由于猜测词义题涉及题材背景、句子结构、文章主旨、作者的观点态度等，因此联系主旨、整合上下文信息是解答这类题的关键。命题者在出这类题时惯用常规词义来麻痹考生，同学们要特别注意熟词生义，切不可脱离语境主观臆断。

1. 推断词义要回到原句中分析。

2. 推断句义要看全段甚至全文。

3. 正确理解作者在全文中的情感态度对准确判断至关重要。

4. 不要受平时该词最常见意思的影响。

5. 推断句义应先搞清句型结构。

6. 正确答案不但应在该处合理，在全文中也应合理。

7. 熟记考试说明规定的构词法的前缀和后缀用法，留神旧词新意。

8. 猜测词义句义的方法：英英释义，根据同位语，参照同义词或反义词，根据上下文描写，参考关联词、替代词和上下文。

（一）根据构词法判断词义

三种构词法，即合成、转化、派生，是我们猜测词义需掌握的基本方法。

合成法：通过构成合成词的每个单词的含义猜测和领会其含义；

转化法：通过一个词的本意猜测出它转化后的意思，常见的是名词和动词、形容词和动词以及形容词和名词之间的相互转化；

派生法：由一个词根加前缀（prefix）或后缀（suffix）构成词的方法称为派生法。一般来说，前缀改变词义，后缀改变词性。

【试一试】

1. 猜测下面合成词的词义：

(1) underwear         (2) editor-in-chief    (3) well-designed    (4)underdeveloped   (5) mass-produced       (6) serious-looking   (7) time-saving

2. 转化法练习：

(1) The road narrows gradually.                   _______________

(2) To get there, they had to journey over a desert.    _______________

(3) She clocked 23.5 seconds in the women’s 200-meter finals.  ___________; __________

(4) The dog nosed out a rat.     _____________

3. 派生法练习

(1) 根据前缀猜测词义

u       Do you have any strong opinion on co-educational or single-sex schools?

     划线词义为：___________________

u       His anti-slavery policy had set millions of black free and his strength and wisdom had guided the nation through the war to pe ace and reunion.  “reunion” here means______.

A. coming back again            B. becoming one again

C. meeting someone again        D. seeing someone again

 (2) 结合前缀和后缀猜测词义

u       prehistoric _____________ unthinkabl e______________。

根据派生法猜测下列句子中划线词的含义。 

1. Can you understand the inscription on the tomb?

A. words written by cutting into the surface   B. names of famous people

C. explanation                            D. main id ea

2. A train is immobile when it _________.

A. speeds along       B. doesn’t move        C. move silently        D. goes backward

3. Because of the storm, the valley was impassable.

A. not beautiful to look at               B. not easy to pass

C. full of water                          D. more beautiful

（二）根据语境判断词义

这是提高阅读速度和理解率必备的判断断词义的能力。语境可能是一个句子、几个句子、甚至一个段落或通篇文章。我们可分别将其称为小语境、中语境和大语境。

1. 小语境

(1) 定义式

常用词有：be, mean, be considered, to be, be called, define, represent, refer to 等。

 例1：Mark Twain was not the author’s real name; it was a pseudonym.  

 例2：Mechanized farming means the use of modern machinery on farms.  

(2) 例举式

常用词有：for example, for instance, such as, like 等。

 例1：Newly-married young people often spend some of their money on appliances, for

instance, washing-machines, refrigerators and televisions.  

 例2：Doctors suggest that everyone should exercise every day, especially those who do

sedentary work like reading, typing and sewing.  

(3) 重述式

 常用词有：and, or, similarly, that is (to say), in other words, namely, say, i.e. 等

 例1：Red had the longest wavelength; that is, the distance between each wave is longest in red

light than in any other co lor.  

例2：The football player was penalized for his rudeness and the punishment was a good lesson for him.

 (4) 同位语

构成同位关系的两部分之间常用逗号连接，有时也使用破折号，冒号，分号，引号和括号等。

 例：Dr. Baker is a member of an agricultural mission, a group of experts on better farming

methods.  

（5）修饰限定式 

从定语从句或状语从句提供的限定或修饰信息来猜测词义。

例1：The herdsman, who looks after sheep, earns about 650 yuan a year.  

 例2：The man is a tramp, who goes from place to place and does no regular work.

