一、猜词技巧与英语四级备考

　　猜词技巧是一种学习策略，即学习方法。猜词技巧是外语词汇学习的一种主要的学习策略。在教学中如何引导学生掌握猜词技巧对于提高他们的外语专业素质和学习效果举足轻重。国外研究表明，扩充外语或母语词汇量的一种行之有效的方法为猜词技巧。对此，有来自两方面的研究为我们提供了客观依据。一种为推断性研究。据调查，母语为英语的孩子到12年级(相当于高三)时掌握阅读词汇量40 000 单词(派生词如develop, development, developmental计为一个单词)，而(小学)三年级学生仅掌握5 000-10 000个单词。这表明，孩子平均每年掌握约3 000阅读词汇，或每天掌握8-10词。事实上，此类调查研究很多，而且，统计结果不一。然而，有一点毋庸质疑，即孩子所掌握的大量词汇不是来自课堂教学，也不是通过查字典，而是通过课外阅读猜词获得。

　　另一种研究是通过实验。让一组受试阅读含有生词的短文，然后，或隔一段时间后，检测其生词的掌握情况。结果表明，英语为母语的孩子以这种阅读方式平均每年掌握1 500单词，其数量数倍于在课堂或通过查字典所学的词汇量。因此，猜词技巧被视为扩大词汇量的主要媒介，因为我们的母语词汇大半是通过上下文猜测词义而获得。

　　猜词技巧：

　　猜测词义时，我们可利用以下线索：

　　1. 针对性解释

　　在文章中，作者有时为了更好地阐述思想，对一些重要的概念、难懂的术语或其他词汇做一些针对性的解释，形式有定义、复述、举例等。这些解释提供的信息具有明确的针对性，把该单词含义与其他含义区分开来，利用它们我们可以比较容易地猜测词义。

　　1）根据定义猜测词义

　　作者一般在生词之前后之后紧挨着生词给出定义内容。有时有标点符合，连字符或逗号提示。此外，如果定义内容为句子，谓语动词多为：be, be considered, to be, be called, be kown as, constitute, deal with, define, mean, refer to, represent, signify等。

　　这类线索一般很明显，学习者能比较容易地发现。

　　例如：

　　Anthropology is the scientific study of people, society and culture.

　　由定义可知，anthropology就是“研究人类的科学”。

　　2）根据复述猜测词义

　　复述也是对某一单词所做的针对性解释，虽然不像定义那样严谨、详细，但是提供的信息也能使我们猜出生词的词义。复述部分可能是单词、短语或者从句，一般作为生词的同位语，与生词间多用逗号连接，有时也使用破折号，冒号，分号，引号和括号等。同位语前常有or, similarly, that is to say, in other words, namely, or other, say, i. e.等副词或短语出现。

　　例如：

　　Semantics, the study of the meaning of words, is necessary if you are to speak and read intelligently.

　　此例逗号中短语意为“对词意义进行研究的学科”。该短语与前面生词semantics是 同位关系，因此我们不难猜出semantics指“语义学”。

　　定语从句 Krabacber suffers from SAD, which is short for seasonal affective disorder, a syndrome characterized by severe seasonal mood swings.

　　根据生词SAD后面定语从句which is short for seasonal affective disorder和同位语a syndrome characterized by severe seasonal mood swings, 我们可以推断出SAD含义，即“季节性情绪紊乱症”。

　　3）根据举例猜测词义

　　恰当的举例能够提供猜测生词的重要线索。

　　如：The consequences of epochal events such as wars and great scientific discoveries are not confined to a small geographical area as they were in the past.

　　句中“战争”和“重大科学发现”是生词的实例，通过它们我们可以猜出epochal的 大致词义“重要的”，这与其确切含义“划时代的”十分接近。

　　4）内在逻辑关系

　　根据内在逻辑关系推测词义是指运用语言知识分析和判断相关信息之间存在的逻辑关系,然后根据逻辑关系推断生词词义或大致义域。

　　5）根据对比关系猜测词义

　　在一个句子或段落中，有对两个事物或现象进行对比性的描述，我们可以根据生词或难词的反义词猜测其词义。表示对比关系的词汇和短语主要是although, but, despite, however, not, unlike, in spite of, in contrast和while引导的并列句等。

　　例如：Andrew is one of the most supercilious men I know. His brother, in contrast, is quite humble and modest.

