词义题
在做阅读理解题目时，会经常碰到如下的问题。
In line 3，the word“”most probably mean ．
　　By“ ”(Line 3)，the author means ．
　　这样的问题与其说是考词汇量大小，还不如说考是否具有利用上下文判断单词意思的能力。阅读理解部分的词汇题目与词汇部分的题目，目的是不同的。后者考的词，基本上都是考纲里的，考的目的是看你掌握没有。而前者考的词，基本上是超纲的，生疏的。但是其意义是从上下文中能推导出来的。因此，如阅读理解中考某一超纲词、生僻词，上下文中肯定有暗示这个词的词义的线索。做这类题就要根据上下文，抓住线索来推断词义。
　　(一)词义题的出题方式
　　三级阅读理解中所考词汇意义的超纲，表现在如下几个方面。
　　1．熟词僻义。这是指，该词大纲中有，但所考的是该词在大纲之外的意义，如bring forward在大纲中给出的意义是“提出，提议”，但在1991年6月的三级阅读理解第二篇文章中考的却是“提前”的意思。
　　例32
　　A breakthrough (突破) in the provision of energy from the sun for the European Economic Community (EEC) could be brought forward by up to two decades, if a modest increase could be provided in the EEC's research effort in this field, according to the senior EEC scientists engaged in experiments in solar energy at EEC's scientific laboratories at Ispra. near Milan.
　　The phrase "be brought forward" most probably means
　　A. be expected
　　C. be advanced
　　B. be completed
　　D. be introduced
　　本题中的bring forward这一短语动词以被动语态的形式作本句的谓语，其主语是以breakthrough为中心词的名词词组，bring forward又被状语by up to two decades 修饰：A breakthrough(突破)in the provision of energy from the sun for the European Economic Community(EEC)could be brought forward by up to two decades．在这样一个上下文里，即“在为欧洲共同体提供太阳能方面的突破”和“多至20年”，能与bring forward替换而意义又相近的词只有C项的be advanced。B选项的complete与breakthrough在英语中不构成正确搭配。
　　事实上，熟词僻义就是考一词多义。对于这种问题，考生背诵常用词汇时，不妨翻翻词典中该词的其他一两个常见义项，使自己对该词的一词多义有较好掌握。如subject一词在大纲中列出的义项为：①主题，题目；②学科，科目；③主语。而在考试中常常考到其他两个义项：①(事物的)经受者，(动作的)对象；②臣民，国民。只有根据上下文才能推断出其具体含义。
　　例33
　　If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise--and as a result, we are aging unnecessarily soon.
　　Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why otherwise healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a relatively early age, and how the process of aging could be slowed down.
　　With a team of colleagues at Tokyo National University, he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and varying occupations.
　　Computer technology enabled the researchers to obtain precise measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which relate to intellect (智能) and emotion, and determine the human character. (The rear section of the brain, which controls functions like eating and breathing, does not contract with age, and one can continue living without intellectual or emotional faculties. )Contraction of front and side parts--as cells die off--was observed in some subjects in their thirties, but it was still not evident in some sixty-and seventy-year-olds.
　　Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is a simple remedy to the contrac-tion normally associated with age--using the head.
　　The findings show in general terms that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns. Those least at risk, says Matsuzawa, are law-yers, followed by university professors and doctors. White collar workers doing rou- tine work in government offices are, however, as likely to have shrinking brains as the farm worker, bus driver and shop assistant.
　　Matsuzawa's findings show that thinking can prevent the brain from shrinking. Blood must circulate properly in the head to supply the fresh oxygen the brain cells need. "The best way to maintain good blood circulation is through using the brain," he says, "Think hard and engage in conversation. Don't rely on pocket calculators. "
　　The word "subjects"in Paragraph 4 means
　　A. something to be considered
　　B. branches of knowledge studied
　　C. persons chosen to be studied in an experiment
　　D. any member of a state except the supreme ruler
　　“subjects”所在的句子为：“Contraction…was observed in some subjects in their thirties。but it was still not evident in some sixty-and seventy-year olds”，由其中的“in their thirties(三十几岁)，，和“sixty-and seventy-year olds”(六七十岁的人)可以推出subjects指人，而且这些人在接受一场实验，那么他们就是实验对象，因此C为正确答案。
　　2．生词。这是指大纲中没有列出的词。不过，生词并不可怕，阅读时遇到生词是常有的事情，关键是要冷静地对待它们。考试时一个生词不懂不要反复琢磨，可以继续往下读，也许该词的意思在上下文中已经或很快就会明朗。
　　例34
　　People tend to be more impressed by evidence that seems to confirm some rela-tionship. Thus many are convinced their dreams are prophetic (预言的) because a few have come true; they neglect or fail to notice the many that have not.
　　Consider also the belief that "the phone always rings when I'm in the shower". If it does ring while you are in the shower, the event will stand out and be remembered. If it doesn't ring, that nonevent probably won't even register (留下印象).
　　People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world. Consider, for exam-ple, the common belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths "happen in threes". Such beliefs stem from the tendency of people to allow the third event to define the time period. If three plane crashes occur in a month, then the period of time that counts as their "happening together" is one month; if three crashes occur in a year, the period of time is stretched. Flexible end points reinforce such beliefs.
　　We also tend to believe what we want to believe. A majority of people think they are more intelligent, more fair-minded and more skilled behind the wheel of an auto-mobile than the average person. Part of the reason we view ourselves so favorably is that we use criteria that work to our advantage. As economist Thomas Schelling ex-plains, "Everybody ranks himself high in qualities he values: careful drivers give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who are polite give weight to courtesy," This way everyone ranks high on his own scale.
　　Perhaps the most important mental habit we can learn is to be cautious (谨慎的)in drawing conclusions. The "evidence" of everyday life is sometimes misleading.
　　The word "courtesy"(Para. 4) probably means
　　A. good manners
　　B. appropriate speech
　　C. friendly relations
　　D. satisfactory service
　　courtesy这个词在三级教学大纲中没有，是一个六级词汇，有一定难度。但只要找到courtesy所在的上下文．．．．careful drivers give weight to care，skilled drivers give weight to skill，and those who are polite give weight to courtesy…，可以知道这些分句说的是同一意思：“具有某一特点的人重视某一特点”，那么“有礼貌的人重视礼貌”(“those who are polite give weight to courtesy”)，由此可知“courtesy”的意思是“礼貌”，那么A为正确答案。

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