在英語學(xué)習(xí)中，我們自然會遇到許多生詞。這時，許多人立即翻閱字典，查找詞義。其實，這種做法是不科學(xué)的。它不但費時費力，而且影響閱讀速度。事實上，閱讀 材料中的每個詞與它前后的詞語或句子甚至段落有著互相制約的關(guān)系。我們可以利用語境(各種已知信息)推測、判斷某些生詞的詞義，因為考研閱讀部分的詞匯題

　　要考的并不是考生認(rèn)不認(rèn)識題中所考的單詞，真正要考的是考生閱讀中的推斷能力，也就是說題中所考單詞的詞義必定能根據(jù)上下文推斷出來。推斷出詞義后，可將 詞義代入原文看是否通暢來判斷自己的推測是否準(zhǔn)確。

　　例如2003年第54題：

　　Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyone’s cost. If railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line. It’s a theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail. “Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?” asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shippers。

　　The word “arbiters” most probably refers to those_________。

　　[A] who work as coordinators

　　[B] who function as judges

　　[C] who supervise transactions

　　[D] who determine the price

　　該題的解題關(guān)鍵在于是否知道arbiters后的介賓短語of who wins and who loses in the marketplace就是對該詞的最準(zhǔn)確定義，依據(jù)該介賓短語，不難得出arbiters是決定誰輸誰贏的人，四個選項中只有B選項和這個意思最為接近。

　　再例2004年第43題：

　　For any job search, you should start with a narrow concept—what you think you want to do—then broaden it. “None of these programs do that,” says another expert。

　　“There's no career counseling implicit in all of this。” Instead, the best strategy is to use the agent as a kind of tip service to keep abreast of jobs in a particular database; when you get E-mail, consider it a reminder to check the database again. “I would not rely on agents for finding everything that is added to a database that might interest me,” says the author of a job-searching guide。

　　The expression “tip service” most probably means 。

　　[A] advisory

　　[B] compensation

　　[C] interaction

　　[D] reminder

　　該題的解題關(guān)鍵在于充分利用分號，分號前面的短語use the agent as a kind of tip service和分號后的consider it a reminder屬于并列關(guān)系，it和the agent都是指的文章中所說的搜索代理，自然我們就找到了tip service的同義詞reminder。所以該題答案D。

　　根據(jù)考研英語閱讀理解詞義題破解的總體原則，可以總結(jié)出兩種具體的詞義題解題方法：

　　1. 內(nèi)在邏輯關(guān)系法。即根據(jù)內(nèi)在邏輯關(guān)系推測詞義是指運用語言知識分析和判斷相關(guān)信息之間存在的邏輯關(guān)系，然后根據(jù)邏輯關(guān)系推斷生詞詞義或大致義域。

　　a。根據(jù)對比關(guān)系猜測詞義

　　在一個句子或段落中，有對兩個事物或現(xiàn)象進(jìn)行對比性的描述，我們可以根據(jù)生詞或難詞的反義詞猜測其詞義。例如：

　　Andrew is one of the most supercilious men I know. His brother, in contrast, is quite humble and modest. 該例中supercilious對許多人來說可能是個生詞，但是句中短語in contrast，(相對照的，相對比的)可以提示我們supercilious和后面詞組humble and modest(謙卑又謙虛)是對比關(guān)系。分析出這種關(guān)系后，我們便能猜出supercilious意為“目空一切的，傲慢的”。

　　表示對比關(guān)系的詞匯和短語主要是unlike，not，but，however，despite，in spite of，in contrast 和while 引導(dǎo)的并列句等。例如，A good supervisor can recognize instantly the adept workers from the unskilled ones. 該句中并未出現(xiàn)上面提到的表示對比關(guān)系的詞或短語，但是通過上下文可以判斷出句子前后是對比關(guān)系，即把熟練工人與非熟練工人區(qū)分開。這時我們也能夠推斷出生詞 adept的詞義為“熟練的”。

　　b。根據(jù)比較關(guān)系猜測詞義

　　同對比關(guān)系相反，比較關(guān)系表示意義上的相似關(guān)系。

　　例如：Green loves to talk，and his brothers are similarly loquacious。

　　該句中副詞similarly表明短語loves to talk與生詞loquacious之間的比較關(guān)系。以此可以推斷出loquacious詞義為“健談的”。表示比較關(guān)系的詞和短語主要是similarly，like，just as，also等。

　　c。根據(jù)因果關(guān)系猜測詞義

　　在句子或段落種，若兩個事物、現(xiàn)象之間構(gòu)成因果關(guān)系，我們可以根據(jù)這種邏輯關(guān)系推知生詞詞義。

　　例如：Tom is considered an autocratic administrator because he makes decisions without seeking the opinions of others. 根據(jù)原因狀語從句的內(nèi)容，我們可以推斷出生詞autocratic指“獨斷專行的”。There were so many demonstrators in the Red Square that he had to elbow his way through the crowd. 此句為結(jié)果狀語從句，根據(jù)從句的描述“許多示威者”，我們便可推知elbow的詞意“擠，擠過”。

　　d。根據(jù)同義詞的替代關(guān)系猜測詞義

　　在句子或段落種，我們可以利用熟悉的詞語，根據(jù)語言環(huán)境推斷生詞詞義。