沖刺必看：英語四級考試閱讀題之猜詞技巧

　　一、猜詞技巧與英語四級備考

　　猜詞技巧是一種學習策略，即學習方法。猜詞技巧是外語詞匯學習的一種主要的學習策略。在教學中如何引導學生掌握猜詞技巧對于提高他們的外語專業(yè)素質(zhì)和學習效果舉足輕重。國外研究表明，擴充外語或母語詞匯量的一種行之有效的方法為猜詞技巧。對此，有來自兩方面的研究為我們提供了客觀依據(jù)。一種為推斷性研究。據(jù)調(diào)查，母語為英語的孩子到12年級(相當于高三)時掌握閱讀詞匯量40 000 單詞(派生詞如develop, development, developmental計為一個單詞)，而(小學)三年級學生僅掌握5 000-10 000個單詞。這表明，孩子平均每年掌握約3 000閱讀詞匯，或每天掌握8-10詞。事實上，此類調(diào)查研究很多，而且，統(tǒng)計結(jié)果不一。然而，有一點毋庸質(zhì)疑，即孩子所掌握的大量詞匯不是來自課堂教學，也不是通過查字典，而是通過課外閱讀猜詞獲得。

　　另一種研究是通過實驗。讓一組受試閱讀含有生詞的短文，然后，或隔一段時間后，檢測其生詞的掌握情況。結(jié)果表明，英語為母語的孩子以這種閱讀方式平均每年掌握1 500單詞，其數(shù)量數(shù)倍于在課堂或通過查字典所學的詞匯量。因此，猜詞技巧被視為擴大詞匯量的主要媒介，因為我們的母語詞匯大半是通過上下文猜測詞義而獲得。

　　猜詞技巧：

　　猜測詞義時，我們可利用以下線索：

　　1. 針對性解釋

　　在文章中，作者有時為了更好地闡述思想，對一些重要的概念、難懂的術語或其他詞匯做一些針對性的解釋，形式有定義、復述、舉例等。這些解釋提供的信息具有明確的針對性，把該單詞含義與其他含義區(qū)分開來，利用它們我們可以比較容易地猜測詞義。

　　1）根據(jù)定義猜測詞義

　　作者一般在生詞之前后之后緊挨著生詞給出定義內(nèi)容。有時有標點符合，連字符或逗號提示。此外，如果定義內(nèi)容為句子，謂語動詞多為：be, be considered, to be, be called, be kown as, constitute, deal with, define, mean, refer to, represent, signify等。

　　這類線索一般很明顯，學習者能比較容易地發(fā)現(xiàn)。

　　例如：

　　Anthropology is the scientific study of people, society and culture.

　　由定義可知，anthropology就是“研究人類的科學”。

　　2）根據(jù)復述猜測詞義

　　復述也是對某一單詞所做的針對性解釋，雖然不像定義那樣嚴謹、詳細，但是提供的信息也能使我們猜出生詞的詞義。復述部分可能是單詞、短語或者從句，一般作為生詞的同位語，與生詞間多用逗號連接，有時也使用破折號，冒號，分號，引號和括號等。同位語前常有or, similarly, that is to say, in other words, namely, or other, say, i. e.等副詞或短語出現(xiàn)。

　　例如：

　　Semantics, the study of the meaning of words, is necessary if you are to speak and read intelligently.

　　此例逗號中短語意為“對詞意義進行研究的學科”。該短語與前面生詞semantics是 同位關系，因此我們不難猜出semantics指“語義學”。

　　定語從句 Krabacber suffers from SAD, which is short for seasonal affective disorder, a syndrome characterized by severe seasonal mood swings.

　　根據(jù)生詞SAD后面定語從句which is short for seasonal affective disorder和同位語a syndrome characterized by severe seasonal mood swings, 我們可以推斷出SAD含義，即“季節(jié)性情緒紊亂癥”。

　　3）根據(jù)舉例猜測詞義

　　恰當?shù)呐e例能夠提供猜測生詞的重要線索。

　　如：The consequences of epochal events such as wars and great scientific discoveries are not confined to a small geographical area as they were in the past.

