英语阅读理解解题策略和技巧
高考英语阅读理解解题策略和技巧(下)
山东省济宁市实验中学 蒋玉强 朱美华
3.猜测词义题(Guessing at word meaning)
这类题旨在考查学生根据上下文对灵活变化的词义做出理解判断的能力。近几年来,阅读理解中的词义猜测题呈上升趋势。在阅读过程中根据选材、背景、及上下文等线索推测出生词词义是真实语言活动中的重要技巧。这一能力可以说是体现阅读理解能力的一项重要指标。常见的题干有:
①Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the word…?
②The word ... could best be replaced by____.
③In the…paragraph, the word... (Para.x Line x) means (refers to)________.
④According to the passage,... probably means_______.
⑤The author uses the word... to mean_________.
⑥The word/phrase “…”(Para. Line) basically/most probably refers to/means______.
⑦What does the word “…” (Para x. Line x) mean/refer to?
⑧ “…”in the passage means_____.
⑨From the context, the word “…” most probably means_____.
做这类题目通常采用的方法是:
(1)根据上下文,利用构词法知识(词缀法、合成法、转化法等)猜测词义。
英语词汇极为丰富,有不少单词是由两个自由词素构成的合成词。如seabed , mass-produce, homemade, cool-headed等。只要知道两个自由词素的意思就可推断出合成词的意思。此外,利用词的前缀prefix、后缀suffix的重新组合,就可以使一个单词派生出多个词义来。词根是派生词的基础,同一词根加不同的派生词缀可以表示不同的意义,还可表示不同的词性(如:education ---educate---educational----educationalist )。
请判断下列词汇的意思: counterculture(反文化的);unconcerned(不关心的);counterrevolutionary(反革命);undress(脱衣服);counterattack(反击);undone(未完成的);disreputable(名誉不好的);disagree(不赞同);disquiet(使不安)。dis-,un-,counter-,都是表示否定意思的前缀,在任何词前面加上否定意义的前缀就改变了原词的词意。可见掌握构词法是扩大词汇量的一个捷径,对你的阅读会有极大益处。运用构词法猜测词义是一种简单而行之有效的方法。只要掌握构词法规律,无论单词加前缀还是后缀都不难猜出它们的含义。如:
①As the disease developed to its advanced stage, the cancer is inoperable. inoperable为生词,前缀 “in-”表示否定,后缀 “-able” 表示“可……的”,中间词干operate 意为“手术”,可知inoperable为“不可手术的”。
②Perhaps, we can see some possibilities for next fifty years. possibility是 possible的同根名词,据此可以判断定 possibility意思是"可能性"。
(2)利用信
号词猜测词义,表示定义或例解、列举或添加、比较或对比等。
A.定义法。为了说明一个词的含义文中常给其定义,从定义中便可知道生词中的意义了。作者还常以更明确的方式提供词义的线索,信号词(signal words)或线索信号词,即使用破折号“—”引出同位语;括号、冒号引出具体说明或例子;引号引出一个范例解释前面出现的生词。可以根据一些标志词找出猜词的线索,像means, that is to say, that is(即是), or(或者), in other words(换言之),for example, for instance(举例说明)等这些能够说明生词意义的表示法。如:
① The harbor is protected byajetty —wall built into the water.(港口被防波堤保护着即从水面筑起的一堵墙)。破折号引出说明jetty(防波堤)的意思。
② Jane is indecisive, that is, she can’t make up her mind.(珍妮是个拿不定主意的人,就是说,她自己做不了决定。)that is引出对indecisive的解释。
③ All the birthdays are called singil(born day).The sixty-first birthday is called huang up(beginning of new life). (所有一切生日都被称为生日,61岁生日叫新生。)括号里的内容(born day、beginning of new life)来说明singil和huang up。这两个是由朝鲜语引来的外来语,在英语字典上查不到这两个词。采用这种技巧,就可以完整地理解词义。
④ Annealing is a way of making metals tough by cooling slowly after heating. 表语部分直接定义出annealing的含义是“一种通过对金属加热,然后缓慢冷却以增强金属韧性的方法”,即“退火”。
