[阅读理解] 利用七大策略，突破阅读猜词

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猜词题是英语阅读理解的重要考点之一，近几年高考试题中都会有一个小题考查词义猜测。从2015年开始，《考试说明》便把以往考纲中的“根据上下文推断生词的词义”修订为“根据上下文推断单词和短语的含义”。这一变化需引起我们的高度关注，这说明高考对猜词能力的考查范围更广了、要求更高了。在此为考生提供应对猜词悟义的七个锦囊，希望能够帮助大家解答好此类题目。

利用释义法解题

在说明文尤其是科技类说明文中，作者通常会对一些关键词或专业术语进行解释。常见的有对该词下定义或后跟同位语、定语从句、冒号、破折号、括号等引出解释说明部分。通过阅读定义或解释部分，读者便可理解该词或短语的意思。

【考例1】（2021年全国甲卷，C篇）

9. What do the underlined words “Safe！Safe！Safe！” probably mean？

A.Be careful！B.Well done！C.No way！Don’t worry！

【解析】原文：A few minutes later， when I landed the trick， my friends beat their boards loud， shouting：“Safe！Safe！Safe！” And that’s what mattered—landing tricks， being a good skater.

本题可以用释义法解题。根据画线部分后面的解释“And that’s what mattered—landing tricks， being a good skater.（那才是真正重要的——掌握了滑板的落地技巧，才能成为一名好的滑板玩家。）”可知，作者掌握了滑板落地技巧，因此他的朋友大声欢呼，由此可以推出本句的“Safe”有赞美之意，故选B项。

【考例2】（2020年5月天津卷，C篇）

47. The expression “added bonus” refers to the fact that electric planes.

A. give passengers more pleasant views

B. bring airlines more financial benefits

C. offer more enjoyable flying experiences

D. cost less in maintenance than traditional ones

【解析】原文：There’s also the added bonus that electric planes are just much more pleasant to fly in. No loud engine noise， no smell of fuel， just environmentally friendly peace and quiet.

“added bonus”后面的that从句是同位语从句，解释说明“added bonus”的内容（坐电动飞机更舒服）。“No loud engine noise， no smell of fuel， just environmentally friendly peace and quiet.”一句则进一步解释说明，电动飞机飞行时没有发动机的噪音，没有燃油的气味，环境安静和谐，这意味着人们能够获得更加愉悦的飞行体验，故选C项。

利用构词法解题

英语单词可以通过添加词缀、合成或转化的方式构成新词或生成新的词义。同学们要熟记一定数量的词根、前缀和后缀，从而达到通过“解剖”一个单词，对一个生词能够“望文生义”的效果，同时结合文章的语境来猜测词义。

【考例1】（2016年全国II卷，B篇）

27. What does the underlined word “downside” in Paragraph 4 probably mean？

A. Mistake. B. Drawback. C. Difficulty. D. Burden.

【解析】原文：Encouraging this kind of thinking has a downside. I ran the risk of losing those students who had a different style of thinking. Without fail one would declare， “But I’m just not creative.”

downside是由“down（向下）+ side（方面）”构成的合成词，并且后文提到“作者冒着失去那些有不同思维风格的学生的风险”。因此，我们可以猜测该词的意思是“不足，缺点”，故选B项。

【考例2】（2010年福建卷，B篇）

60. The underlined word “outlawed” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.

A. allowed B. banned C. offered D. refused

【解析】原文：Five million more families in sub-Saharan Africa will get a TV over the next five years. In 2005 ， after the fall of the Taliban（塔利班）， which had outlawed TV， 1 in 5 Afghans had one. The global total is another 150 million by 2013 — pushing the numbers to well beyond two thirds of families.

本题可以利用构词法结合文意猜测词义。“out”作为前缀构成动词时，有“超越，超过”的意思，与“law”连用，意思是“超越了法律”，即为法律所不容。再结合句子“In 2005， after the fall of the Taliban（塔利班）， which had outlawed TV， 1 in 5 Afghans had one.”可知，2005年塔利班政权垮台以后，五分之一的阿富汗人有了电视机，而在这之前电视应该是“被禁止的”。故选B项，“ban”有“禁止”之意。

利用因果法解题

若画线单词或短语前后句子之间构成因果关系，那我们便可以根据这种因果逻辑关系推知单词或短语的意义。根据前面的原因可以推测后面的结果，根据后面的结果也可以反推前面的原因。因果关系的语境通常由because、so、thus、therefore、as a result of、since、so that、so/such...that...等标志词体现。

【考例1】（2020年全国II卷，C篇）

30. What does the underlined word “collapsed” in paragraph 5 probably mean？

A. Boomed. B. Became mature.

C. Remained stable. D. Crashed.

【解析】原文：The fur trade kept nutria in check for decades， but when the market for nutria collapsed in the late 1980s， the cat-sized animals multiplied like crazy.