　　句中“戰(zhàn)爭”和“重大科學發(fā)現(xiàn)”是生詞的實例，通過它們我們可以猜出epochal的 大致詞義“重要的”，這與其確切含義“劃時代的”十分接近。

　　4）內(nèi)在邏輯關系

　　根據(jù)內(nèi)在邏輯關系推測詞義是指運用語言知識分析和判斷相關信息之間存在的邏輯關系,然后根據(jù)邏輯關系推斷生詞詞義或大致義域。

　　5）根據(jù)對比關系猜測詞義

　　在一個句子或段落中，有對兩個事物或現(xiàn)象進行對比性的描述，我們可以根據(jù)生詞或難詞的反義詞猜測其詞義。表示對比關系的詞匯和短語主要是although, but, despite, however, not, unlike, in spite of, in contrast和while引導的并列句等。

　　例如：Andrew is one of the most supercilious men I know. His brother, in contrast, is quite humble and modest.

　　該例中supercilious對許多人來說可能是個生詞，但是句中短語in contrast，（相對照的，相對比的）可以提示我們supercilious和后面詞組humble and modest（謙卑又謙虛）是對比關系。分析出這種關系后，我們便能猜出supercilious意為“目空一切的，傲慢的”。

　　A good supervisor can recognize instantly the adept workers from the unskilled ones.

　　該句中并未出現(xiàn)上面提到的表示對比關系的詞或短語，但是通過上下文可以判斷出句子前后是對比關系，即把熟練工人與非熟練工人區(qū)分開。這時我們也能夠推斷出生詞 adept的詞義“熟練的”。

　　6）根據(jù)比較關系猜測詞義

　　同對比關系相反，比較關系表示意義上的相似關系。

　　例如： Green loves to talk, and his brothers are similarly loquacious.

　　該句中副詞similarly表明短語loves to talk與生詞loquacious之間的比較關系。以此可以推斷出 loquacious詞義為“健談的”。 表示比較關系的詞和短語主要是similarly, like, just as, also等。

　　7）根據(jù)因果關系猜測詞義

　　在句子或段落種，若兩個事物、現(xiàn)象之間構成因果關系，我們可以根據(jù)這種邏輯關系推知生詞詞義。

　　例如：Tom is considered an autocratic administrator because he makes decisions without seeking the opinions of others.

　　根據(jù)原因狀語從句的內(nèi)容，我們可以推斷出生詞autocratic指“獨斷專行的”。

　　There were so many demonstrators in the Red Square that he had to elbow his way through the crowd.

　　此句為結(jié)果狀語從句。根據(jù)從句的描書“許多示威者”我們便可推知elbow的詞義為“擠，擠過”。

　　8）根據(jù)同義詞的替代關系猜測詞義

　　在句子或段落中，我們可以利用熟悉的詞語，根據(jù)語言環(huán)境推斷生詞詞義。

　　例如：

　　Just before the exam Carl's hands shook and sweated so much that he could not hold a pen. His heart beat fast and his stomach ached, even though he knew the subject very well. He really had a strange phobia about taking test.

　　有些學生也曾有上文中所表述的考試時是緊張狀態(tài)，所以很容易就能猜出“phobia”指“恐懼癥”。

　　2. 外部相關因素

　　外部相關因素是指篇章(句子或段落)以外的其他知識。有時僅靠分析篇章內(nèi)在邏輯關系無法猜出詞義。這時,就需要運用生活經(jīng)驗和普通常識確定詞義。

　　例如： Husband：it's really cold out tonight. Wife: Sure it is. My hands are practically numb. How about lighting the furnace?

　　根據(jù)生活經(jīng)驗，天氣寒冷時，手肯定是“凍僵的，凍得麻木的”。

　　The snake slithered through the grass.

　　根據(jù)有關蛇的生活習性的知識，我們可以推斷出slither詞義為“爬行”。

　　3. 單詞構詞

　　在猜測詞義過程中，除了使用上面提到的一些策略，我們還可以依靠構詞方面的知識， 從生詞本身猜測詞義。

　　1）根據(jù)詞根來猜測詞義

　　例如：Antidisestablishmentarianism這個單詞由28個字母構詞，但是利用構詞法將單詞拆分，我們可以猜測其含義。單詞可拆分為anti-(反對)+dis-(不)+establish(建立)【disestablish即廢除】+- ment(名詞后綴)+-arian(……者)+-ism(……主義)，單詞含義即“反對廢除國教制度者主義”。

　　2）根據(jù)詞綴猜測詞義

　　例如：He fell into a ditch and lay there, semiconscious, for a few minutes. 根據(jù)詞根conscious（清醒的，有意識的），結(jié)合前綴semi（半，部分的，不完全的），我們便可猜出semiconscious詞義“半清醒的，半昏迷的”。I'm illiterate about such things. 詞根literate 意為“有文化修養(yǎng)的，通曉的”，前綴il-表示否定，因此illiterate指 “一竅不通，不知道的”。