2. 中语境

(1) 对比关系：有些表示转折关系的连词、介词短语和副词等使前后的意思构成对比。我们可以利用这种对比关系，判断生词的含义。常用的词有：although; even though/if; while; but; yet; however; instead; rather than; unlike; far from; on the other hand; unfortunately等。

   例1：The main point of the plan is clear to me, but the details are still hazy.  

   例2： Unlike her gregarious sister, she is a shy, quiet person who does not like to go to parties or to make new friends.

例3：Though Tom’s face has been washed quite clean, his neck still remains grubby.

例4：If you agree, write “yes”; if you dissent, write “no”.  

 (2) 同义关系和平行关系：作者在写文章时，为避免重复，同一概念常用不同的同义词。

这种同义关系为我们猜词带来了方便。常用词：and; or; not only…but also…; besides;

similarly; likewise; in the same way, like, just as, also, as well as, in other words或用

分号引出相同或类似的词。另外在特定的情况下，作者经常通过一连串同一类型或同

一范畴的词语来表达其思想。如果有一生词在这一系列的同一范畴的词语中，可以通

过这些词语的特征和语义范围推断出生词的词义范围。

        例1：Doctors believe smoking detrimental to your health; they also regard drinking harmful.  

例2：The new tax law supersedes, or replaces, the law that was i n effect last year.
     A. supervise    B. review      C. take the place of    D. start t o enforce

(3) 因果关系：在句子或段落中，若两个事物现象之间构成因果关系，可以根据这种逻辑关系推测生词词义。常见的提示词有：because，as， since，for，so，thus，as a result，therefore等。

例：When some kind of pain killer was brought out recently, researchers found that the colors turned the customers off because they made the product look weak and ineffective.

The underlined part “the colors turned the customers off” means that the colors_____.

A. attracted the customers strongly     B. had weak effects on the customers

C. tricked the customers into shopping  D. caused the customers to lose interest

(4) 根据替代、说明、描述等关系猜测词义:在句子或段落中，我们可以利用熟悉的词语，根据语言环境所表示的关系推断生词词义。

例1：William Shakespeare said, “The web of our life is of a mi ngled yarn（纱线），good and ill together.”

The underlined word “mingled” in the last paragraph most probably means     .

          A. simple     B. mixed            C. sad        D. happy

例2：He is a resolute man. Once he makes up his mind to do something, he won’t give it up halfway.       

3. 大语境

   例1：Even our fathers dropped their tools and joined us. Our mothers took their turn, laughing like schoolgirls. I think we were all beside ourselves. Parents forgot their duty and their dignity; children forgot their everyday fights and little jealousies. “Perhaps it’s like this in the kingdom of heaven,” I thought confusedly.

    Q: By “we were all beside ourselves”, the writer means that they all ___________.

       A. felt confused   B. went wild with joy  C. looked on   D. forgot their fights

例2：All her life, my mother wanted busy children. It was very important that her house should remain at all things clean and tidy.

  You could turn your back for a moment in my mother’s house, leave a half written letter on the dining room table, a magazine open on the chair, and turn around to find that my mother had “put it back where it belonged” as she explained .

……

Now my siste r has developed a second-hand love of clean windows, and my brother does the cleaning in his house, perhaps to avoid having to be the one to lift his feet. I try not to think about it too much, but I have at this later time started to dust the furniture once a week.

Q: The underlined part in the passage suggests that my sister _________.

   A. is happy to clean windows      B. loves to clean used windows

   C. is fond of clean used windows   D. likes clean windows as my mother did

【例1】①(江苏省石庄高级中学2014届考前指导)Cassandra Feeley finds it hard to manage on her husband’s income. So this year she did something more than a hobby: She planted vegetables in her yard. For her fist garden, Ms Feeley  has put in 15 tomato plants, and five rows of a variety of vegetables. The family’s old farm house has become a chicken bourse ,its residents arriving next month. Last year, Ms.Rita Gartin kept a small garden. This year she has made it much larger because, she said ,“The cost of everything is going up and I was looking to lose a few pounds too; so it’s a win-win situation all around.”

1.What does the word “residents’’ in Paragraph 1 probably refer to?

  A. chickens                   B. tomatoes                      C. gardens         D. people

②The word advertising refers to any kind of public announcement that brings products and Services to the attention of people．Throughout history , advertising has been all effective way to promote(促进)the trading and selling of goods．In the Middle Ages，merchants ants employed “town criers” to read public messages aloud to promote their goods．When printing was invented in the fifteenth century , pages of advertisements(ads)could be printed easily and were either hung in public places  or put in books.

