08年工程碩士GCT英語輔導:閲讀理解的應試策略(三)

如何猜測不認識的詞語？　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
　　在閲讀文章的過程中，考生麪臨的問題是遇到不認識的單詞或短語，或者認識的單詞在文章中有了新的含義。如果這些詞或短語不影響對文章主要內容的理解，考生便可以將它們略過，不中斷閲讀。如果這些詞語的意思對正確理解文章很重要，就必須根據上下文的聯系，根據搆詞法或其他方法對它們的意義進行猜測，使之不影響對整篇文章的理解。猜測詞義通常可採用以下幾種方法。
　　 1. 利用上下文確定詞義　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
　　 通過上下文來猜測詞意是閲讀考試中最常用的重要手段之一，聯系上下文可以幫助我們理解句子，確定詞義。下麪我們通過一些實例來簡要說明如何通過上下文來確定詞義。
　　 例1：He is successful as a businessman because of his dynamic personality. He seems to have unlimited energy.對於dynamic一詞大家可能不熟悉，下文的He seems to have unlimited energy…（他似乎有用不完的勁）就是對 dynamic詞義的解釋。這樣，我們便知道該詞意爲“有乾勁的”。
　　 例2：Sociology is the term used to describe the scientific study of human society.假定sociology是一個不認識的詞，系動詞be後麪就給出了明確的定義。這樣，我們便知道該詞意思爲“社會學”。
　　 例3：A first-year college or university student is commonly a 'freshman'， and ‘sophomore’， 'junior‘ and 'senior' designate the second—third—and fourth—year student.要是對sophomore， junior 和senior幾個術語不熟悉，通過後麪的對應解釋詞語the second—third—and fourth—year student我們便不難知道它們分別是指二、三、四年級的大學生。
　　 例4：The tired soldiers trudged through knee-deep mud for hours before they found a dry place to sleep.通過後麪的through knee-deep mud（沒膝深的泥漿），我們知道trudged一詞的意思爲與行走這一動作有關，在泥漿中行走，也就是“跋涉”。
　　 例5：When it comes to manufactured goods there is actually more diversity in this country than Europe has ever known. The variety of goods carried by our stores is the first thing that impresses any visitor from abroad.第二句中的variety與第一句中的diversity 同義，這樣，我們便不難知道diversity的大意是“種類”或“品種”。
　　 {ad300_right}下麪我們聯系上下文，試確定以下各句中斜躰字的含義。
　　 1.The woman and the children were skilful in boats too， but there were usually several of them in a large boat called umiak.
　　 2.The doctor said that if a person ate even one leaf of the hemlock plant， he would die， because the plant is a deadly poison.
　　 3.Although dogs and cats often have large families， rabbits are famous for the size of their litters， which sometimes number more than twelve bunnies at one time.
　　 4.Mark became hysterical when his basketball team won， and he did not calm down for several days.
　　 5.With mud from head to toe， flowers still clutched in his hand， John looked so ludicrous that we couldn‘t help laughing.
　　 6.A bee collects nectar not in its own stomach but in a kind of shopping bag （called the honey sac） similar to the one ants have.
　　 7.Several generations ago， the world seemed to run in an orderly way. Now， however， everything is in a state of turmoil.
　　 8.After the first time someone tried to rob him， the banker became flustered easily， and in his confusion he would make many careless errors.
　　 9.Jane was intrigued by the behavior of animals； she could sit for hours observing a bird making a nest or an ant carrying a leaf.
　　 10.Some chimps are very independent and appear to be the superior members of a group； others seem to be ruled by the leaders and are quite submissive.
　　 通過上串下聯，我們不難確定上述各句中斜躰字的含義如下：
　　 1.umiak n. 一種大船
　　 2.hemlock n. 一種有毒植物（毒芹）
　　 3.litter n.一窩 bunnies小兔子
　　 4.hysterical a.歇斯底裡，異常興奮
　　 5.ludicrous a……滑稽可笑的
　　 6.nectar n.花蜜 honey sac蜜胃
　　 7.turmoil n.混亂
　　 8.flustered a.慌亂的
　　 9.intrigued a.感興趣
　　 10.submissive a.順從的