　　Then the vapor may change into droplets.后綴-let表示“小的”，詞根drop指“滴，滴狀物”。將兩個意思結(jié)合起來，便可推斷出droplet詞義“小滴，微滴”。

　　3）根據(jù)復合詞的各部分猜測詞義

　　例如： Growing economic problems were highlighted by a slowdown in oil output. Highlight或許是一個生詞，但是分析該詞結(jié)構后，就能推測出其含義。它是由 high （高的，強的）和light（光線）兩部分組成，合在一起便是“以強光照射，使突出” 的意思。 Bullfight is very popular in Spain. Bull（公牛）和fight（打，搏斗）結(jié)合在一起，指一種在西班牙 頗為流行的體育運動——斗牛。

　　綜上所述，利用各種已知信息推測、判斷詞義是一項重要的閱讀策略。在實踐中，我們可以靈活運用，綜合運用上面提到的幾種猜測策略，排除生詞的障礙，順利理解文章的思想內(nèi)容，提高閱讀速度。

　　三、猜詞技巧的作用

　　多個實驗證明，猜詞技巧的培訓能明顯提高英語閱讀水平。猜詞技巧是一種學習能力，學習者利用猜詞技巧有助于迅速擴充詞匯量，增強閱讀興趣，提高閱讀能力。

　　一些考試，尤其是出國考試要求考生掌握大量詞匯，在考試中又會經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)一些考生沒有見到過的詞匯，而且這些詞匯考生可能很難會再次碰到。要掌握這些詞匯不太可能，在這種情況下，掌握猜詞技巧就顯得尤為重要。

　　四、猜詞實戰(zhàn)

　　That's enough, kids

　　It was a lovely day at the park and Stella Bianchi was enjoying the sunshine with her two children when a young boy, aged about four, approached her two-year-old son and pushed him to the ground.

　　"I'd watched him for a little while and my son was the fourth or fifth child he'd shoved," she says." I went over to them, picked up my son, turned to the boy and said, firmly, 'No, we don't push," What happened next was unexpected.

　　shove

　　首先，我們可以判斷shove是動詞，表示動作。從上文得知這個小男孩"走到我兩歲兒子前，把他推到了地上"，而且"我看到他一會功夫就shove了四五個孩子"。可以推斷出，shove是與push相近的動作。

　　屬于根據(jù)同義替代猜詞詞義。

　　"The boy's mother ran toward me from across the park," Stella says," I thought she was coming over to apologize, but instead she started shouting at me for disciplining her child, All I did was let him know his behavior was unacceptable. Was I supposed to sit back while her kid did whatever he wanted, hurting other children in the process?"

　　discipline

　　根據(jù)文中含義，我們可以推知，男孩的母親生氣了，對"我"大聲嚷叫，責怪我"discipline"教訓她的孩子。

　　屬于內(nèi)在邏輯關系之根據(jù)同義詞的替代關系猜測詞義。

　　unacceptable

　　我們非常熟悉accept一詞，又知un-是否定前綴，-able是形容詞后綴，可直接推出unacceptable是"不可接受的"。

　　屬于構詞技巧之根據(jù)前后綴猜詞詞義。

　　Getting your own children to play nice is difficult enough. Dealing with other people's children has become a minefield.

　　minefield

　　首先，我們已學mine（地雷）和field（場地），可以猜測minefield指"雷區(qū)"。但是，根據(jù)句意，minefield的本義在這里講不通，又知上一句講到：能讓自己的孩子好好玩就已經(jīng)是件棘手的事了，和其他人的孩子相處就是個minefield。從邏輯上看，這是個比較關系。聯(lián)想minefield（雷區(qū)）的特征，我們可以猜測到minefield指非常危險的事情。

　　屬于構詞技巧之復合詞的各部分以及內(nèi)部推理之根據(jù)遞進關系猜詞詞義。

　　In my house, jumping on the sofa is not allowed. In my sister's house it's encouraged. For her, it's about kids being kids: "If you can't do it at three, when can you do it?"

　　Each of these philosophies is valid and, it has to be said, my son loves visiting his aunt's house. But I find myself saying "no" a lot when her kids are over at mine. That's OK between sisters but becomes dangerous territory when you're talking to the children of friends or acquaintances.