由“The fur trade kept nutria in check for decades”这一句可知，几十年来，毛皮贸易使海狸鼠的数量处于控制之下。根据画线词后的“the cat-sized animals multiplied like crazy”可知，这种大小像猫的动物开始疯狂地繁殖，由此推知含有画线词的这一句指出了原因“20世纪80年代末海狸鼠市场‘崩溃了”，故选D项。

【考例2】（2019年全国II卷，B篇）

25. What does the underlined phrase “tug at the heartstrings” in Paragraph 2 mean？

A. Encourage team work. B. Appeal to feeling.

C. Promote good deeds. D. Provide advice.

【解析】原文：I guess that there’s probably some demanding work schedule， or social anxiety around stepping up to help for an unknown sport. She may just need a little persuading. So I try again and tug at the heartstrings. I mention the single parent with four kids running the show and I talk about the dad coaching a team that his kids aren’t even on … At this point the unwilling parent speaks up， “Alright. Yes， I’ll do it.”

由逻辑词“so”可知，此处可以借助因果逻辑关系猜测词义句意。画线部分的前一句提到“她可能需要有人劝说一下”，故“tug at the heartstrings”应该有“劝说”的意思。“appeal to feeling”意思是“打动某人，唤起某人的情感”，故选B项。

利用同义法解题

画线单词或短语前后有时会出现与之同义或近义的词语或结构，它往往暗示了该单词或短语的含义，这时我们可从熟悉的词语中推知生词的含义。常见的表示同义关系的词或短语有and、or、like、as well、similarly、too、also、either等。当画线单词或短语与其他单词或短语由并列连词或者表示相同相似关系的副词连接时，意味着这两部分内容在含义上是接近的，由此可确定同等关系中的某个单词或短语所属的义域，进而可推知其大致意思。

【考例1】（2020年全国III卷，B篇）

26. What does the underlined phrase “keeping tabs on” in paragraph 3 probably mean？

A. Listing completely. B. Directing professionally.

C. Promoting successfully. D. Watching carefully.

【解析】原文：One nonprofit organization， which monitors the treatment of animals in filmed entertainment， is keeping tabs on more than 2，000 productions this year.

根据“One nonprofit organization， which monitors the treatment of animals in filmed entertainment”可知，这个非营利组织旨在监督电影娱乐业对待动物的方式，所以下文应是表达“该组织今年正在密切关注2000多部电影产品”。“keeping tabs on”与“monitors（监控）”表达的意义相同，故选D项。

【考例2】（2015年四川卷，D篇）

44. What does the underlined word “nocturnal” in Paragraph 5 mean？

A. Active at night. B. Inactive at night.

C. Active during the day. D. Inactive during the day.

【解析】原文：And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light. Blackbirds and seagulls are also being more nocturnal.

画线单词前一句说“不是只有知更鸟在人造光下会一直醒着”，而“also（也）”表明这一句与前面表达的意思相近，即“黑鹂和海鸥也更活跃”。“nocturnal”应该是“awake”的近义词，意为“夜间活跃的”，故选A项。

利用反义法解题

运用转折对比描述事物或现象是写作时常用的一种手法，作者常借用一些信号词来提供相反信息，从而表明一个词语与前面或后面的另一个词语互为反义或转折对比关系。抓住这些信号词，结合上下文意，我们就能够快速推测出词义。体现对比关系的词语很多，常见的有but、yet、however、while、unlike、instead（of）、on the other hand、rather than、on the contrary等。

【考例1】（2020年新高考全国I卷，D篇）

13. What does the underlined word “beanpoles” in paragraph 1 refer to？

A. Big eaters. B. Overweight persons.

C. Picky eaters. D. Tall thin persons.

【解析】原文：According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research， both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions（份）， its the beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.

