词义推断 三招过关

⊙ 江苏省如皋市第一中学  郝昌明
    众所周知，近年来高考英语阅读理解题非常重视考查考生分析语境推断词义的能力，本文结合2006年高考英语阅读理解题谈谈其常见解题方法。

    一、弄清人称演变过程，巧妙推断代词意义
    高考英语阅读理解代词意义判断题主要考查考生结合语境逻辑推断人称代词、指示代词和关系代词意义的能力。人称代词主要包括it（可指代动物、无生命事物、特定事件或人）、they（可指代复数人、动物、物品、事件）、he、 she等。指示代词主要以this、these、 that、 those为题点，考查考生对特定人/物、事件的再认能力。历年高考代词意义判断题主要出现在人称转换频、动作变换多的语言环境中，解题时应认真阅读特定代词所在句和前后邻近句，分析人称转换和动作变换的详细过程，弄清其来龙去脉，以便准确理解特定代词在意义上的替代对象。
    例1  （2006年全国卷Ⅰ）原文：Several years ago we had one timetable that operated throughout, but we soon found that both the students and the teachers lost interest by about halfway through the ten weeks. This led us to a major re-think, so finally we brought it into line with the expressed language needs of the students.
    68. The word “it” underlined in the last paragraph refers to “__________”.
    A. re-think    B. activity
    C. motivation   D. timetable
    析：答案为D。认真阅读分析该词所在句及前一句可知，前一句指一张贯彻始终的时间表让师生们兴趣全无，因此应和学生语言学习需要一致起来的正是这一时间表。
    例2  （2006年全国卷Ⅱ）原文：The chances opened up by trade are vast, she argues, but free markets need the correcting force of politics to keep them in check.
    59. What does the word “them” underlined in the last paragraph refer to?
    A. Free markets.
    B. Price changes.
    C. Unexpected connections.
    D. Chances opened up by trade.
    析：答案为A。该词所在句后半句含义为：但是自由市场需要具有校正功能的政治力量来使它们处于控制之中，可见这儿的them指自由市场。
    例3  （2006年陕西）原文：As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in its interest.
    58. In the last paragraph, the underlined word “which” refers to _______.
    A. family life   B. situations
    C. other values   D. trends
    析：答案为C。认真阅读分析该词所在句可知，该词为定语从句关系代词，其先行词为other values，可见which就指代other values。

    二、结合原有含义分析所在语境，巧妙推断熟词新含义
    不少熟词或词组在特定语言环境中产生新含义，这一新含义既来源于原含义又呈现新特点，解题时应将原含义与新语境结合起来综合考虑，从而准确推断其语境新含义。
    例1  （2006年全国卷Ⅰ）原文：I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car.
    61. The words “took off” underlined in Paragraph 2 mean “__________”.
    A. turned off     B. moved off
    C. put up      D. set up
    析：答案为B。take off原本指“飞机起飞，脱掉衣服”，含有“使……脱离”之意，结合had gone不难发现took off表示“离开”。
    例2  （2006年全国卷Ⅱ）原文：In the colorful used-clothing markets of Tanzania, she realizes that: “it is only in this final stage of life that the T-shirt will meet a real market,” where the price of a shirt changes by the hour and is different by its size and even color.
    58. By saying T-shirts “meet a real market”, Rivoli means in Tanzania __________.
    A. cheaper T-shirts are needed
    B. used T-shirts are hard to sell
    C. prices of T-shirt rise and fall frequently
    D. prices of T-shirts are usually reasonable
    析：答案为C。meet a real market本义为“遇到真正的市场”，由后面where the price of a shirt changes by the hour and is different by its size and even color这一解释性后置定语可知，其新含义为“T恤衫价格频繁起伏”。
    例3  （2006年浙江）原文：The wealth of their owners-and the way they throw money around-may make your son feel sorry for himself, unless you help him understand that you and his dad save some of the money, give some to people who don’t have enough and use the rest to pay for whatever the family needs.
    59. By saying “throw money around” （paragraph 5）, the author means that rich people _______.
    A. spend money carelessly
    B. save money for their children
    C. help the poor people willingly
    D. leave money all round the house
    析：答案为A。认真阅读分析该词所在句可知，作者要求读者教育儿子理解自己用钱周济穷人维持家用的做法，不要为邻居因为富有而随意花钱感到难受，可见该词含义为“随意花钱”，这与throw money around的本义“到处扔钱”有密切联系。

    三、认真分析语境逻辑，巧妙推断生词含义
    生词词义判断题是高考英语阅读理解词义判断题最常见题型，解题时应认真分析语境逻辑，借助因果关系、转折关系、条件关系、定义解释、递进关系、让步关系、对比关系或并列关系巧妙推断生词含义。
    例1  （2006年浙江）原文：The following year, he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s School of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about Ridgway’s cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, then decided that this would be his future.
    42. The underlined word “exploits” （paragraph 3） is closest in meaning to ________.
    A. journeys    B. researches 
    C. adventures     D. operations
    析：答案为C。认真阅读分析该词所在句及后一句可知，后一句是对主人公搜寻有关该词信息的描绘，可见该词与冒险活动有关。
    例2  （2006年福建）原文：The schools are reluctant to take time off——even teachers with tickets for the England-Argentina game had trouble getting the day off.
    59. The underlined word“reluctant”in the passage may probably mean________.
    A. kind               B. unwilling
    C. free                D. careless
    析：答案为B。分析该词所在句可知，破折号后面内容意义为：即使拥有英格兰和阿根廷比赛球票的教师请假出来看比赛也很困难，因此该词意义为“不情愿的”。
    例3  （2006年湖北）原文：We guarantee that you have nothing to lose if it’s not for you; Let us know within 6 weeks and we will completely reimburse you.
    59. What does the underlined part “reimburse” probably mean?

[1] [2]  下一页