　　"Kids aren't all raised the same," agrees Professor Naomi White of Monash University." But there is still an idea that they're the property of the parent. We see our children as an extension of ourselves, so if you're saying that my child is behaving inappropriately, then that's somehow a criticism of me."

　　inappropriately

　　Inappropriately為副詞，修飾"behave"，表示"行為如何"。由下文"a criticism of me"可知，inappropriately為貶義詞，我們可猜知是行為不當。

　　In those circumstances, it's difficult to know whether to approach the child directly or the parent first. There are two schools of thought.

　　"I'd go to the child first," says Andrew Fuller, author of Tricky Kids. Usually a quiet reminder that 'we don't do that here' is enough. Kids nave finely tuned antennae (直覺) for how to behave in different settings."

　　He points out bringing it up with the parent first may make them feel neglectful, which could cause problems. Of course, approaching the child first can bring its own headaches, too.

　　This is why White recommends that you approach the parents first. Raise your concerns with the parents if they're there and ask them to deal with it," she says.

　　Asked how to approach a parent in this situation, psychologist Meredith Fuller answers: "Explain your needs as well as stressing the importance of the friendship. Preface your remarks with something like: 'I know you'll think I'm silly but in my house I don't want…'"

　　preface

　　把Preface按構詞法拆分，由前綴pre-(在……之前)和face(面)組成，可以推出preface指在……之前。

　　屬于根據(jù)詞根詞綴猜詞詞義。

　　When it comes to situations where you're caring for another child, white is straightforward: "common sense must prevail. If things don't go well, then have a chat."

　　There're a couple of new grey areas. Physical punishment, once accepted from any adult, is no longer appropriate. "A new set of considerations has come to the fore as part of the debate about how we handle children."

　　For Andrew Fuller, the child-centric nature of our society has affected everyone:" The rules are different now from when today's parents were growing up," he says, "Adults are scared of saying: 'don't swear', or asking a child to stand up on a bus. They're worried that there will be conflict if they point these things out – either from older children, or their parents."

　　He sees it as a loss of the sense of common public good and public courtesy (禮貌), and says that adults suffer form it as much as child.

　　Meredith Fuller agrees: "A code of conduct is hard to create when you're living in a world in which everyone is exhausted from overwork and lack of sleep, and a world in which nice people are perceived to finish last."

　　exhausted

　　介詞from表示"由于……"，根據(jù)句意，"overwork and lack of sleep超時工作，睡眠不足"，導致了"exhausted"疲倦的。

　　屬于內(nèi)在邏輯關系之根據(jù)因果關系猜測詞義。

　　"it's about what I'm doing and what I need," Andrew Fuller says. "the days when a kid came home from school and said, "I got into trouble". And dad said, ‘you probably deserved it' are over. Now the parents are charging up to the school to have a go at teachers."

　　This jumping to our children's defense is part of what fuels the "walking on eggshells" feeling that surrounds our dealings with other people's children. You know that if you remonstrate(勸誡) with the child, you're going to have to deal with the parent. it's admirable to be protective of our kids, but is it good?

　　"Children have to learn to negotiate the world on their own, within reasonable boundaries," White says. "I suspect that it's only certain sectors of the population doing the running to the school –better –educated parents are probably more likely to be too involved."

　　White believes our notions of a more child-centered society should be challenged. "Today we have a situation where, in many families, both parents work so the amount of time children get from parents has diminished." she says.

　　diminish

　　父母都工作，陪孩子的時間當然就減少了（diminish）。

　　屬于內(nèi)在邏輯關系之根據(jù)因果關系猜詞詞義。

　　"Also, sometimes when we talk about being child-centered, it's a way of talking about treating our children like commodities(商品). We're centered on them but in ways that reflect positively on us. We treat them as objects whose appearance and achievements are something we can be proud of, rather than serve the best interests of the children."

　　One way over-worked, under-resourced parents show commitment to their children is to leap to their defence. Back at the park, Bianchi's intervention(干預) on her son's behalf ended in an undignified exchange of insulting words with the other boy's mother.

　　As Bianchi approached the park bench where she'd been sitting, other mums came up to her and congratulated her on taking a stand. "Apparently the boy had a longstanding reputation for bad behaviour and his mum for even worse behaviour if he was challenged."

　　Andrew Fuller doesn't believe that we should be afraid of dealing with other people's kids. "Look at kids that aren't your own as a potential minefield," he says. He recommends that we don't stay silent over inappropriate behaviour, particularly with regular visitors.

　　longstanding

　　將longstanding根據(jù)構詞法拆分：long（長時間）+stand（站立）+-ing（形容詞后綴），可知longstanding指長期存在的。

　　屬于構詞技巧之根據(jù)詞根詞綴猜詞詞義。