英语阅读中遇到生词末紧张

据统计,NMET2003整个试卷用词3130个,共有生词144个,其中专有名词(包括人名、地名、书名、组织机构及科学术语等)44个;派生词45个、合成词12个,加注汉语注释的14个,未加注释的生词5个。这些数据说明试题所提供的语言材料之广泛和信息量之丰富,同时也说明试卷很靠近现实生活,符合平时的阅读实际。全卷中出现这么多生词,如果没有经过一定的训练,没有一定的心理准备和处理生词的技巧则很难取得理想成绩。从这一点上说,平时进行阅读训练时,不能老是找没有生词的偏易的文章。我们已知道,进行阅读训练的目的不是识词——不是专门学生词,而在于寻找和捕捉信息,在于寻找我们所感兴趣的东西。就考试阅读理解题本身而言,我们所关心的就是文后的理解题,只要能在文中找到其所依附的语句或段落并能进行合理的推理、判断得出答案就达到目的了。

下面是《2002年台湾大学入学学科能力测验英文考科试题》的一篇阅读文章。也许你会碰到一些困难,但不要放弃,请继续读下去,一定会有所收获的。 

In the early part of the twentieth century, racism was widespread in the United States. Many African Americans were not given equal opportunities in education or employment. Marian Anderson(1897—1993) was an African American woman who gained fame as a concert singer in this climate of racism. She was born in Philadelphia and sang in church choirs during her childhood. When she applied(申请)for admission to a local music school in 1917, she was turned down because she was black. Unable to attend music school, she began her career as a singer for church gatherings. In 1929, she went to Europe to study voice and spent several years performing there.  Her voice was widely praised throughout Europe.

Then she returned to the U.S. in 1935 and became a top concert singer after performing at Town Hall in New York City.

Racism again affected Anderson in 1939. When it was arranged for her to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution opposed it because of her color. She sang instead at the Lincoln Memorial for over 75,000 people. In 1955, Anderson became the first black soloist to sing with the Metropolitan Opera of New York City. The famous conductor Toscanini praised her voice as “heard only once in a hundred years”. She was a U.S. delegate to the United Nations in 1958 and won the  UN peace prize in 1977. Anderson eventually triumphed over racism.

很明显,本文专有名词有很多,多数可以判断出大体的语义范围,如Constitution Hall只要知道是个处所就行了,另外还有近10个生词。尽管如此,我们还是能跳过这些生词从不连贯的文章里看懂大概:Anderson不受肤色所限,努力学习声乐,为黑人奔走呐喊,终于取得成功,并于1977年获得联合国颁发的和平奖。

    也许有的同学会问,那么多的生词不认识会不会影响做阅读理解题。

    为说明问题我们把上文的理解题摘录如下:

1. According to this passage, what did Marian Anderson do between 1917 and 1929?

    A. She studied at a music school.

    B. She sang for church activities.

    C. She sang at Town Hall in New York.

    D. She studied voice in Europe.

2. Toscanini thought that Marian Anderson ________.

    A. had a very uncommon voice

    B. sang occasionally in public

    C. sang only once in many years

    D. was seldom heard by people

3. Anderson's beautiful voice was first recognized  ________.

    A. at the Lincoln Memorial

    B. in Washington, D.C.

    C. in Europe

    D. at the United Nations

4. This passage shows that Anderson finally defeated racism in the U.S. by  ________.

    A. protesting(抗议) to the government

    B. turning to the United Nations

    C. performing in the streets

    D. working hard to perfect her art   

    解析:1. B。细节理解题。依据是第一段倒数第三句:Unable to attend music school, she began her career as a singer for church gatherings.文中gathering是派生词,是动词gather的名词,由此可知其意为“活动”或“聚会”。句中的另一个词career不影响理解,不过也能猜出其大概意思为“职业”或“行业”。

2. A。猜测题。根据第三段中的Anderson became the first black soloist to sing ...和The famous conductor Toscanini praised her voice as “heard only once in a hundred years”.可以推测,Toscanini 所讲的意思是“她的嗓音很不寻常”,是“百年不遇”的。至于soloist可以根据the first soloist to sing with...推测出与唱歌有关的职业,可理解为“歌唱演员”。

3. C。细节理解题。本文是按时间顺序来写的。根据第一段最后一句Her voice was widely praised throughout Europe.可以推测C为最佳选项。

4. D。综合信息理解题。Anderson先是被拒绝到一所音乐学校——自己到欧洲学习声乐并成名;回美国后被拒绝在Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.演唱,但却在the Lincoln Memorial演出……这靠的是她不屈不挠的精神和奋斗后得到美国有识之士的赞许,并于1977年获得联合国颁发的和平奖。尽管文中有许多生词如delegate以及专有名词等,但并没有影响我们答题。

做完题后你会发现这些问题所涉及到的句子虽然有生词存在,但并未影响答题,因为我们进行的是有目的的阅读,是为获取信息,并从较多的信息中寻找有关理解题的正确答案来进行的阅读。

可以说,在阅读文章中碰到的生词,如果没有加注汉语释义,这说明不会影响理解,或者命题人认为读者可以根据上下文或构词法的知识猜出词义。因此,我们在生词面前决不能慌张,而是“读下去”!跳过生词理解全文,通过上下文和构词法来判断生词词义。