閱讀中所遇到的生詞不是孤立地出現(xiàn)在文章里，而是總存在于具體的語(yǔ)篇之中受一定的情景、上下文限制。因此可利用生詞所在的上下文或前后句來(lái)推測(cè)并確定其詞義。這也正是大綱規(guī)定的命題人必考的一個(gè)考點(diǎn)。
　　 1. 上下文猜詞法——定義法
　　根據(jù)上下文以生詞的定義為線索猜測(cè)詞義是進(jìn)行快速閱讀時(shí)最常見(jiàn)、最直接的一種猜詞方法。所謂定義就是對(duì)文章中出現(xiàn)的生詞、詞組或術(shù)語(yǔ)進(jìn)行解釋。解釋定義的方法有兩種：一種是用表示定義的詞語(yǔ)或短語(yǔ)來(lái)敘述，這些定義常有一些標(biāo)志性的語(yǔ)言，如，be，mean，refer to，to be defined as，be known as，be called，be termed…等等。還有一種就是用標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)來(lái)引出對(duì)生詞的解釋，如逗號(hào)、冒號(hào)、破折號(hào)、括號(hào)等。
　　 [例1] Ventilation, as you know, is a system or means of providing fresh air. It plays a very important part in the field of engineering。
　　 [解析] 我們可能不認(rèn)識(shí)Ventilation這個(gè)詞，但通過(guò)be (在此句中是is) 的明確定義，我們不難猜測(cè)出它是 “通風(fēng)” 的意思。
　　 [例2] The principal——money he put in his savings account to earn interest was safe----even though the bank was closed by the police。
　　 [解析] 此句中我們可能不知道principal的意思，但破折號(hào)引出的話都是對(duì)它進(jìn)行解釋的同位語(yǔ)：他放在存款賬戶上用以掙利息的錢。因此principal的含義即為本金。
　　真題演練：
　　 Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet. The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information. Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the “great game” of espionage——spying as a “profession�！� (2003)
　　 2. 上下文猜詞法——舉例法
　　有時(shí)為了進(jìn)一步說(shuō)明某一生詞，作者會(huì)采取舉例的方式來(lái)對(duì)它進(jìn)行具體的說(shuō)明和解釋，從而使讀者更容易加深理解。理解了這些例子的意思，便可以歸納出詞的含義，表示舉例的連接詞有：for example，for instance，such as, like，include，Just as， in such cases，including…等等。
　　 [例1] The remuneration for many jobs can vary greatly. For example, one can earn the minimum wage at the Pizza Pub, $5.50 an hour at a department store, or $ 4.50 an hour at the Bargain Toy store。
　　 [解析] 在此句中，remuneration可能是生詞。舉例連接詞for example引出了三個(gè)例子；wage, $5.50和$4.50。通過(guò)對(duì)所舉范例的理解可推斷出remuneration的大意是“報(bào)酬”。
　　 [例2] Alibi was substantiated when John’s friends offered personal testimony, letters of documentation, and three video tapes showing that he was present at the party。
　　 [解析] 句中雖然我們看不到表示列舉的標(biāo)志詞，但由 “約翰父親的證言、檔案信件和三盤顯示他當(dāng)時(shí)就在晚會(huì)現(xiàn)場(chǎng)的錄像帶” 這三個(gè)事例同樣可以推斷substantiate(證實(shí))的意思。
　　真題演練：
　　 Hunting for a job late last year, lawyer Gant Redmon stumbled across Career Builder, a job database on the Internet. He searched it with no success but was attracted by the site’s "personal search agent". It’s an interactive feature that lets visitors key in job criteria such as location, title, and salary, then E-mails them when a matching position is posted in the database. (2004)
　　 3. 上下文猜詞法——對(duì)比法
　　文章中，有些生詞短語(yǔ)的意思可以通過(guò)它前后出現(xiàn)的詞或短語(yǔ)的對(duì)比來(lái)進(jìn)行推測(cè)。常用的對(duì)比關(guān)聯(lián)詞有：although，but， however, while，whereas，nevertheless，on the contrary，in contrast，on the other hand，rather than，or，unlike，instead等，若能在上下文中找到表達(dá)詞義反差、轉(zhuǎn)折和對(duì)比的單詞和短語(yǔ)，便可推斷出生詞的大意。
　　 [例1] He thought it was quite unfair to him. He was up to the eyes in his work, while others in his office chatted with each other having nothing to do。
　　 [解析] 通過(guò)這兩句話可以看出，他之所以感到不滿是因?yàn)檗k公室的其他人都無(wú)所事事地在閑聊，只有他在忙碌地工作。while在這里表示對(duì)比，因此只要比較一下它連接的兩個(gè)分句的意思，不難發(fā)現(xiàn)短語(yǔ)up to the eyes in his work的意思是 “非常忙碌”。
　　 [例2] This town has a dearth of restaurants but an abundance of bars。
　　 [解析] 由but后表相反之意的abundance (豐富的，遍布的)，dearth (缺乏) 之意甚易辨出。
