攻克大学英语四级：阅读篇第5天词义题

　　unit 1 总论Day 5

　　题型及应对策略四(词义题)

　　有些问题是对于文章中的单词进行提问，即词义题。

　　词义题的题目形式有：

　　The word...in the first paragraph most probably means _____.

　　What is the meaning of ...?

　　By ...the author refers to _____.

　　The expression ...can be replaced by _____.

　　词义题有两种情况：

　　1)超纲词汇。出题老师故意给出难词，要求同学们运用上下文各种信息找到意思。如 accentuate ， cushion 等。

　　2)熟词生义。有些词同学们知道常用意思，但在文章中的意思就不一定了解。如 official ， community 等。

　　解题时有六大技巧帮助我们：

　　1)下定义(Definition)：即在一个生词后面给出它的定义，我们从定义就可以容易地找出生词的意思。

　　He takes a special interest in botany the study of plants.

　　从破折号后面的注释我们知道 botany 意思为 植物学 。

　　2)重述(Restatement)：在生词后面用一句话或一个短语从另外一个角度解释一下这个词。

　　He is very fastidious. It is extremely hard to please and satisfy him.(挑剔的)

　　The word provincial most probably means _____.

　　A) limited in outlook

　　B) like people from the provinces

　　C) rigid in thinking

　　D) interested in world financial affairs

　　First, Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provincial and take more of an interest in local affairs. Knowledge of world geography, for example, has never been strong in this country.

　　【解析】从 provincial 后面的部分可知，美国人对于地方事务更感兴趣，比如对于世界地理的知识的了解在美国从来就不是很强。那么 provincial 最可能指美国人视野狭隘，答案为A)。

　　3)相关信息(Related information)：用上下文的相关信息猜出生词的含义。

　　The word they in ...together they threaten to confuse refers to _____.

　　A) practicality and rationality

　　B) engineering and the liberal arts

　　C) reality and noble ideals

　　D) flexibility and a value system

　　The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don t mix as easily as I assumed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways; together they threaten to confuse.

　　【解析】从第一句话可知， they 指的是 engineering and the liberal arts ，即工科和文科。答案为B)。

　　4)举例(Exemplification)：即在生词后面用一个例子加以解释，我们从例子的含义可以推知生词的意思。

　　The author mentions the example of backpacks to show the importance of __________.

　　A) increasing usage among students

　　B) exploring new market sections

　　C) pleasing the young as well as the old

　　D) serving both military and civil needs

　　The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: Different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not decline. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections. Did you know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the military?

　　【解析】文章提到后肩背包的例子是为了说明 market modification 和 marketing managers look for new users and market sections 。所以答案应为B)。

　　5)比较与对比。

　　例一

　　Nowadays some young people are not thrifty, since they often waste money on useless things.

　　用对比法可知 thrifty 表示 节俭的 。

　　例二

　　So long as teachers fail to distinguish between teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for children that which only children can do for themselves. Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them. It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading. Douglas insists that reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible.

　　Teaching and learning are two entirely different processes. They differ in kind and function. The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to devise the most efficient system for teaching themselves to read. Teaching is also a public activity: It can be seen and observed.

　　Learning to read involves all that each individual does to make sense of the world of printed language. Almost all of it is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that process is not open to public scrutiny.

　　If teacher and learner roles are not interchangeable, what then can be done through teaching that will aid the child in the quest(探索)for knowledge? Smith has one principal rule for all teaching instructions. Make learning to read easy, which means making reading a meaningful, enjoyable and frequent experience for children.

　　When the roles of teacher and learner are seen for what they are, and when both teacher and learner fulfill them appropriately, then much of the pressure and feeling of failure for both is eliminated. Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the opportunity to solve the problem of learning to read by reading.

　　Q: The word scrutiny most probably means ______ .

　　A) suspicion B) control

　　C) observation D) inquiry

　　【题目译文】 Scrutiny 最可能表示_______。

　　【答案解析】C。本题难度很大，在考试时绝大部分考生都做错了。需要结合第二和第三段用对比法做出。第二段最后一句话说： 教是一种公开的活动：可以看到和观察到 ，而第三段第二句话说： 学习阅读似乎完全是私人的，因为学习是使用大脑，而且此过程对于公众的_______不公开 。我们知道 public 和 private 是反义词，所以此处的 scrutiny 应该等于 observation 。

　　6)构词法：有时我们知道这个生词的词根，前缀或者后缀，就可以猜出词的意思。

　　Q: The word provincial most probably means _____.

　　A) limited in outlook B) like people from the provinces

　　C) rigid in thinking D) interested in world financial affairs

　　First, Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provincial and take more of an interest in local affairs. Knowledge of world geography, for example, has never been strong in this country.

　　【解析】 Provincial 的词根为 province ，表示 省 ，所以 provincial 指 首都以外各地的 ，推测可知意思是 目光狭隘的，无知的 。