高中英语阅读技巧⑧根据上下文推断单词和短语的含义——单词词义猜测题
一、单词词义猜测题常见的设问方式
1. What does the underlined word “...” in the ... paragraph mean / refer to?
2. What does the word “...” in Paragraph … refer to?
3. The underlined word “...” in Paragraph ... is closest in meaning to _____.
4. The underlined word “...” in Paragraph ... means / can be replaced by _____.
5. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “...” in Paragraph …?
6. Which of the following best explains “...” underlined in Paragraph …?
二、单词词义猜测题解题技巧
单词词义猜测题要求考生理解文章中单词的含义，故正确理解上下文是解题的关键。除了通过语境进行推断以外，我们还可以采用以下方法：
1. 通过定义或解释猜测词义。用于下定义或解释的单词或短语有or, mean, in other words, be defined as, be described as, be seen as, refer to, that is, that is to say等。有些定义或解释是通过破折号、冒号、括号、同位语（从句）或定语从句来表示的。
2. 通过所举例子猜测词义。用于举例的单词或短语有like, including, such as, for example, for instance等。
3. 通过对比关系猜测词义。用于表示对比关系的单词或短语有but, however, although, while, yet, unlike, even though, in contrast to, instead of, in spite of, on the other hand等。
4. 通过类比关系猜测词义。用于表示类比关系的单词或短语有similarly, in the same way等。
5. 通过因果关系猜测词义。用于表示因果关系的单词或短语有so, because, so that等。有些因果关系是通过非谓语动词（短语）来表示的。
三、真题分析
以下内容均选编自高考真题，我们将结合上面提到的解题技巧对各题进行分析解答。
[A]
Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit (联系) groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.
Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialisation, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.
At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages, often spoken by many people, while hot, wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 languages; the Americas about 1,000; Africa 2,400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The median number (中位数) of speakers is a mere 6,000, which means that half the world's languages are spoken by fewer people than that.
Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are close to extinction (消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon (eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico (150), Lipan Apache in the United States (two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.
1. Which of the following best explains “dominant” underlined in paragraph 2?
A. Complex.
B. Advanced.
C. Powerful.
D. Modern.
【分析】本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了世界上语言的种类随着人类社会的发展而逐渐减少这一现象。
根据第二段中的... all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over可知，诸多原因导致大量语言消失，而逐渐被如英语、西班牙语、汉语等语言取代，这就暗示出这些语言是“占优势的，强大的”，故选C项。
[B]
Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he's an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce litter, including things that fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein's jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bag.
Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts (收银台). The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the ease that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.
Among the bag makers' arguments: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground today.
The industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags. The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.
Environmentalists don't dispute (质疑) these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.
2. What does the word “headwinds” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A. Bans on plastic bags.
B. Effects of city development.
C. Headaches caused by garbage.
D. Plastic bags hung in trees.
（
【分析】本文是一篇说明文。塑料购物袋产生“白色垃圾”。在美国加利福尼亚州约有90个城市禁止使用塑料购物袋；购物袋制造商建议用纸袋，但环保专家认为塑料袋和纸袋都不要用，只用可以重复利用的购物袋。
由划线单词后的plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the ease that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume可知，塑料购物袋制造商雇用像Stein这样的科学家来说明他们的产品不像大多数人认为的那样对地球有那么大的坏处；再根据划线单词前的The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California可知此处的headwinds指代“对塑料袋的禁令”，故选A项。