By the end of the seventeenth century , when newspapers were beginning to be read by more People, printed materials became all important way to promote products and services．The London Gazette was the first newspaper to set aside a place just for advertising.This was SO successful that by the end of the century several companies started businesses for the purpose of making newspaper ads for merchants.

2.What does the word “This” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. Advertising in newspapers.                         B. Including pictures in ads.

C. selling goods in markets.                           D. Working with ad agencies.

【例2】(江苏省石庄高级中学2014届考前指导)…The CRF's produce is "green". made within the country and divided i nto 10 lines, with the Alcohol Series being the most popular. The Exotic Series一with Sichuan pepper, red bean (豆). cheese and other flavors一also does well and is fun to taste. And for chocolate snobs, who think that they have a better knowledge of chocolate than others, the Connoisseur Series uses cocoa beans from Togo, Cuba, Venezuela , and Ghana, among others.]

3. The words "chocolate snobs" in Paragraph 3 probably refer to people who     

A. are particular about chocolate                                  B. know little about cocoa beans

C. look down upon others                                            D. like to try new flavors

【例3】(江苏省石庄高级中学2014届考前指导)I hated dinner parties. But I decided to give them another shot because I'm in London. And my friend Mallery invited me. And because dinner parties in London are very different from those back in New York. There, '“I’m  having a dinner party' means: "I'm booking a table for 12 at a restaurant you can't afford and we'll be sharing the checque evenly, no matter what you eat." Wo rse, in Manhattan there is always someone who leaves before the bill arrives. They'll throw down cash, half of what they owe, and then people like me, who don’t drink, end up paying even more. But if I try to use the same trick, the hostess will shout： "Where are you going?" And it's not like I can say I have somewhere to go： everyone know I have nowhere to go.

4.What does the word "shot" in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A. Choice.                   B. Try                       C. Style.                    D. Goal

【例4】(江苏省石庄高级中学2014届考前指导)Try hands-on science. Visit one of the many hands-on science museums around the country. These science play-lands are great fun for kids and grown-ups alike. They'll keep your child mentally and physically active th e whole day through while pushing buttons, experimenting, and building. When everyone is tired, enjoy a fun family science show, commonly found in these museums.

5.What does "hands-on science" mean in the last paragraph?

A. Science games designed by kids.                       B. Learning science by doing things.

C. A show of kids' science work.                           D. Reading science books.

【例5】(江苏省石庄高级中学2014届考前指导)Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.

6.What does the underlined phrase “over-consumption” refer to?

A. Using t oo much packaging.                            B. Recycling too many wastes.

C. Making more products than necessary.                    D. Having more material than is needed.

【例6】(2014年新课标高考模拟试题B篇节选)Fortunately for the dolphin, it had picked the right humans — people that cared and more importantly, knew what to do without hurting it. Kelly managed to gently extract the fishing hook that had firmly stuck inside the dolphin’s mouth and snip off (剪掉) the tightly entangled fishing line from its pectoral fins (胸鳍). What surprised the team the most was that the dolphin seemed to really trust them and cooperated (配合) fully with Kelly, the entire time.

1.     The underlined word “extract” in the third paragraph is the closest in meaning to “_____”.

A.take off            B.get back                C.turn to             D.come across

【例7】(浙江省教育考试院2014届高三高考抽测英语试题C篇节选)Attention blindness is the fundamental organizing principle of the brain, and I believe that it presents us with a great opportunity. My take is different from that of many neuroscientists(神经科学家): Where they see the shortcomings of the individual, I sense an opportunity for cooperation. Fortunately, given the interactive (互动的) nature of most of our lives in the digital age, we have the tools to control our different forms of attention and take advantage of them.

2.         The word “take” (paragraph 5) most probably means _______.

A.scene               B.impression              C.understanding           D.preference

【例8】(2014年山东省高考英语模拟八E篇节选)Lynn Rexroat of Chillicothe, Illinois, uses this method to keep tabs on her children. “My oldest son knows that in order for him to go anywhere with a friend, especially one I have n’t met before, I have to speak with that friend’s parent to make sure the arrangements are agreeable with us both,” she says. “I don’t interrogate (质问) them by asking a bout their private life. I just wa nt to know that the parents of the other child know what the boys are planning to do. I feel that by my wanting to know I am protecting my son.”