⑤ The herdsman, who looks after sheep, earns about 650 Yuan a year. 定语从句中looks after sheep就表明了herdsman的词义为"牧人"。
⑥ The textbook glossary is a list of new words and phrases we’ve learned in the text. 后半句a list of new words and phrases we’ve learned in the text的解释就能明白glossary的词义是“词汇表”。
⑦ Sanctuaries are places where it is against the law to hunt birds and animals. 通过后面的定语从句,可以推断出它的意思是“禁猎区”。
⑧ There are two types of fat , external fat (fat under skin) and internal fat (fat inside the body wall). 从括号中可知 external fat的意思是“皮下脂肪”,而internal fat的意思是“体内脂肪”。
B.举例法。在详细情况下,作者对于可能引起疑问或不易理解的事物和言论,用举例说明的方法获得更好效果。有时举例也是为了使文章引人入胜,更易理解,并为不熟悉的词提供一些线索与暗示。这时常用连接词for example, such as, in such cases, namely, that is等来说明或阐述前面不理解的名词。如:
① Select any of these periodicals: Time magazine, Newsweek, Reader’s Digester, The New
Yorker. (任选一种这种期刊:时代杂志、新闻周刊、读者文摘、新纽约人杂志。)根据后面列出的几个例子不难看出periodicals与期刊有关。
② She is studying glaucoma and other diseases on the eye. (举例法)(她正在研究青光眼和其他眼病)。如果猜不出glaucoma是一种什么确切的字义,但还能知道是一种眼睛疾病。
③ Today young couples who are just forming a new family often spend a lot of their money on appliance such as washing machine, refrigerators, and TV sets. 这里appliance可能是一个生词, 但通过由such as引出的这些范例可知它的意思是“家用电器设备”。
C.比较法。比较是找出事物之间的共同之处与不同之处。如果作者描述这种事物的词汇是我们所不
知道的词汇,而与之作比较的词汇是我们熟知的,我们可通过熟知词汇与事物比较推测出被比较事物的词义。在寻找相同与相异的过程中,二者都显得更加清楚。这种猜词法我们称之为比较猜词法。如:
①The hot air balloon took off. It was as buoyant in the air as a cork in water. (热气球起飞了,它在空中漂浮着就象水中木塞一样。)尽管不认识buoyant,但软木塞在水中的情况不难想象是漂浮着的了。
②The snow was falling. Big flakes drifted with the wind like feathers. (下雪了,大片雪花象羽毛那样随风飘移)。我们不知道flakes的词义,但知道它与雪有关,而且能象羽毛一样随风飘移,这样就不难猜出flake是雪花了。这里like为信号词,比较物为feather。
D.对比法。是比较两者的不同之处。利用上文可为一个生词暗示出它的相反及否定意思。常由对比关联词引出。如:
① Jane was chattering with others while Elizer remained quiet all the time. (珍妮正在同他人喋喋不休地交谈着,而伊莉莎却一直保持沉默。)while是表示转折意思的词,那么与喋喋不休相反的词就是沉默了。
② Most of us agreed; however, Bill dissented.(我们大多数人同意,然而,比尔反对。)however起了转折意思,因此,同意的否定意思就是反对了。
能引出对比句子的“关联词”还有“although尽管”、“never the less然而”、“on the contrary相反”、“on the other hand从另一方面来看”、“yet然而”、“whereas然而”、“but但是”等词,这些都是可引起原句意思走向相反意思的词。
(3)根据上下文中的同义、反义、同位等关系猜测词义。
在许多英语文章中,为了避免重复,作者常用同义词或近义词进行替换。这时要注意or, like, similarly, in the same way等过渡词引出相同或类似的意思。例如:
It is difficult to believe that there are people who like to destroy or spoil beautiful things.(同义互释法)
从前后
可以判断出spoil与destroy同义,为“破坏”之意。
有些文章中,作者常用一对反义词(组)使上下文形成鲜明对比,以增强表达效果。一对反义词(组)中如果有一个是生词,考生可借助语境线索,将生词的词义反推出来。这时,注意生词前后的but, however, while, on the contrary等过渡词引出的对立关系。例如:
