河北 胡金莹

一、命题解读

词义推断题旨在考查考生根据上下文推断单词、短语或句子的意思的能力，突出考查考生对语境的分析和把握能力。它不仅涉及对考生的语言水平的考查，还涉及对考生的语言应用能力和综合素质等方面的考查。考生应学会通过构词法、定义、同位、对比、因果、常识、同义词、反义词及上下文线索等推断词义。

词义推断题虽不是阅读理解题考查的重点，但也是常考题目，是对考生综合能力的考查。近几年，词义推断题难度略有增加，考生需在较为复杂的句式中通过上下文综合分析才能得出答案。 在今后的高考中，这类试题出现的概率将保持平稳，而且将增加对短语含义以及句意的考查。

二、解题策略

1. 利用构词法推断词义

英语中的许多词汇，特别是不断出现的新词，大多是通过构词法生成的。通过了解构词法，考生不需要借助上下文便能够大体推断出词义，然后再结合语境判定词义。这样事半功倍，大大提高了解题的效率和正确率。 因此，在做词义推断题时，可以先把握构词法，再结合语境解题。 构词法主要有合成法、派生法和转化法三种形式。

（1）合成法。 合成法是指两个或多个单词按照一定的规律组合在一起，形成一个新的单词。一般来说，合成词的意思就是各个组成词的意思的结合。例如：overestimate是由over和estimate组合而成的新单词，意为“高估”。考生在阅读中经常见到这样的单词，也能比较轻松地猜出它们的意思。根据复合词的组成部分猜测词义是词义推断的一条捷径。

【典例链接】（2019·全国甲卷阅读B篇）I guess that there's probably some demanding work schedule, or social anxiety around stepping up to help for an unknown sport.She may just need a little persuading. So I try again and tug at the heartstrings. I mention the single parent with four kids running the show and I talk about the dad coaching a team that his kids aren't even on... At this point the unwilling parent speaks up, “Alright. Yes, I'll do it.”

25. What does the underlined phrase “tug at the heartstrings” in paragraph 2 mean?

A. Encourage teamwork. B. Appeal to feelings.

C. Promote good deeds. D. Provide advice.

【点石成金】B 画线部分中的heartstrings是合成词，由heart和strings组成，由此可推断此短语与心情有关。根据前文可知，作者猜测这位家长对参与一项不熟悉的运动可能有一些顾虑，而作者需要说服那位家长。根据“I mention the single parent with four kids running the show and I talk about the dad coaching a team that his kids aren't even on...”可知，作者是想从情感上打动这位家长，故选B。

（2）派生法。派生法是通过在单词词根上添加前缀或后缀来构造新词。一般来说，前缀改变词义不改变词性，而后缀改变词性不改变词义。 常见的前缀有：

①表示否定或相反意义的前缀dis-、un-、im-、in-、ir-、il-、non-等， 往往可以构成原单词的反义词。 如：advantage（优点）—disadvantage（缺点）、accurate（准确的）—inaccurate（不准确的）、polite（礼貌的）—impolite（不礼貌的）、logical（符合逻辑的）—illogical（不合逻辑的）、employment（就业）—unemployment（失业）、existence（存在）—nonexistence（不存在）、connect（连接）—disconnect（切断）等。

②表示“又；再；重新”的前缀re-。如：reactivate（使重新出现）、readjust（重新适应）、reborn（再生）、reunion（重逢）、reorder（重新排列）等。

③表示“和……一起；共同；联合”的前缀co-。 如：co-author（合著者）、cooperate（合作）、co-education（男女同校）等。

④表示“超过”或“过度”的前缀out-。 如：outlive（比……活得长）、outnumber（比……多）、outweigh（超过）等。

（3）转化法。 把一个单词由一种词性用作另一种词性的方法称为转化法。 由于词性的转化，其词义产生变化，故考生在推断句子中某个词的含义时，首先应借助该词所在句子的语法结构判断该词的词性，然后再借助该词前后的搭配结构、语义来推断词义。

【典例链接】（2018·北京卷阅读D篇）A study from the University of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol-powered private cars worldwide with electric, selfdriving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure(基础设施) and operations 40% by 2050. Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing. The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride-hailing services, considering the cost of self-driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues (责任与维护问题). But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology.