　　真題演練：
　　 For any job search, you should start with a narrow concept----what you think you want to do then broaden it. "None of these programs do that," says another expert. "There’s no career counseling implicit in all of this." Instead, the best strategy is to use the agent as a kind of tip service to keep abreast of jobs in a particular database; when you get E-mail, consider it a reminder to check the database again. "I would not rely on agents for finding everything that is added to a database that might interest me," says the author of a job-searching guide. (2004)
　　 43. The expression "tip service" (Line 4, Paragraph 3) most probably means ______。
　　 [A] advisory. [B] compensation. [C] interaction. [D] reminder。
　　 4. 上下文猜詞法——同義詞法
　　為了解釋清楚文章中出現(xiàn)的一個(gè)較難的詞，作者有時(shí)會(huì)用一個(gè)同義詞或近義詞來(lái)使他的意思表達(dá)的更清楚明白，這些同義詞或近義詞就為讀者推斷生詞詞義提供了線索，有時(shí)作者可能采取重達(dá)的方式復(fù)述一下前面的內(nèi)容，也就是換一個(gè)說(shuō)法。這種重述往往使用比前面一種表達(dá)更為簡(jiǎn)單易懂的詞語(yǔ)。表達(dá)重述時(shí)也有一些信號(hào)詞，常用的有：in other words，that is to say，that is等等。
　　 [例1] Children often try to emulate or copy the behavior that hey see on television。
　　 [解析] 此句中，emulate可能是一生詞，但其后or引出了它的同義詞，copy的意思為 “抄寫；仿效”，那emulate的含義就不難推測(cè)了。
　　 [例2] The village was depopulated, most of the resident dead or moved, but the livestock remained untouched。
　　 [解析] 如果大部分村民已亡故或遷徙，那么村莊只能是 “人煙稀少的”。
　　真題演練：
　　 Drugs (substances) that affect the central nervous system and alter perception, mood, and behavior are known as psychoactive substances. Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogens. Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system, whereas depressants slow it down. Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception, distorting and altering it in a variety of ways including producing hallucinations. These are the substances often called psychedelic (from the Greek word meaning “mind-manifesting”) because they seemed to radically alter one’s state of consciousness. (1997)
　　 5. 上下文猜詞法——常識(shí)判斷法
　　在閱讀的過(guò)程中，讀者有時(shí)可根據(jù)自己的生活經(jīng)驗(yàn)、普通常識(shí)和邏輯推理來(lái)推測(cè)生詞的詞義。讀者的知識(shí)面越廣，閱歷越深，猜詞的能力就越強(qiáng)，成功率也就越大。
　　 [例1] If you are capable of working twelve hours a day without a rest, and if you can engage in physical exercise for hours without seeming to get tired, then you are indefatigable。
　　 [解析] 根據(jù)上下文分析，如果一個(gè)人能連續(xù)工作12個(gè)小時(shí)，能進(jìn)行體育鍛煉數(shù)小時(shí)而不知疲倦，那么，這個(gè)人一定是一個(gè)不知疲倦的人，indefatigable的詞義就不難猜測(cè)了。
　　 [例2] Even the gifted teacher had difficulty making clear to the secondary school classes such an abstruse subject as Einstein’s theory of relativity。
　　 [解析] 從常識(shí)來(lái)看，Einstein’s theory of relativity (愛(ài)因斯坦的相對(duì)論) 對(duì)中學(xué)生來(lái)講肯定是難以接受的。因此abstruse的意思可以推測(cè)為 “難解的，深?yuàn)W的”。
　　真題演練：
　　 Science has long had an uneasy relationship with other aspects of culture. Think of Galileo’s 17th century trial for his rebelling belief before the Catholic Church or poet William Blake’s harsh remarks against the mechanistic worldview of Isaac Newton. The schism between science and the humanities has, if anything deepened in this century. (1998)
　　 59. The word “schism” (Line 4, Paragraph 1) in the context probably means ________。
　　 [A] confrontation [B] dissatisfaction [C] separation [D] contempt