① The boy is not stupid , on the contrary, no one could be more intelligent.(反义法)通过on the contrary可以推断出intelligent 与 stupid意思相反,应该是“聪明的,有才智的”的意思。
② Most people object to the plan; only a few are for it.(反义法)根据前后分句的关系,可推知object to与are for是反义词,故知object是“反对”的意思。
有时我们也可根据句中的同位关系来猜测词义,如:
① They traveled a long way , at last got to a castle, a large building in old times. (同位法) 同位语部分a large building in old times给出了castle的确切词义,即"城堡"。
② We are on the night shift——from midnight to 8 a.m.——this week. (同位法)两个破折号之间的短语很清楚地表明night shift是"夜班"的意思。
(4)根据逻辑关系来猜测词义,如对比、因果、转折、让步等。
如:① She is usually prompt for all her class, but today she arrived in the middle of her first class.(对比法) but一词表转折,but前后的意思正好相反。后半句的意思是她今天"第一节上了一半才来",因此反向推理,可得出她平时一向"准时"的结论。
② Some are absent today, but most are present here.(对比法)句中but引出反义线索,present表“到场的,出席的”,由此不难猜出划线部分的词义为:“缺席的”。
③ The lack of movement caused the muscles to weaken. Sometimes the weakness was permanent. So the player could never play the sport again. (因果法)从后面的结果"永远不能再运动"中,可以推测 permanent的意思为"永远的,永久的"。
(5)利用常识来推测词义
有时可利用直接或间接的生活经验及常识来猜测词义。如: The door was so low that he hit his head on the lintel.(常识法)根据常识判断“门太矮了,头会碰在门顶的横梁上”,因此,可猜出“lintel”的意思是“门楣”。
4.推理判断题
这种题型属于主观题,是层次较高的设题。主要是检测考生能否通过文章的字面意思去领悟作者的言外之意的能力。它要求考生依据全篇内在逻辑关系进行合乎逻辑的推理判断。解这类题时必须依据文章明示的客观信息进行推理。只要认真阅读原文并迅速掌握文中提供的事实,在此基础上,借助常识和经验就可做出推断。但有时这种推断题由于干扰项的成功干扰会变得非常复杂
,这时一定记住两点:第一,要站在作者的角度去仔细思考推断,切忌加入自己的主观片面的想法和想象推断。第二,如果选项很相似很难判断时,切记文章中出现过的原意和原句肯定不是选项。
这种题型包括判断题和推理题。这两类题常常相互依存,推理是为了得出正确的判断,正确的判断又依赖于合乎逻辑的推理。常见的题干有:
①It can be inferred / concluded from the text that_____.
②We can conclude that_______.
③What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?
④What does the author probably mean by “ ”?
⑤When the writer talks about..., what he really means is that______.
⑥Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
⑦Where would this passage most probably appear / be found?
⑧The paragraph following this one would most probably state/discuss/deal with .
⑨From the last paragraph, we infer/ learn/conclude that .
⑩ By the first sentence of the passage, the author means that .
判断题考查学生在理解文章的基础上,对不同观点进行评价和判断的能力。推理题考查学生由文章的字面信息推出未知信息或隐含信息的能力。推理和判断过程中,要注意:
(1)判断有据, 推论有理, 忠实原文。切忌用自己的观点代替作者的本意。
(2)全面分析所有相关信息,切忌片面思考,得出片面结论。
(3)善于揣摩作者思路,尽可能与作者的思路吻合。
[例文] One day while I was reading in the room, I heard a voice coming from next door. "Block party tonight. "Right then I realized summer had arrived in North Dakota.