　　该例中supercilious对许多人来说可能是个生词，但是句中短语in contrast，（相对照的，相对比的）可以提示我们supercilious和后面词组humble and modest（谦卑又谦虚）是对比关系。分析出这种关系后，我们便能猜出supercilious意为“目空一切的，傲慢的”。

　　A good supervisor can recognize instantly the adept workers from the unskilled ones.

　　该句中并未出现上面提到的表示对比关系的词或短语，但是通过上下文可以判断出句子前后是对比关系，即把熟练工人与非熟练工人区分开。这时我们也能够推断出生词 adept的词义“熟练的”。

　　6）根据比较关系猜测词义

　　同对比关系相反，比较关系表示意义上的相似关系。

　　例如： Green loves to talk, and his brothers are similarly loquacious.

　　该句中副词similarly表明短语loves to talk与生词loquacious之间的比较关系。以此可以推断出 loquacious词义为“健谈的”。 表示比较关系的词和短语主要是similarly, like, just as, also等。

　　7）根据因果关系猜测词义

　　在句子或段落种，若两个事物、现象之间构成因果关系，我们可以根据这种逻辑关系推知生词词义。

　　例如：Tom is considered an autocratic administrator because he makes decisions without seeking the opinions of others.

　　根据原因状语从句的内容，我们可以推断出生词autocratic指“独断专行的”。

　　There were so many demonstrators in the Red Square that he had to elbow his way through the crowd.

　　此句为结果状语从句。根据从句的描书“许多示威者”我们便可推知elbow的词义为“挤，挤过”。

　　8）根据同义词的替代关系猜测词义

　　在句子或段落中，我们可以利用熟悉的词语，根据语言环境推断生词词义。

　　例如：

　　Just before the exam Carl's hands shook and sweated so much that he could not hold a pen. His heart beat fast and his stomach ached, even though he knew the subject very well. He really had a strange phobia about taking test.

　　有些学生也曾有上文中所表述的考试时是紧张状态，所以很容易就能猜出“phobia”指“恐惧症”。

　　2. 外部相关因素

　　外部相关因素是指篇章(句子或段落)以外的其他知识。有时仅靠分析篇章内在逻辑关系无法猜出词义。这时,就需要运用生活经验和普通常识确定词义。

　　例如： Husband：it's really cold out tonight. Wife: Sure it is. My hands are practically numb. How about lighting the furnace?

　　根据生活经验，天气寒冷时，手肯定是“冻僵的，冻得麻木的”。

　　The snake slithered through the grass.

　　根据有关蛇的生活习性的知识，我们可以推断出slither词义为“爬行”。

　　3. 单词构词

　　在猜测词义过程中，除了使用上面提到的一些策略，我们还可以依靠构词方面的知识， 从生词本身猜测词义。

　　1）根据词根来猜测词义

　　例如：Antidisestablishmentarianism这个单词由28个字母构词，但是利用构词法将单词拆分，我们可以猜测其含义。单词可拆分为anti-(反对)+dis-(不)+establish(建立)【disestablish即废除】+- ment(名词后缀)+-arian(……者)+-ism(……主义)，单词含义即“反对废除国教制度者主义”。

　　2）根据词缀猜测词义

　　例如：He fell into a ditch and lay there, semiconscious, for a few minutes. 根据词根conscious（清醒的，有意识的），结合前缀semi（半，部分的，不完全的），我们便可猜出semiconscious词义“半清醒的，半昏迷的”。I'm illiterate about such things. 词根literate 意为“有文化修养的，通晓的”，前缀il-表示否定，因此illiterate指 “一窍不通，不知道的”。

　　Then the vapor may change into droplets.后缀-let表示“小的”，词根drop指“滴，滴状物”。将两个意思结合起来，便可推断出droplet词义“小滴，微滴”。