49. What does the underlined word “fielded” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A. Employed. B. Replaced. C. Shared. D. Reduced.

【点石成金】A field常用作名词，表示“场地”或“领域”，此处用作动词，引申为“使用”或“应用”。 根据画线词所在句中的The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly和下文中的as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology可知，随着价格的降低以及人们对这项技术开始应用自如，第一批上市的无人驾驶汽车会“被应用”到打车服务中。

2. 利用上下文线索推断词义

在有些文章中，特别是科技类说明文，作者通常会通过对一些关键词或专业术语下定义来帮助读者理解词义， 尤其在一些科普类、 社科类及与专业内容相关的文章中。 下定义时，作者通常使用信号词，如i.e.、is/are、is/are called、mean、refer to、define、represent、signify、be considered/known as等。 文章对词义的解释除了直接下定义外，还有一种间接释义法，即通过描述、介绍、总结等方式就画线单词或短语等给出间接提示，考生可以从中推断词汇含义。

【典例链接】（2021·全国甲卷阅读C 篇）Southbank, at an eastern bend in the Thames, is the center of British skateboarding, where the continuous crashing of skateboards left your head ringing. I loved it. I soon made friends with the local skaters. We spoke our own language. And my favorite: Safe. Safe meant cool. It meant hello. It meant don't worry about it. Once, when trying a certain trick on the beam（横杆）, I fell onto the stones, damaging a nerve in my hand, and Toby came over, helping me up: Safe, man.Safe. A few minutes later, when I landed the trick, my friends beat their boards loud,shouting：“Safe! Safe! Safe! ” And that's what mattered—landing tricks, being a good skater.

9. What do the underlined words “Safe! Safe! Safe! ” probably mean?

A. Be careful!B. Well done!

C. No way!D. Don't worry.

【点石成金】B 根据题干关键词 “Safe! Safe! Safe! ” 可定位到段中的“And that's what mattered—landing tricks, being a good skater.”（这就是重要的——着陆技巧，以及成为一名优秀的玩滑板的人。 ），这句是对画线部分的进一步解释与说明，表示做得好，所以应该是鼓励的话语。

3. 利用同义词和近义词推断词义

有时为了避免语言单调、重复，作者会在文章中使用意思相同或相近的词。因此，在画线单词或短语等前后有时会出现与之同义或近义的词或结构，它们往往暗示了画线部分的含义，考生可通过熟悉的词汇推断出画线单词或短语等的含义。

【典例链接】（2021·浙江卷阅读B篇）In the past few years, an increasing number of people and organisations have begun coming up with plans to counter this trend. A couple of years ago, film-maker David Bond realised that his children, then aged five and three, were attached to screens to the point where he was able to say “chocolate” into his three-year-old son's ear without getting a response. He realised that something needed to change, and, being a London media type, appointed himself “marketing director from Nature”. He documented his journey as he set about treating nature as a brand to be marketed to young people. The result was Project Wild Thing, a film which charts the birth of the Wild Network, a group of organisations with the common goal of getting children out into nature.

26. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “charts” in paragraph 2?

A. recordsB. predictsC. delaysD. confirms

【点石成金】A “He documented his journey as he set about treating nature as a brand to be marketed to young people.”中的动词documented与画线词是同义词，再根据“The result was Project Wild Thing, a film which charts the birth of the Wild Network, a group of organisations with the common goal of getting children out into nature.”（结果是Project Wild Thing， 一部描绘了Wild Network诞生的电影，Wild Network是一个以让孩子们融入大自然为共同目标的组织。 ）可知，画线词所在句主要阐述David Bond拍摄的纪录片Project Wild Thing记录了Wild Network的诞生，因此record（记录）与画线词的含义最为接近，故选A。

4. 利用反义词推断词义

对比是描述、说明事物的常用方式。在对比中，对比的事物通常是相反的，因此根据反义或对比关系可从已知推出未知。 因此， 考生可以利用反义词来推断生词的意义，如hot and cold、perfect and imperfect。 词与词之间、句与句之间的关系起着互为线索的作用。

【典例链接】（2021·新高考Ⅰ卷阅读C篇）When the explorers first set foot upon the continent of North America, the skies and lands were alive with an astonishing variety of wildlife. Native Americans had taken care of these precious natural resources wisely. Unfortunately, it took the explorers and the settlers who followed only a few decades to decimate a large part of these resources.Millions of waterfowl （水禽）were killed at the hands of market hunters and a handful of overly ambitious sportsmen. Millions of acres of wetlands were dried to feed and house the ever-increasing populations, greatly reducing waterfowl habitat （栖息地）.

