并列、同位关系猜测词义.例如下面的阅读材料：there is a place on our earth where hot water and steam come up under the ground.it is on a large island in the pacific ocean.the island is north island in new zealand.101.what does the word “steam” mean in chinese?a.自来水b.大气c.冰川d.蒸汽 从语法上看,steam和hot water是并列关系,我们就以断定这两种东西是相关的,是同一类第物质.在所给第四个选项中只有“蒸汽”有这种可能.(4)根据背景和常识判断.请看2004年北京市海淀区中考试题的阅读材料c:watching some children trying to catch butterflies one august afternoon,i was reminded of an incident in my own childhood.when i was a boy of twelve in south carolina,something happened to me that made me never put any wild creature (living thing) in a cage(笼子).we lived on the edge of a forest,and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing.there isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.i decided that i would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way,i would have my own private musician.i finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage.at first,being scared,the bird fluttered(扑腾) about the cage,but finally it settled down in its new home.i felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my little musician.on the second day of the bird’s captivity,my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth.the baby bird ate everything she brought to it.i was pleased to see this.certainly the mother knew better than i how to feed her baby.the following morning when i went to see how my captive (caged) bird was doing,i discovered it on the floor of the cage,dead.i was terribly surprised!what had happened!i had taken extremely care of my little bird,or so i thought.arthur wayne,the famous ornithologist,who happened to be visiting my father at the time,hearing me crying over the death of my bird,explained what had happened.“a mother mockingbird,finding her young in a cage,will sometimes bring it poison berries(毒莓).she thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.” never since then have i caught any living creature and put it in a cage.all living creatures have a right to live free.60.an ornithologist is probably a person who ____________ .a.studies birds b.loves creatures c.majors in habits d.takes care of trees ornithologist这个词从来没有见到过,但是通过他的语言我们可以判断出这是一个对鸟很有研究的人.我很爱鸟,把鸟装在笼子里,并细心照料,而且鸟的母亲也飞过来喂这只鸟,但这只鸟却死了,我很不理解.到我家来的这个人给我详细解释了鸟死的原因,说明这个人非常懂鸟.据此,我们可以断定答案影视a.