　　3）根据复合词的各部分猜测词义

　　例如： Growing economic problems were highlighted by a slowdown in oil output. Highlight或许是一个生词，但是分析该词结构后，就能推测出其含义。它是由 high （高的，强的）和light（光线）两部分组成，合在一起便是“以强光照射，使突出” 的意思。 Bullfight is very popular in Spain. Bull（公牛）和fight（打，搏斗）结合在一起，指一种在西班牙 颇为流行的体育运动——斗牛。

　　综上所述，利用各种已知信息推测、判断词义是一项重要的阅读策略。在实践中，我们可以灵活运用，综合运用上面提到的几种猜测策略，排除生词的障碍，顺利理解文章的思想内容，提高阅读速度。

　　三、猜词技巧的作用

　　多个实验证明，猜词技巧的培训能明显提高英语阅读水平。猜词技巧是一种学习能力，学习者利用猜词技巧有助于迅速扩充词汇量，增强阅读兴趣，提高阅读能力。

　　一些考试，尤其是出国考试要求考生掌握大量词汇，在考试中又会经常出现一些考生没有见到过的词汇，而且这些词汇考生可能很难会再次碰到。要掌握这些词汇不太可能，在这种情况下，掌握猜词技巧就显得尤为重要。

　　四、猜词实战

　　That's enough, kids

　　It was a lovely day at the park and Stella Bianchi was enjoying the sunshine with her two children when a young boy, aged about four, approached her two-year-old son and pushed him to the ground.

　　"I'd watched him for a little while and my son was the fourth or fifth child he'd shoved," she says." I went over to them, picked up my son, turned to the boy and said, firmly, 'No, we don't push," What happened next was unexpected.

　　shove

　　首先，我们可以判断shove是动词，表示动作。从上文得知这个小男孩"走到我两岁儿子前，把他推到了地上"，而且"我看到他一会功夫就shove了四五个孩子"。可以推断出，shove是与push相近的动作。

　　属于根据同义替代猜词词义。

　　"The boy's mother ran toward me from across the park," Stella says," I thought she was coming over to apologize, but instead she started shouting at me for disciplining her child, All I did was let him know his behavior was unacceptable. Was I supposed to sit back while her kid did whatever he wanted, hurting other children in the process?"

　　discipline

　　根据文中含义，我们可以推知，男孩的母亲生气了，对"我"大声嚷叫，责怪我"discipline"教训她的孩子。

　　属于内在逻辑关系之根据同义词的替代关系猜测词义。

　　unacceptable

　　我们非常熟悉accept一词，又知un-是否定前缀，-able是形容词后缀，可直接推出unacceptable是"不可接受的"。

　　属于构词技巧之根据前后缀猜词词义。

　　Getting your own children to play nice is difficult enough. Dealing with other people's children has become a minefield.

　　minefield

　　首先，我们已学mine（地雷）和field（场地），可以猜测minefield指"雷区"。但是，根据句意，minefield的本义在这里讲不通，又知上一句讲到：能让自己的孩子好好玩就已经是件棘手的事了，和其他人的孩子相处就是个minefield。从逻辑上看，这是个比较关系。联想minefield（雷区）的特征，我们可以猜测到minefield指非常危险的事情。

　　属于构词技巧之复合词的各部分以及内部推理之根据递进关系猜词词义。

　　In my house, jumping on the sofa is not allowed. In my sister's house it's encouraged. For her, it's about kids being kids: "If you can't do it at three, when can you do it?"

　　Each of these philosophies is valid and, it has to be said, my son loves visiting his aunt's house. But I find myself saying "no" a lot when her kids are over at mine. That's OK between sisters but becomes dangerous territory when you're talking to the children of friends or acquaintances.

　　"Kids aren't all raised the same," agrees Professor Naomi White of Monash University." But there is still an idea that they're the property of the parent. We see our children as an extension of ourselves, so if you're saying that my child is behaving inappropriately, then that's somehow a criticism of me."

　　inappropriately

　　Inappropriately为副词，修饰"behave"，表示"行为如何"。由下文"a criticism of me"可知，inappropriately为贬义词，我们可猜知是行为不当。

　　In those circumstances, it's difficult to know whether to approach the child directly or the parent first. There are two schools of thought.