29. What does the underlined word “decimate” mean in the first paragraph?

A. Acquire. B. Export. C. Destroy. D. Distribute.

【点石成金】C 根据“Unfortunately,it took the explorers and the settlers who followed only a few decades to decimate a large part of these resources.”（不幸地，这些探险者和定居者只花了几十年的时间就毁掉了这些资源的很大一部分。）中的副词Unfortunately可知，此处与前文的taken care of形成对比，故此处应表示“破坏；毁坏”。

5. 根据上下文指代关系推断词义

在英语文章中，作者常使用代词指代上文中的名词或名词短语，以此将上下文内容连贯起来，使前后相呼应。 文章中的代词可以指上文提到的人或物，其中it和that还可以指代一件事。 一般来说，代词的指代内容大多在代词所在句的前句中，解答这类题目时一定要遵循“就近原则”，即代词往上找，就近原则不能忘，找出离代词最近的名词、词组或句子等。有时，代词指代的对象相隔较远，需要认真查找；有时，需要对前面提到的内容进行总结，才能得出代词所指代的对象。 因此，考生在解题时需要返回原文找到代词所在的句子，仔细分析，然后向前查找，找出离该代词最近的名词、短语或句子，最后以其替换该代词，看句子是否合理、通顺。

【典例链接】(2020·浙江卷阅读B篇)The traffic signals along Factoria Boulevard in Bellevue, Washington, generally don't flash the same length of green twice in a row, especially at rush hour. At 9：30am, the full red/yellow/green signal cycle might be 140 seconds. By 9：33am, a burst of additional traffic might push it to 145 seconds. Less traffic at 9：37am could push it down to 135. Just like the traffic itself, the timing of the signals changes.

That is by design. Bellevue, a fast-growing city just east of Seattle, uses a system that is gaining popularity around the US: intersection (十字路口) signals that can adjust in real time to traffic conditions. These lights, known as adaptive signals, have led to significant declines in both the trouble and cost of travels between work and home.

25. What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A. Increased length of green lights. B. Shortened traffic signal cycle. C. Flexible timing of traffic signals. D. Smooth traffic flow on the road.

【点石成金】C That位于第2段句首，应是指代第1段的内容。 根据第1段内容，尤其是第1段的最后一句“Just like the traffic itself, the timing of the signals changes.”(就像交通本身一样，信号灯的时间也会变化。 )可知，第1段主要讲述的是信号灯的时间会灵活变化。“That is by design.”意为“那是有意为之”，由此可推知，That指代第1段中的“信号灯的灵活时间”，故选C项。

6. 根据上下文情境和语境推断词义

考生在做词义推断题时，有时找不到标志性线索，但任何一篇文章中的句子在内容上都不是绝对孤立的，都与句子所在的段落及整篇文章有关。 这时，考生可以利用上下文语境和文章提供的情景线索进行合乎逻辑的综合分析，进而推断词义。有时作者在阐述某人、某物或某一现象的特点时，先是一般性地或概括性地说一下，然后再进行具体的说明或解释；或者反过来，先进行具体的阐述，然后再进行归纳、总结。如果考生能把握作者的思路，就能从那些具体的说明、解释或归纳中找出词义推断的线索。

【典例链接】(2021·全国乙卷阅读B篇)Still, 55 percent of Australians have a landline phone at home and only just over a quarter (29%) rely only on their smartphones,according to a survey （调查）. Of those Australians who still have a landline, a third concede that it's not really necessary and they're keeping it as a security blanket—19 percent say they never use it while a further 13 percent keep it in case of emergencies. I think my home falls into that category.

