1.利用上下文词语意义的互相联系猜测词义 Example: Jogging has become very popular in some countries,It is believed to be a good exercise for old people. “Jogging”的意思通过“a good exercise for old people”可以推断出是一种适合老年人的剧烈的运动方式。 2.利用文章中词与词的同义和反义关系猜测词义 Example: If you happened to be sitting in the woods outside the city,you might have witnessed a strange sight.You would have seen a very proud looking man riding along horseback,saying something. 在文章中可以很容易地判断出“witnesss”的同义关系词是“seen”,因此“witness”就是看见的意思。 3.利用文章中对词的定义猜测词义 Example: Such experiences are not unusual for the amateur conchologists,people who collect shells. Conchologists的意思可以根据该词后面的同位解释“people who collect shells”理解为收集贝壳的人或贝壳收藏家。 4.利用文章中对词的举例及解释猜测词义 Example: Today young couples who are just starting their households of ten spend lots of their money on appliances,for instance,washing machines,refrigerators and color TVs. 通过所举的例子(washing machines,refrigerators and color TVs)可以看出,“appliances”应是这些名词的总称,即“家用电器”。 5.利用构词法知识(前缀和后缀)猜测词义 Example: They overestimate the interviewee‘s ability and asked him many difficult questions. “estimate”是“估计”的意思,“over-”是前缀,意为“过分,过度,超过”等,因此“overestimate”就是“高估”的意思。 同时,英文中有各种各样的前、后缀可构成名词、形容词、动词、副词等,这些词缀需要平时不断地积累和记忆。掌握构词法也是扩大词汇量和猜测生词词义的最佳办法。