　　"I'd go to the child first," says Andrew Fuller, author of Tricky Kids. Usually a quiet reminder that 'we don't do that here' is enough. Kids nave finely tuned antennae (直觉) for how to behave in different settings."

　　He points out bringing it up with the parent first may make them feel neglectful, which could cause problems. Of course, approaching the child first can bring its own headaches, too.

　　This is why White recommends that you approach the parents first. Raise your concerns with the parents if they're there and ask them to deal with it," she says.

　　Asked how to approach a parent in this situation, psychologist Meredith Fuller answers: "Explain your needs as well as stressing the importance of the friendship. Preface your remarks with something like: 'I know you'll think I'm silly but in my house I don't want…'"

　　preface

　　把Preface按构词法拆分，由前缀pre-(在……之前)和face(面)组成，可以推出preface指在……之前。

　　属于根据词根词缀猜词词义。

　　When it comes to situations where you're caring for another child, white is straightforward: "common sense must prevail. If things don't go well, then have a chat."

　　There're a couple of new grey areas. Physical punishment, once accepted from any adult, is no longer appropriate. "A new set of considerations has come to the fore as part of the debate about how we handle children."

　　For Andrew Fuller, the child-centric nature of our society has affected everyone:" The rules are different now from when today's parents were growing up," he says, "Adults are scared of saying: 'don't swear', or asking a child to stand up on a bus. They're worried that there will be conflict if they point these things out – either from older children, or their parents."

　　He sees it as a loss of the sense of common public good and public courtesy (礼貌), and says that adults suffer form it as much as child.

　　Meredith Fuller agrees: "A code of conduct is hard to create when you're living in a world in which everyone is exhausted from overwork and lack of sleep, and a world in which nice people are perceived to finish last."

　　exhausted

　　介词from表示"由于……"，根据句意，"overwork and lack of sleep超时工作，睡眠不足"，导致了"exhausted"疲倦的。

　　属于内在逻辑关系之根据因果关系猜测词义。

　　"it's about what I'm doing and what I need," Andrew Fuller says. "the days when a kid came home from school and said, "I got into trouble". And dad said, ‘you probably deserved it' are over. Now the parents are charging up to the school to have a go at teachers."

This jumping to our children's defense is part of what fuels the "walking on eggshells" feeling that surrounds our dealings with other people's children. You know that if you remonstrate(劝诫) with the child, you're going to have to deal with the parent. it's admirable to be protective of our kids, but is it good?

　　"Children have to learn to negotiate the world on their own, within reasonable boundaries," White says. "I suspect that it's only certain sectors of the population doing the running to the school –better –educated parents are probably more likely to be too involved."

　　White believes our notions of a more child-centered society should be challenged. "Today we have a situation where, in many families, both parents work so the amount of time children get from parents has diminished." she says.

　　diminish

　　父母都工作，陪孩子的时间当然就减少了（diminish）。

　　属于内在逻辑关系之根据因果关系猜词词义。

　　"Also, sometimes when we talk about being child-centered, it's a way of talking about treating our children like commodities(商品). We're centered on them but in ways that reflect positively on us. We treat them as objects whose appearance and achievements are something we can be proud of, rather than serve the best interests of the children."

　　One way over-worked, under-resourced parents show commitment to their children is to leap to their defence. Back at the park, Bianchi's intervention(干预) on her son's behalf ended in an undignified exchange of insulting words with the other boy's mother.

　　As Bianchi approached the park bench where she'd been sitting, other mums came up to her and congratulated her on taking a stand. "Apparently the boy had a longstanding reputation for bad behaviour and his mum for even worse behaviour if he was challenged."

　　Andrew Fuller doesn't believe that we should be afraid of dealing with other people's kids. "Look at kids that aren't your own as a potential minefield," he says. He recommends that we don't stay silent over inappropriate behaviour, particularly with regular visitors.

　　longstanding

　　将longstanding根据构词法拆分：long（长时间）+stand（站立）+-ing（形容词后缀），可知longstanding指长期存在的。

　　属于构词技巧之根据词根词缀猜词词义。