实践证明,根据自己的英语基础和兴趣爱好选择恰当的材料,进行大量的阅读是学好英语的有效途径。但是,阅读中不免会遇到生词或熟词生义,不可能也没有必要每个生词都去查词典,这就需要掌握猜测词义的方法和技巧了。这里总结了17种词义推测的方法或技巧,但愿能对你有所帮助。
1. 根据转折关系:表示转折关系的有though, but, however等。
例如:
Any fool can make soap, but it takes a genius to sell it.
由but可知genius是与fool相对的,由此推测其意为有才能的人、天才。
2. 根据对比关系:表示对比关系的有标志词有unlike、not、while、on the other hand, in spite of、in contrast等。
例如:
If you agree, say Yes if you dissent, say No.
根据前后的对比关系,不难猜出dissent是意思与agree相反,即:不同意。
3. 根据同类关系:比较关系表示意义上的相似关系。表示比较关系的词和短语有similarly,like,just as,also等。
例如:
Mr. Green loves to talk,and his brothers are similarly loquacious.
句中similarly表明loves to talk与生词loquacious之间是同类关系。由此可以推断出loquacious词义为健谈的。
4. 根据因果关系:表示因果关系的有because, so that, so/suchthat等。
例如:
The flowers in the vase withered because they had no water.
由无雨水之因,可推知花会枯萎、凋谢之果。因此,wither意为枯萎、凋谢。
5. 根据同位关系: 因为同位语是对前面的名词的进一步补充说明,提供更为详细的情况,所以根据同位语也可推测前面名词的意思。
例如:
Yes, that is the Tai Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world.
由后面的同位语的解释我们清楚地知道Tai Mahal就是一著名的建筑物。
6. 根据并列关系:一般由and, or等表示并列关系。
例如:
In the ancient city of Rome, we visited every mansion, battle site, theatre and other public halls.
因为mansion与战场遗址、剧院、其它公众厅并列,所以mansion也应该属于建筑物或场所。
7. 根据比喻关系:一般由asas, like等表示。
例如:
The hot-air balloon took off. It was as buoyant in the air as a rose leaf in water.
根据就像水中的玫瑰叶这样的比喻可知,buoyant是飘浮的之意。
8. 根据定义关系:定义句的谓语动词多为be, mean, be considered, refer to, be called, be known as等。
例如:
Sociology is the term used to describe the scientific study of human society.
根据是用来描述人类社会的科学研究的术语的定义,可知sociology是社会学之意。
9. 根据所举实例:一般由for example, such as, like等来表示举例。
例如:
Many United Nations employees are polyglot. Ms White, for example, speaks six languages.
由所举实例,不难推出polyglot的意思是懂多种语言的。
10. 根据同义关系:根据生词所处语境中的同义或近义词的意思来推测它的意思。
例如
Doctors believe that smoking cigarettes is detrimental to your health. They also regard drinking as harmful.
由语境可知, detrimental与harmful同义,意为不利的,有害的。
11. 根据转换说法:插入语that is, that is to say, in other words以及namely, i.e., or等都可以用来对前面的内容进行解释,意为也就是说、即。
例如:
The cinema is only open to adults, i.e. people over 18.
根据people over 18可知,adult是成年人之意。
12. 根据标点符号:冒号、破折号、括号等都可表示对前文的解释或说明。
例如:
New houses, large schools, modern factories, more horses and sheep everywhere we saw signs of prosperity.
根据破折号前面的具体描述,可猜测prosperity 意为繁荣。
13. 根据定语从句:由生词后起修饰限制或起补充说明的定语从句推测其意思。
例如:
Jack is now a florist, who keeps a shop for selling flowers in our district.
由后面起补充作用的非限制性定语从句可推知生词florist是花店主之意。
14. 根据逻辑推理:根据生词前后的搭配关系和上下文的意思等来推测其意思。
例如:
Although the fisherman was wearing souwester, the storm was so heavy that he was wet through.
因生词souwester是wear的宾语,应当是一种衣或帽,又由although和后面一个分句,可以推知它是指防雨的衣。
15. 根据单词发音:有的英语词汇是通过音译进入汉语词汇中的,我们可以根据其读音来理解其意思。
例如:
如:aspirin, nylon, Olympic, sofa, typhoon 等。
16. 根据生活常识:有时根据生活经验和基本常识可以推测出生词的意思。
例如:
The snake slithered through the grass.
根据有关蛇的生活习性的知识,我们可以推断出slither的词义为爬行。
17. 根据构词方法:根据前缀、后缀、合成、转换等构词法来推测生词的意思。
例如:
After just a few days on the job, I began noticing that the other fellows were overcharging pas sengers.
因同学们学过charge,根据前缀over-的意思过多、过分,可推知overcharge是索价太高之意。
尽管我们介绍了这么多的生词猜测方法,但是,值得一提的是,我们阅读的目的在于理解文章的意思,从中享受快乐或者获取信息。那些并不影响对整篇文章的理解的生词,我们大可不必费太多的时间去猜测它们的意思,以免影响阅读的兴致。
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