由“contrary to（与……相反）”可知，画线词一句与前句意思相反，因此“beanpoles”应该与“heavier people”意思相反，意思是“与现存的研究发现（应该避免和食量大的胖人一起吃饭）相反，你真正需要避开的是胃口大而又高又瘦的人”，故选D项。

【考例2】（2012年全国II卷，D篇）

54. What do the words “a replica” in Paragraph 2 refer to？

A. A painting of the skeleton. B. A photograph of Lucy.

C. A copy of the skeleton. D. A written record of Lucy.

【解析】原文：Even the Ethiopian public has only seen Lucy twice. The Lucy on exhibition at the Ethiopian National Museum in the capital， Addis Ababa， is a replica while the real remains are usually locked in a secret storeroom.

由“while（而）”可知，本题可以使用反义法解题。根据画线词后面的“while the real remains are usually locked in a secret storeroom”可知，“while”前后构成转折对比关系，所以画线词与“real”意思相反，意思应为“假的”，故答案为C，意思是“一个骨骼的复制品”。

利用语境法解题

有些猜测词义句意题找不到以上标志或线索，这时我们可以利用上下文提供的语境进行合乎逻辑的综合分析，进而推测词义句意。

【考例1】（2021年全国乙卷，B篇）

25. What does the underlined word “concede” in paragraph 3 mean？

A. Admit. B. Argue. C. Remember. D. Remark.

【解析】原文：Still， 55 percent of Australians have a landline phone at home and only just over a quarter （29%） rely only on their smartphones， according to a survey（调查）. Of those Australians who still have a landline， a third concede that its not really necessary and they’re keeping it as a security blanket—19 percent say they never use it while a further 13 percent keep it in case of emergencies. I think my home falls into that category.

根据画线单词的上文“Of those Australians who still have a landline（在那些仍然有固定电话的澳大利亚人中）”可知，这个调查的目标人群是仍然有固定电话的澳大利亚人。再根据下文“its not really necessary and they’re keeping it as a security blanket—19 percent say they never use it while a further 13 percent keep it in case of emergencies.（固定電话并不是必需的，他们将其作为一种安全保障——19%的人表示他们从未使用过固定电话，另有13%的人保留固定电话以防紧急情况）”可知，很多人认为固定电话并不是必须拥有的，有些人保留固定电话只是为了能在紧急情况下使用。由此推知，在调查中他们应该是承认了固定电话的非必要性。因此，画线单词“concede”意思应为“承认”，故选A项。

【考例2】（2019年全国I卷，B篇）

25. What does the underlined word “stumbles” in paragraph 2 refer to？

A. Improper pauses. B. Bad manners.

C. Spelling mistakes. D. Silly jokes.

【解析】原文：But he’s nervous. “I’m here to tell you today why you should…should…” Chris trips on the “-ld，” a pronunciation difficulty for many non-native English speakers. His teacher， Thomas Whaley， is next to him， whispering support. “…Vote for …me…” Except for some stumbles， Chris is doing amazingly well. When he brings his speech to a nice conclusion， Whaley invites the rest of the class to praise him.

根据上下文语境可知，老师借助竞选演说鼓励同学们学会赞美自己。文中Chris的母语不是英语，他学英语才三年多，说话不流利，而且他在演讲时非常紧张，所以说话磕磕绊绊，经常停顿。“stumble”一词描述的是Chris演讲时的状态，而A项的意思是“不恰当的停顿”，故正确答案为A。

利用常识法解题

在仅靠分析篇章内在逻辑关系和语境无法猜出词义时，我们可以借助生活经验和普通常识确定词义。

【考例】（2020年江苏卷，C篇）

61. The underlined expression “stomach it” in Paragraph 1 most probably means “ ”.

A. digest the meal easily B. manage without breakfast

C. decide wisely what to eat D. eat whatever is offered

【解析】原文：For those who can stomach it， working out before breakfast may be more beneficial for health than eating first， according to a study of meal timing and physical activity.

此题考查“stomach”的生僻意思。根据生活常识可知，有的人锻炼前不吃早饭是受不了的，所以此处意为“如果可以忍受空腹的话，在吃早饭前去锻炼比吃过早餐后去锻炼好处更多”，故选B项。