I will tell you there is nobody who enjoys summer more than North Dakotans, possibly because it takes such a long time to get here. We come out of our cocoons shutting and opening our eyes in the sun and ready to go. We like summer as a girl likes diamonds. We rush to the parks and the swimming pool and the sports fields and the paths and the lakes. You ask a dozen North Dakotans what summer means to them and you will get a dozen different answers.
We can infer that in North Dakota
.
A. a block party is an early sign of summer. B. indoor sports are popular in winter.
C. the people are hardy and healthy. D. winter snows are usually deep.
本文第一段告诉读者,“Block party”和“summer”之间有联系。接着作者讲述North Dakotans喜爱夏天,在夏天里从事各种各样的户外活动,包括初夏的Block party. Block party意味着夏天的到来。故本题答案为A。
由上面例题可以看出,凡推断的内容在文章中都没有明确叙述,却暗含在文字之中。因此在进行推断时,必须依靠有关的文字部分作为推理的前提和依据。
总之,推理判断必须以事实
为据,利用相关部分提供的背景知识、正确的思维过程和严密的逻辑性进行推断。切忌脱离原文,凭空臆断。
5.识别图形题
这类题旨在考查学生的形象思维能力,根据材料进行空间想象的能力。图形识别题,通常有地图、人体、实物、统计表等三种形式:简易地图——考查考生方位感;人体实物图——考查考生根据文字叙述进行形象再造能力;仪器仪表统计图表——考查考生基本的读图、读数、读表能力。常见的题干有:
① Which of the following maps gives the correct position of…?
② Which of the drawings gives an idea of what is like?
③ What is the diagram showing the correct position of…?
④ Which of the pictures best describes what is like?
6.理解作者的意图和态度题
每段语言材料都有其特定的写作目的。或为传递信息,或为愉悦读者,或为阐述某一道理。这些目的往往并不一定直接用话语表达出来,而是隐含于字里行间,只有在整体理解文章内容的基础上才能领会作者的言外之意,弦外之音。理解作者的意图和态度主要通过文章的措辞,上下文关系以及文章的文体结构等来判断。请看下面的例子:
Like alcohol and drugs, TV can be enormously destructive to personal relationships. Look at our society , you do not need to be a psychiatrist (精神病医生)to know that TV has played an important role in the increase of violent crimes in our country.
Many people will disagree with what I have written and pint out that TV is a wonderful tool for education and does a super job of reporting news, and they have a point. But it’s very difficult to use the TV wisely. How can you get your children away from the set when their father can find nothing better to do? It seems as if he has no control over his own environment because TV comes before everything.
What is the writer’s attitude towards TV?
A. Positive(肯定的) B.Indifferent (中立的) C.Indefinite(不定的) D.Negative(否定的)
通过阅读文章,可以看出作者并非全部否定电视的益处,其态度是辨证的,虽然电视带来好多弊端,但它也有好多益处。所以选择B。
四、阅读训练中应注意的问题
1.养成默读习惯,使注意力集中在文字符号上,纠正唇读、心读、喉读,以免分散精力,影响阅读速度。
2.克服指读、回视、重读等不良习惯,这样容易使理解只停留在某个词或句子上,使获得的信息支离破碎。要善于抓住句子中的核心词,从一个句子快速地扫视到另一个句子,进行连贯性理解。如:
“Would you like to do some shopping together with me? If you are free, please ring me back to tell me about it.”
这个句子,只要扫视划线的核心词,其语义就基本上清
楚了。
总之,“冰冻三尺,非一日之寒”。培养英语阅读能力的过程是一个渐进的复杂过程。只要运用科学的解题方法与技巧养成每天阅读英语的习惯,并坚持循序渐进,持之以恒、精泛结合,广泛阅读,就能潜移默化结硕果,就能推动自身概括与抽象、分析与综合、推理与判断的思维能力的发展,从而提高阅读能力和创新能力。