25. What does the underlined word “concede” in paragraph 3 mean?

A. Admit. B. Argue.

C. Remember. D. Remark.

【点石成金】A 根据Of those Australians who still have a landline(在那些仍然有固定电话的澳大利亚人中)可知，这个调查的目标人群是仍然有固定电话的澳大利亚人；根据下文的it's not really necessary and they're keeping it as a security blanket—19 percent say they never use it while a further 13 percent keep it in case of emergencies (固定电话并不是必要的，他们将其作为一种安全保障——19%的人表示他们从未使用过固定电话，另有13%的人保留固定电话以防紧急情况)可知，很多澳大利亚人认为固定电话并不是必须拥有的，有些人保留固定电话只是为了防止紧急情况的发生。 由此推知，在调查中，他们应该是承认了固定电话的非必要性。 因此，画线词concede意为“承认”，故选A项。

7. 利用标点符号推断词义

有的文章会用特定的标点符号对某个单词、短语或句子加以解释说明，考生可以利用这一方法推断词义，尤其要注意冒号、破折号、分号等后面的内容，以及引号或括号中的内容。

【典例链接】（2019·全国丙卷阅读B篇）“China is impossible to overlook,” says Hill.“Chinese models are the faces of beauty and fashion campaigns that sell dreams to women all over the world, which means Chinese women are not just consumers of fashion—they are central to its movement.” Of course, not only are today's top Western designers being influenced by China—some of the best designers of contemporary fashion are themselves Chinese. “Vera Wang, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu are taking on Galliano,Albaz, Marc Jacobs—and beating them hands down in design and sales,” adds Hill.

26. What do the underlined words “taking on” in paragraph 4 mean?

A. learning fromB. looking down on

C. working withD. competing against

【点石成金】D 画线词后的and beating them hands down in design and sales意为“并在设计和销售上击败他们”。 由此可推断“Vera Wang, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu are taking on Galliano, Albaz, Mare Jacobs”的意思是Vera Wang、Alexander Wang和Jason Wu正在与Galliano、Albaz和Mare Jacobs竞争，因此taking on意为“竞争”。

8. 利用生活经验和常识推断词义

英语阅读理解试题选择的素材具有时代性、新颖性和贴近生活的特点，尤其强调选择一些与考生生活息息相关的素材，因此利用日常生活和文化背景相关的常识，考生可以更准确地猜测句中画线部分的含义。

【典例链接】（2019·江苏卷阅读B篇）Just at this time NASA decided to test some new high-altitude cameras by taking photographs of Yellowstone. A thoughtful official passed on some of the copies to the park authorities on the assumption that they might make a nice blow-up for one of the visitors' centers. As soon as Christiansen saw the photos, he realized why he had failed to spot the caldera: almost the whole park—2.2 million acres—was caldera. The explosion had left a hole more than forty miles across—much too huge to be seen from anywhere at ground level. At some time in the past Yellowstone must have blown up with a violence far beyond the scale of anything known to humans.

60.What does the underlined word “blow-up”in the last paragraph most probably mean?

A. Hot-air balloon. B. Digital camera.

C. Big photograph. D. Bird's view.

【点石成金】C 根据此段中的“Just at this time NASA decided to test some new highaltitude cameras by taking photographs of Yellowstone. A thoughtful official passed on some of the copies to the park authorities on the assumption that they might make a nice blow-up for one of the visitors' centers.”可知，美国国家航空航天局为测试一些新的高海拔相机而拍摄了黄石国家公园。 一位深思熟虑的官员把其中的一些照片的副本转交给了公园管理部门，认为他们可能会将其放大以供一个游客中心展示。 根据常识，公园管理部门将照片提供给游客中心展示，肯定要将照片放大，故此处blow-up意为“将照片放大”，故选C。

三、备考建议

要想做好词义推断题，考生必须熟练掌握课程标准规定的词汇，在平时的训练中要注意积累生词和短语，要有较大的泛读量，掌握或认识较多的课外词汇；要掌握构词法的基本知识，对于各种前、后缀的变化形式了然于心；要学会“顺藤摸瓜”和“上下取证”，即利用上下文提供的情境和线索，结合我们的生活常识和社会经验进行符合逻辑的综合分析，并以此来推断词义，切忌脱离上下文盲目猜测。