在几乎任何英语考试中，阅读理解都占有非常重要的地位。而阅读理解中的生词却让解题者感到头痛。那么，如何处理好这些生词呢？除了要加强平时的词汇积累外，学习者还应该掌握一些技巧，使那些"生词"变成"熟词"，从而提高解题的正确率。
一、利用构词法
构词法是指在一些词(或词根)的前面或后面加上一个或几个词缀，使其形成与原词(或词根)相关而词性或词义又有变化的词的构成方法。大部分英语教材都介绍了构词法或者列出了词根表。熟练地掌握并运用这些构词法知识可以帮助我们推断出一些生词的词义。例如：
①I'm sorry,I thought those letters had already been sent.It seems that I misinformed.
②The woman had been dead for about three days and her face was not recognizable.
例①中"misinform"可能是生词，但我们知道"inform"是"通知，告诉"的意思，而前缀"mis-"表示"错误地"，因此可以推断"misinform"的大意为"通知错了"。例②中"recognizable"可能是生词，但核心词是"recognize"，意思是"认出，识别"，后缀"-able"表示"可以……的"，因此可以推断出"recognizable"的大意为"可以认出来的，能够辨认的"。
二、利用上下文
生词所在的上下文是推断生词词义的又一重要根据。有些生词不是通过构词法派生出的新词，因此，无法用构词法判断出其含义。这时，我们可以从多个角度充分利用上下文推断出生词词义。具体方法如下：
1.利用"小"上下文推测词义--即利用生词附近的内容推断生词词义。例如：
③I am a resolute man.Once I set up a goal，I won't give up easily.
此句中"resolute"也许是生词，我们可以根据该词后文"Once I set up a goal,I won't give up easily."推断出它的大意为"不轻言放弃的"或"意志坚强的"。
2.用"大"上下文推测词义--即利用距离生词较远的内容，如整个段落、篇章等来推断生词词义。例如：
④Zip was stopped during the war and only after the war did it become popular.What a difference it has made to our lives.It keeps people at home much more.It has made the remote parts of the world more real to us.Photographs show a country,but only zip makes us feel that a foreign country is real.Also we can see scenes in the street.Big occasions are zipped，such as the coronation(加冕典礼)in 1953and the Opening of Parliament.Per- haps the sufferers from zip are the notable people，who，as they step out of an airplane, have to face the battery of zip cameras and know that every movement,every gesture will be seen by millions of people.Politicians not only have to speak well，they now have to have what is called a"zip personality".Perhaps we can sympathize when Members of Parliament say that they do not want debates to be zipped.
文中"zip"也许是生词，根据文中的几处线索，如"It keeps people at home much more.It has made the re- mote parts of the world more real to us.","zip"与摄影的对比，以及名人在"zip"面前的表现等
3.利用同义词或反义词推测词义。有些生词的后面往往会出现一个或几个同义词或反义词，抓住这些词也可以帮助我们推断出生词词义。同义词常常用括号、逗号、破折号、冒号等符号或诸如in other words,that is to say等标志性词语引出；而反义词则常常用诸如although,but,however,whereas,never- theless,on the contrary,in contrast,on the other hand,instead(of),rather than等标志性连接词或词组引出。例如：
⑤Cathy did a fine job managing the boutique and was able to attract many new customers to the specialty store.
⑥We decide to persevere rather than give up.
例句⑤中"boutique"也许是生词，而后文中的"specialty store"是对该词的重述，因此我们可以断定二者为同义词，从而推断出"boutique"一词大意为"特色(服装，礼品)店"。例句⑥中"persevere"可能是生词，"rather than"表示"相反，而不是"，而它后面是"give up"(放弃)，因此可以推断"persevere"的大意为"坚持到底"或"不放弃"。
4.利用事例范围推断词义。有时作者会用括号、破折号、冒号等符号或诸如for example,for instance,such as, just as,like,similarly等连接词或词组引出一些事例，弄清这些事例范围可以帮助我们推断出生词词义。例如：
⑦You may borrow from the library any periodicals: Nature，News Week,Times and The Listener.
此句中"periodicals"可能是生词，其后面的冒号表示举例，而"Nature，News Week，Times，The Listener"等都是杂志名称，因此可以判断该词大意为"期刊杂志"。
5.利用下定义法推测词义。有些概念性生词出现后，作者会给出它的定义。根据定义也可以帮助我们推断出生词词义。下定义常用的标志性词语有be,means,be defined as,definition is等。例如：
⑧Giraffe is an animal with a very long neck，four legs and orange skin with dark spots.
此句中"giraffe"可能是生词，但根据后文的解释则很容易推断出其大意为"长颈鹿"。
6.利用因果关系推测词义。有些表示因果关系的句子可以帮助我们推断出生词词义。例如：
⑨I felt perturbed because I failed the exam.
该句中"perturbed"可能是生词，但根据后面的原因则很容易推断出其大意为"感到不安的"。
三、利用自己的生活经验、知识积累和分析推理
在解题过程中，我们要看进去，还要想出来。看进去是指我们要专心于所读材料，心无
旁骛；想出来则是指要把所读材料与我们的生活经验、社会常识和平时所学的知识结合起来，推断出生词的词义。例如：
⑩In a fraction,such as 2／5,the number above the line is called the numerator;the number under the line is the denominator.
这句话中"fraction","numerator"和"denominator"可能都是生词，我们可以先根据举例"such as 2／5"推断出"fraction"的大意为"分数"；再根据生活常识：既然是分数，那么分数线以上(above the line)的"numerator"自然是"分子"，而分数线以下(under the line)的"denominator"则是"分母"。
以上只是阅读理解中推断生词词义最常用的几种方法。而要想在做题过程中运用自如，还需要对这些方法多加揣摩，并大量实践。只有通过大量实践，才能使这些方法由生疏到熟悉，最后变得得心应手。
Exercises：Guess the meaning of the under- lined word in each sentence.
1.She was on night shift recently-from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m..
2.The elder sister,GREw up in a big city,is well educated;while the younger sister,lived in a poor area，is illiterate.
3.The oldest computer is the abacus,used in China centuries ago.
4.Meteorology is a science of the study of the earth's atmosphere and its changes.
5.Lipids，or fats,can be measured in the laboratory.
6.Tom was a roamer,a wanderer who could never stay in one place.
7.Jim is good at the following events：100 meter dash，high jump and long jump.
8.The man said that his computer is infallible;it can never make a mistake.
9.The henpecked husband,never the dominant type,always lets his wife order him around.
10.All the members are of the same opinion.They are unanimous.
Keys：1.夜班2.不识字的，没文化的3.算盘4.气象学5.脂肪6.流浪者，漂泊者7.(体育)项目8.不会犯错误的9.受妻子管制的，惧内的10.意见一致的，无异议的
