雅思閱讀技巧之猜詞法

1根據定義猜測詞義

如果生詞是句子或段落所解釋的定義，理解句子或段落本身就是推斷詞義。
例如： anthropology is the scientific study of man.

由定義可知，anthropology就是“研究人類的科學”。

In slang the term "jam" constitutes a state of being in which a person finds himself or herself in a difficult situation.

同樣，從上下文的定義可知jam一詞在俚語中的意思是“困境”。定義句的謂語動詞多為：be, mean, deal with, be considered, to be, refer to, be called, be known as, define, represent, signify, constitute等。

2根據復述猜測詞義

雖然復述不如定義那樣嚴謹、詳細，但是提供的信息足以使閱讀者猜出生詞詞義。復述部分可以適當詞、短語或是從句。

同位語 Semantics, the study of the meaning of words, is necessary if you are to speak and read intelligently.

此例逗號中短語意為“對詞意義進行研究的學科”。該短語與前面生詞semanties式同位關系，因此我們不難猜出semanties指“語義學”。

在復述中構成同位關系的兩部分之間多用逗號連接，有時也使用破折號，冒號，分號，引號，和括號等。

Capacitance, or the ability to store electric charge, is one of the most common characteristics of electronic circuits.

由同位語我們很快猜出生詞capacitance詞義---電容量。
需要注意的是：同位語前還常有or, similarly, that is to say, in other words, namely, or other, say i. e. 等副詞或短語出現。

定語從句 Krabacber suffers from SAD, which is short for seasonal affective disorder, a syndrome characterized by severe seasonal mood swings.

根據生詞SAD后面定語從句which is short for seasonal affective disorder和同位語a syndrome characterized by severe seasonal mood swings, 我們可以推斷出 SAD含義，即“季節性情緒紊亂癥”。

3根據舉例猜測詞義

恰當的舉例能夠提供猜測生詞的重要線索，例如：

The consequences of epochal events such as wars and great scientific discoveries are not confined to a small geographical area as they were in the past.

句中“戰爭”和“重大科學發現”是生詞的實例，通過它們我們可以猜出epochal的大致詞義“重要的”，這與其確切含義“劃時代的”十分接近。