3.The underlined part “keep tabs on” in the fourth paragraph probably means “      ”.

A.take control of         B.win over              C.bring back           D.watch over

【例9】(2014年山东省高考英语模拟一C篇节选)“The taste system is important fo r quick — often life and death — decisions about what to eat,” says Michael Gordon, a senior author of the paper. “Typically the initial taste of sugar indicates a good source of carbohydrates (糖类), but longer-term feeding preferences integrate (使结合) past experiences and learning. It appears that nutritional content is a more important part of those.”

4.The underlined word “those” in Paragraph 3 most probably refers to “　　　　”.

     A. the fruit flies’ past experiences                                      B. the carbohydrates contained in the food

     C. the longer-term feeding preferences of the fruit flies       D. the newest findings about the fruit flies

【例10】(2014年山东省高考英语模拟四A篇节选)Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point, bend, but don’t break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.

5.What does the underlined sentence mean in the fourth paragraph?

A. Be brave enough to fight against the bad situations.    B. Submit to the bad situations.

   C. Try to survive the bad situations.                              D. Try to avoid the bad situations.

【例1】
1.【答案A】
【解析】词义猜测题。原文提到她家的旧家舍正变成鸡舍，其“居民”下月到达，显然这里residents指代chickens。
2.【答案】A
【解析】根据划线单词前的The London Gazette was the first newspaper to set aside a place ust for advertising.可得出答案。句中的This指的是在报纸上做广告。
【例2】
3.【答案】A
【解析】根据最后一段”And for chocolate snobs, who think that they have a better knowledge of chocolate than others”我们可以发现who引导的从句正是对chocolate snobs的解释，即chocolate snobs指那些自认为比他人更懂得巧克力的人。纵观选项，答案B说他们几乎不懂咖啡豆，不符合文意，因为本句的面还说了为了这些chocolate snobs，“鉴赏系列是”特地用了来自多哥、古巴等的咖啡豆子；答案C说他们看轻别人，文中并没有提及；答案D说他们喜欢尝试新口味，也未在本句定义中提及，所以正确答案为A。A选项中的be particular about解释为“对.....特别讲究”，符合他们自认为更懂巧克力的特点。
【例3】
4.【答案】B
【解析】从第一句的hate，到时but意义上的转折，说明尽管不喜欢，还是要“尝试七下”，所以try的意思更接近shot。
【例4】
5.【答案】B
【解析】根据”hands-on”可以推测“与手有关”。再从”They’ll keep your child mentally and physically active the whole day through while pushing buttons, experimenting, and building.”我们可以推测孩子通过动手来学习科学知识。
【例5】
6.【答案】D
【解析】根据构词法解题。“consumption”本意为“消费”。前缀“over”为“超过、过度”，由此可以推测“over-consumption”的意义应为“过度消费”，所以D项意义正确。
【例6】
1.【答案】A
【解析】根据上下文解题：第三段主要介绍Kelly如何解救这只被困的海豚，鱼钩卡在了海豚的嘴里，Kelly将它取了下来。根据常识解题：首先根据前面的动词不定式“to”可知该词为动词。在该动词后面跟的宾语是“the fishing hook”意为“鱼钩”，根据常识应该是将鱼钩取下来。做A正确。
【例7】
1.【答案】C
【解析】根据该词前面的“My”可知该词是名词，与我们所熟悉的动词“take”的意义肯定不同。根据本段下文：Where they see the shorcomings of the individual; I sense an opportunity for cooperation.“别人看到了他们的弱点，而我却感到了新的契机”，由引可以推测此处指作者在这次事情发生后自己的认识、想法，故判断C选项正确。
【例8】
1.【答案】D
【解析】根据文章第四段的语境，这位家长如何对孩子进行监督，避免他学坏。
【例9】
1.【答案】C
【解析】从文章该词所在的句子可知，食物的营养成分是其中的的重要一部分，这其中的指果蝇在选择长期食用的食物时，故C项正确。
【例10】
1.【答案】C
【解析】从该划线句子前面可知，作者告诫我们，身处困境中，我们可以屈服，但不要垮掉，可推知该划线句子意为：不要让困境打败你。也就是告诫我们要像竹子一样富有弹性，在艰难的时期挻得过去。