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阅读技能(4)— 猜测词义(下)
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猜测词义的另一类重要线索来自于上下文。上下文指的是生词所处的语言环境,也就是包含生词的句子或段落。在很多情况下,我们都可以通过分析生词和它周围单词的关系猜测生词的含义。那么上下文通常会以什么方式提供猜词线索呢?
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(一)定义和解释
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' Z1 m1 F) Q6 F作者在文章中有时会对某一名词下定义或做出解释,说明该名词是什么,或是关于什么的。通过这种解释,我们可以清楚地了解这一名词的具体意义,例如:
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①Jack is now a florist, who keeps a shop for selling flowers in our district. * @. ?3 X9 I P
# t+ b6 _( Z! V+ [! C) E' N* _1 wflorist的意思就是其后定语从句who keeps a shop for selling flowers所描述的“拥有一家专门卖花的商店的人”,即“花店主”。
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②Another habit which can slow your reading is called “subvocalization”. In this case your lips do not move, but you still “hear” each word in your head as you read silently.
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很显然,subvocalization后面的句子是对该词的解释,由此可以推断出subvocalization是“默读”的意思。: g, N2 C* x6 x/ y( z6 P
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认真理解这种定义和解释,比查阅词典更能确切地掌握某一生词或词组的准确含义。但令人遗憾的是,这个线索在很多情况下被忽略了,因此我们有必要了解作者下定义或作解释的一般方法:& \& a, `" A. N/ Y) R
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◆运用to be (是), mean (意指), refer to (指), be defined as (被定义为), be known as (被称为), be called (被称为) 等词或词组,如:The grand slam, as you know, refers to a situation in which you win all of a set of important competitions in a particular sport in the same year.
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◆ 运用定语从句或同位语从句,如:He ended up to be an anthropologist, a person who studies humankind.
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◆运用破折号、括号等标点符号,如:Tim was ecstatic — that is, he was wildly happy — when he received the invitation.
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2 W& w- {3 g# ?2 e/ D, v& Q# _(二)列举和例证( [4 _4 h& o$ b3 q% P) N" c0 C
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作者有时会使用举例的方法澄清不熟悉的单词的含义,这些例子经常能帮助我们猜测生词,例如:: h4 E7 B$ t j: a5 o; L0 f
+ j& {! ?/ ^& L( P①You can borrow these periodicals from the library, such as Nature, New Society, News Weekly, Readers’ Digest, People, and so on.
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②The “terrible twos” are so called because children at that age are often intractable; for example, they have a will of their own and may refuse to obey.
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& l; E; g' [" S9 a$ v(三)同义和近义
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在写作过程中,作者为了避免重复,经常会使用同义词或近义词,有时则将两个或多个同义词放在一起以示强调。只要我们认识这组词中的一个,就能推测出该组词中生词的大致含义,例如: V' ~/ ^) z$ O5 D' M9 r
+ V, m8 m# R2 N- V①If you happened to be sitting in the woods outside the city, you might have witnessed a strange sight. You would have seen a very proud looking man riding along horseback, saying something.
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5 r# n$ I/ B5 P% M5 \# a. a. @$ ^②Mother was tall, fat and middle-aged. The principal of the school was an older woman, almost as plump as mother, and much shorter.3 A" S" p2 b+ P
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4 W9 i& U+ Y, K$ K有时候生词所在的上下文中包含与该生词形成比较和对照的词汇、描述等线索。这种比较和对照能够衬托出生词的含义,或者暗示我们需要猜测的生词不会是某种含义,例如:
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①His happiness quickly vanished like the morning dew.5 ^; h1 ^! S) b
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②She wanted to give me the impression of being erudite, but instead she gave me the impression that she knew nothing." m5 w5 s9 D3 B: V- d! Y1 f
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正像我们在例句中看到的,作者通常会用一些信号词来表明一个词语和另一个词语形成对比关系或互为反义,这无疑为理解和猜测生词词义提供了非常好的线索。常用来表示对照关系或提供相反信息的信号词有:but, yet, however, while, whereas, otherwise, in spite of, despite, even though, although, though, unlike, instead (of), on the other hand, still, by contrast, on the contrary等。' x" L6 p J$ F3 h
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(五)原因和结果
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/ j, U# t, W: O) t" t# A因果关系是事物之间必然的逻辑关系。作者在叙述原因的过程中,必然会把单词或句子置于一种因果关系的逻辑之中,因此只要我们弄清生词与上下文之间的逻辑关系,就有可能推断出生词的词义,例如:
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$ m' w$ d. \3 N1 J' ]5 u①You shouldn’t have criticized him for that, for it wasn’t his fault at all.) m# J& d }6 h) f7 T& J- A* R5 x- s
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②Since I could not afford to buy the original painting, I bought a replica.
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另外,我们自身的生活经验和一般常识在猜测词义中也能发挥重要作用,例如: S* o5 R1 E! i2 T
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①All the houses in Beichuan County collapsed during the big earthquake.
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②When I passed through the old gate, which was very low, I hit my head on the lintel.: k! }) l3 C3 \
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需要指出的是,无论是通过结构线索还是通过上下文线索推测出的词义,都只是一种可能性,我们在很多情况下都无法完全确定生词的意思。但是很多情况下我们对这些生词了解到这个程度就足够了。另外,阅读中并不是每遇到一个生词都去查阅辞典,那样做不仅会影响阅读速度和阅读量,而且会挫伤阅读的积极性。究竟何时查阅词典,取决于阅读的目的,取决于生词在文章中的重要程度。7 [* V: T5 w$ x! Z3 X/ g
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