推荐四种猜词方法，助你开展有效英语阅读!
在学习英语的过程中遇到生词，对于国内大部分英语学习者而言，可能是司空见惯的事，它甚至会伴随大部分人英语学习的始终。据笔者的观察和了解，一般人解决生词的方法不外乎两种：要么是先查词，后阅读；要么是边阅读边查词。无论如何，它们都算不上什么高效的学习方式，加之它们又都是一次性“消费”，没有可持续性，无法有助于学习者做到举一反三，因此也就不具有借鉴和推广价值。今天，笔者将为大家分享四种猜词之法，希望能为各位更加富有成效地学习英语提供助力。
1. 利用同根词猜词。英语中的同根词现象比较普遍，阅读过程中，运用恰当，可以节省很多查寻单词的时间，免除大家的单词查询之苦。如对于句子“The informality of Americans is another trait sometimes commented on”中的“informality”。学习者完全可以根据之前已掌握的“informal（非正式的；不拘礼节的）”来断定，“informality（非正式；不拘礼节）”应是该词的名词形式，如此，其相应意思也就十分明了啦。
再比如句子“The local gathering place for the consumption of alcoholic beverages was the ‘saloon’, adapted from the French ‘salon’, or drawingroom”中的“consumption”。可以根据它与“consume（消费）”相似，而断定该词就是后者的名词形式。当然，这样的例子不胜枚举，类似的还有“immediately（立即；马上）// immediacy（立即性；及时性）”,“custom（风俗；习俗）// customary（习俗的；习惯的）”, “beautiful（美丽的；漂亮的） or beauty（美丽；美人）// beautician（美容师）”，“cosmetics（化妆品）// cosmeticians（化妆师）”，等等。
2. 利用衔接词猜词。衔接词，顾名思义，起的就是将两个或两个以上彼此之间存在某种关联的词衔接在一起的作用。例如，要想知道句子“National traits or habits of thinking and acting are reflected in the language”中的“traits”的意思，只需要知道“habits”的意思就行了，因为行文和衔接词“or”把它们放在了二选一的位置上，分明就是在暗示，它们的意思是大差不差的。
再如，要想知道句子“There is a yearning to be citified as a mark of refinement. In a society based on farming, the noon meal was the large meal of the day and was called ‘dinner’, while the term ‘supper’ was reserved for a lighter meal in the evening. In the cities, however, dinner was served in the evening, and it was considered countrified or‘small town’ to speak of dinner in the middle of the day”中“countrified”一词的意思，有三点值得充分利用：其一，行文通过衔接词“or”把它与“small town（小市镇的）”放在二选一的位置上，就是为了表明二者的意思是一致的；其二，看到“countrified”，很容易联想到该词与“country（乡村；乡下）”同根，意思应该相近；其三，前文中已经提及“citified（城市气的；有城市特征的）”一词，两者可以相互印证，从而更加可以确认“countrified（像乡下人的；土里土气的）”的意思了。
3. 利用上下文猜词。上下文，即涉及单词所在位置的前文和后文。众所周知，一词多义无论在英语中还是汉语中，都是一种正常现象。而能确定某个单词具体意义的无疑就是其上下文了。如句子“The groundsman tended the orchards and gardens around the manor house, so the trees in autumn were always bowed down with apples and pears, and as the days grew shorter the land around was teeming with helpers picking the fruit and rounding up the windfalls to take to the manor house, or to market in town down the way”中出现了“bow”和“teem”两个动词。要想知道前者的意思，可以借助的信息分别是“trees”、“in autumn”、“down”和“with apples and pears”，将它们结合在一起后，可以断定“bow”应该是“使弯曲”的意思；而要想知道后者的意思，可借助的信息分别有“the land around”、“helpers picking the fruit and rounding up the windfalls”，将它们整合起来，不难断定“teem with”应该是“有”、“存在”的意思。
又如句子“Apart from the autumn, it was quiet here, and the groundsman seemed forlorn until one day, he brought a young woman home. I was soon filled with the sounds of conversation and laughter, and the smell of cooking”中的“forlorn”一词。要想知道它的意思，可资借助的信息分别有“quiet here”、“until”、“he brought a young woman home”、“I was soon filled with the sounds of conversation and laughter, and the smell of cooking”。上文表明了“the groundsman”所在的地方很安静，而他又是一个人待在那里；下文说直到这个人带回来一个年轻的女人，“我”（即房子）不久就充满了交谈声、笑声以及做饭时产生的声音。综合起来看，这里有对比的意味，因此可以认定“forlorn（孤苦伶仃的；孤独凄凉的）”一词的意思应该相当于“alone”。
再如句子“High up in the topmost bough of one of the apple trees rested theboy, reading his favourite book”中的“bough”的意思，根据上下文，可以认定为“又大又粗的树枝”，不然也承受不了小男孩的重量，等等。
4. 利用现象归纳猜词。这种方法一般适用于作者在提出某个概念后，会列举一些实例，英语学习者因此可以借助这些例子的共性来判断这个概念的意思。如句子“National traits or habits of thinking and acting are reflected in the language. Americans have sometimes had a reputation for always being in ahurry, perhaps as a result of the fact that one time there was much to be done in a new country and there was a sense of immediacy about doing it. In this modern age this trait may characterize people throughout the world, particularly in big cities. A reflection of it in language is the use of abbreviations. The Englishman has his “telly” (television) and his “fridge” (refrigeration) --- American puts “gas” (gasoline) in his car, goes to the “movies” (moving pictures), and drinks a “coke” (Coca - Cola). A student at an American university may study “math” (mathematics) or “trig” (trigonometry), or perhaps specialize in “soc” (sociology) or “edpsych” (educational psychology), and go to the “gym” (gymnasium) for a “PE” (physical education) class”中的“abbreviations”的意思，就可以通过的若干单词的简写形式和全名的对比获知，即为“缩略词”。
又如要判断句子“And gradually they installed all sorts of appliances, such as a cooker and washing machine”中“appliances”的意思，就可以根据“cooker”和“washing machine”的共同属性来确认为“家用电器”，等。
总之，与先查单词再阅读和边阅读边查单词相比，综合运用上述四种猜词法不仅有助于确保学习者阅读的连贯性，既享受阅读的乐趣，又可以获取知识，而且还切实可行，充分盘活学习者之前记忆库中储存的词汇，提高其利用率，从而使英语学习更加富有成效。
练一练：你可以根据前面分享的根据上下文猜词，判断下列句子中划线单词或短语的意思吗？
1. As the years passed by, the couple grew older, and suddenly the house was deserted. We had grown up together, but I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye.
2. My neighbor and I were no longer the only homes around, because opposite there were new terraced and semi-detached houses being built. They were made of bricks and looked taller and thinner than we were. I thought they looked rather coarse against my hand some stone.
3. And many more people came to live around here as well, the streets became quite congested with people teeming up and down on their way somewhere. It seemed as if no one spent much time at home any more.
4. As the years passed, there were new families who came to stay. Two middle-aged women spent several years here, and I liked them because of the care they showed to my rooms and my garden. Everything was spick and span; it was as if they had furnished the house in the same style as when I was first built. They also installed electricity --- I hadn’t realized how bright the lights could be or how gloomy my rooms must have appeared.
注：文中所有例子均来自笔者给学生上课时所讲的两篇文章，可见上述四种方法并非没有用武之地。
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