一、定義猜詞法
　　即根據(jù)定義猜測詞義的方法。需要定義或解釋的單詞或短語大多是專有名詞、生僻詞或文中的關(guān)鍵詞，作者為了使讀者正確理解它們，就得做出較淺顯的解釋或說明。
　　例一：Giraffe is an animal with a very long neck, four legs and orange skin with dark spots.根據(jù)后面對 Giraffe 的解釋，它的詞義為“長頸鹿”。
　　例二：Anthropology is the scientific study of man.由定義可知 Anthropology 的詞義為“研究人類的科學(xué)”即“人類學(xué)”。
　　例三：What is plagiarism? It is using others’ ideas and words without clearly mentioning where the information is from.根據(jù)定義我們知道plagiarism的詞義為“剽竊”。
　　二、定語從句
　　定語從句對先行詞起限定、修飾或解釋作用，因此我們可以利用定語從句來推測先行詞的詞義。
　　例一：Second generation Puerto Ricans who were born in New York but who have returned to the island, are called Nuvoricans.
Nuvoricans 的詞義可以由Second generation Puerto Ricans后面的兩個(gè)定語從句來得到， 即生在紐約，后又回到波多黎各的人。
　　例二：Psychophysiology is a science which deals with the relationship between mind and body.根據(jù)定語從句我們可以看出Psychophysiology的意思為“身心聯(lián)系的科學(xué)”，即“心理生理學(xué)”。
　　三、同位短語或同位語從句
　　同位關(guān)系的兩部分之間多用逗號連接，有時(shí)也用破折號、分號、引號和括號連接。
　　例一：According to a report published on the British medical magazine, The Lancet, a study of ten German mobile phone users found that when they turned on their phones, their blood pressure goes up by 5 to 10 millimeters of mercury.根據(jù)句法結(jié)構(gòu)的知識(shí)，我們知道The Lancet是the British medical magazine的同位語，由此可知The Lancet是一個(gè)雜志的名稱。
　　例二：Semantics, the study of the meaning of words, is necessary if you are to speak and read intelligently.兩個(gè)逗號中間的短語the study of the meaning of words是Semantics的同位語，意為“對詞義進(jìn)行研究的科學(xué)”， 即“語義學(xué)”。
　　四、對比結(jié)構(gòu)
　　尋找文中相互對比、相互對照的線索來確定生詞的含義。
　　在此類文章中，通常會(huì)出現(xiàn)一些表示意義轉(zhuǎn)折、對比的詞語：however, but, on the other hand, on the contrary, instead of, while, unlike, not, although, yet, despite, in spite of, in contrast, etc.
　　例一： A good supervisor can recognize instantly the adept workers from the unskilled ones.根據(jù)句法結(jié)構(gòu)可知the adept workers和 the unskilled ones.為對比關(guān)系，意義相反。由the unskilled ones可推出the adept workers為熟練工人。
　　例二：Someone liked milk, but others abhorred it.通過but我們知道abhor是like的反義詞，意為“厭惡”。
　　五、并列平行結(jié)構(gòu)
　　它表示意義上的并列或相似關(guān)系。表示并列關(guān)系的詞語為and, similarly, like, just as, also, etc.
　　例一：A child’s birthday party does not have to be a hassle; it can be a basket of fun, according to Beth Anacleria, an Evaston mother of two, aged 4 and 18 months.分號前后為兩個(gè)并列平行的分句，后一句意為“生日聚會(huì)可以充滿快樂、樂趣”，我們可以推測hassle意為“混亂”。
　　例二：First put forward by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat in the seventeenth century, the theorem had baffled and beaten the finest mathematical minds, including a French woman scientist who made a major advance in working out the problem, and who had to dress like a man in order to be able to study at the Ecole Polytechnique.baffled 和beaten為并列平行關(guān)系，根據(jù)beaten可以推測出baffled意為“難倒，使受挫，阻礙”之意。
　　例三：John loves to talk, and his sisters are similarly loquacious.根據(jù)and和similarly判定短語loves to talk 和loquacious.之間為同義比較，意為“健談的”。

　　六、因果關(guān)系
　　它也是推測詞義的一種重要方式。我們可以通過結(jié)果推測原因，亦可通過原因推測結(jié)果。
　　例句：The girl began to feel homesick because she had been away from her family for years.根據(jù)原因狀語從句和homesick本身的構(gòu)詞方法，我們推斷它的詞義為“想家的”。
　　七、舉例法
　　即通過生詞后面所舉的例子來推斷生詞的含義。
　　例句：In this reading room, you can find almost all periodicals in China, such as: The World of English, Foreign Language in School, English Learning or Readers.我們根據(jù)后面所舉的例子，不難推斷出periodicals是“期刊”之意。
　　八、語境線索或上下文
　　即利用語境來推測生詞含義的方法。這是我們用來推測詞義的主要方法之一。
　　例一：The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone. Enter the Red Hat Society—a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun.“My grandmothers did not do anything, but keep house and serve everybody, they were programmed to do that,” said Emily Cornette, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society.根據(jù)上下文我們可以很容易得出chapter的詞義為這個(gè)組織the Red Hat Society的一個(gè)分支。
　　例二：As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency ( 一貫性 )is very important teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality ( 道德 ). Also, parents should realize that “example is better than precept”. If they are not sincere and don’t practice what they preach ( teach ), their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure ( 不穩(wěn)定 )when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled.根據(jù)上下文我們可知precept的詞義為“說教”。
　　例三：Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!Don’t be available all the time. Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day. Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.
根據(jù)語境我們知道available的詞義為“可與之交談的”或“有空的”。
　　例四：We found that bar at last. I didn’t have to ask again, for there it was in big letters over the window—Star Bar. There were some iron tables outside with plastic chairs around them. A few people sat listlessly around, looking at a portable television set that someone had brought out of the bar. They were all in thin summer dresses or short sleeved-shirts; even at that late hour it was stifling. Two thin dogs lay under one of the tables with their tongues out, and some of the women were fanning themselves unenthusiastically (無精打采的) with magazines.根據(jù)語境我們猜出stifling的詞義為“極熱的”。
　　九、標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號的暗示
　　例一：The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone. Enter the Red Hat Society—a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun.破折號后面的部分對the Red Hat Society作了解釋，是“一個(gè)認(rèn)為老年人應(yīng)該有自己樂趣的團(tuán)體”。
　　例二：The largest player—Shanghai Bashi Tourism Car Rental Center offers a wide variety of choices—deluxe sedans, minivans, station wagons, coaches. Santana sedans are the big favorite.第二個(gè)破折號后面的deluxe sedans, minivans, station wagons, coaches應(yīng)該指的是汽車的品牌或種類。
　　十、同義詞的替代關(guān)系
　　例句：Although he often had the opportunity, Mr. Tritt was never able to steal money from a customer. This would have endangered his position at the bank, and he didn’t want to jeopardize his future.
　　為避免重復(fù)使用endanger一詞， 用同義詞jeopardize來替代它, 我們推知jeopardize詞義為“使陷入危險(xiǎn)，危及，危害”。