合成法是指两个或多个单词按照一定的组合规律组合在一起，形成一个新的单词。一般来说，新的合成词的意思就是各个组成词的意思的综合。例如：workmate是由work（工作）和 mate（伙伴）组合成的新单词，它的意思是"工友，同事"。这样的单词在平时阅读中经常见到，也比较容易猜测出它们的意思。

【小试牛刀】 （1）猜猜看，以下单词是什么意思呢？

①ill-treat            ②keyboard              ③single-handed

④air-conditioned            ⑤pineapple              

【典例】Encouraging this kind of thinking has a downside. I ran the risk of losing those students who had a different style of thinking. Without fail one would declare, "But Im just not creative."...

Q:What does the underlined word "downside" in Paragraph 4 probably mean?A. Mistake.     B. Drawback.     C. Difficulty.     D. Burden.

【解析】根据构词法进行猜测，downside由down和side组成，字面意思为"下面的一边"，初步可以猜测出词义为"不足部分"。再根据画线单词后的"I ran the risk of losing those students who had a different style of thinking"可知,我冒着失去那些有不同思维方式的学生的危险，说明我的这种教育方法也有不足之处。故画线词意为"缺点"。B。

派生法是英语单词的主要构成法，它是**在基础词根上添加前缀或者后缀来构造新词。一般来说，前缀改变词义不改变词性；而后缀改变词性不改变词义。例如：dis-, un-,im-,in-,ir-,non-,mis-等是一些表示否定或者相反意思的前缀，它们用在单词的前面往往构成原单词的反义词。如：appear→disappear, possible→impossible, like→unlike, smoker→non-smoker等。又如前缀re-表示"又，再"；co-表示"共同"；mini-或者micro-表示"小的"；over-表示"过于"；super-表示"超级，极"；tele-表示"远的"等。

【小试牛刀】 （2） 试试看，下面单词的意思你能猜出来吗？

①telescope        ②irregular               

③re-education             ④imbalance                        

把一种词性用作另一种词性而词形不变的方法叫做转化法。例如：The author emptied all his pockets to find his ticket．empty由形容词转化用作动词，在此表示"掏空"的意思。又如：Widespread protests have placed the President under serious pressure.place由名词转化成动词，表示"安置，使……处于某位置"。

【小试牛刀】 （3）以下例句中画线单词是什么意思，你知道吗？

①If you water plants, you pour water over them in order to help them to grow.

②When fortune smiled on him, he made the most of it.

③She smiled her thanks and arranged the guitar under her arm.

【典例】(2017·全国卷Ⅰ·C篇改编)The music cant be presented today the way it was in 1908 or 1958. It has to continue to move, because the way the world works is not the same.Q:present在此处的词义是本句是2017年全国卷Ⅰ中C篇的一个长难句。句子之所以难以理解，是因为本句除了使用了对比结构外，还有词语的活用：presented。present用作名词表示"礼物"；用作形容词表示"现存的，当前的"；在此句中被用作动词，表示"展现，表现"。这句话的意思是：今天的音乐不能以1908年或者1958年的方式表现出来。展现，表现。

【方法点津】利用构词法猜测词义的特点：

（1）根据构词法猜测的词义一般比较接近单词的真实意思，准确率比较高；

（2）有些词具有多个词性或词义，添加不同的词缀会产生不同的词性和意义，需要细加区别。例如：like可以作介词表示"像"，也可以作动词表示"喜欢"，添加否定前缀un-构成另一个介词unlike表示"不像"，添加另一个否定前缀dis-构成动词dislike表示"不喜欢"。现在，你是否能猜出今年高考试题中recontextualization这个单词的意思？（语境重构）

【小试牛刀答案】 

（1）①虐待,折磨；②键盘；③独自，单枪匹马地，独立；④装有空调的；⑤菠萝

（2）①望远镜；②不规则的，无规律的；③再教育；④不平衡，不公平

（3）①给……浇水；②惠及，垂青；③微笑着说

 英语中可以使用also, as...as, similarly, and, or, just as, likewise等词语表示相同或者相近的意思，这种表示并列的关系中，只要我们认识其中一个单词，就可以推测出另一个单词的意思。如：Mr. Green loves to talk, and his brothers are similarly loquacious. 分析：这个句子里面使用了表示并列关系的单词and，还使用了表示"相似"的单词similarly，由此可知，画线单词loquacious表达的意思和"loves to talk"的意思一样，即"健谈的"。

【小试牛刀】 （1）猜猜以下画线单词的意思

①My mother is short and fat. The principal of the school is almost as plump as my mother, and much shorter. 

②Children often try to emulate or copy the behavior that they see on television.【典例】(2017·全国卷Ⅱ·D篇)... Some plants pump out smelly chemicals to keep insects away. But others do double duty. They pump out perfumes designed to attract different insects who are natural enemies to the attackers. Once they arrive, the tables are turned.The attacker who was lunching now becomes lunch.    ...

33.What does the author mean by "the tables are turned" in paragraph 3?

A. The attackers get attacked.           

B. The insects gather under the table.

C. The plants get ready to fight back.     

D. The perfumes attract natural enemies.

【解析】本题考查文章中对一句话的理解，属于广义的词义猜测题。在这一句后面，又使用了一句同义并列的句子来对其进行解释，根据后一句话的意思 "正在吃午餐的攻击者变成了午餐"可以知道，画线句子是指形势发生了转变。A。

in contrast, on the contrary, unlike, however, but, despite, while等词汇常常会被用来表示前后关系的转折，其前后表示相反的意思。同样，我们也可以根据其中一个词汇来推知另一个表示相反意思的词汇。如：

Like poles repel; unlike poles attract.

分析：这是一个典型的表示对比关系的句子，前后表达了相反的意思，还使用了反义对比的词汇Like和unlike，由此可知，repel和attract的意思相反，repel在此表示"排斥"。

【小试牛刀】 （2）猜猜以下画线单词的意思 

①Andrew is one of the most supercilious men I know. His brother, in contrast, is quite humble and modest.     

②Our maths professor claims that all the problems he gives us are simple ones, but we feel that they are intricate and hard to solve．

英语中使用because, since, for, as, so, as a result, thus, therefore等词汇表达因果关系，因为因与果具有直接联系，所以也可以用来猜测词义。

如：Tom is considered an autocratic administrator because he makes decisions without seeking the opinions of others. 

分析：根据原因状语从句的内容（他不征求别人的意见就作出决定）可以推断出，生词autocratic的意思是"独断专行的"。

There were so many demonstrators in the Red Square that he had to elbow his way through the crowd.

分析：此句使用了结果状语从句，根据主句的描述"许多示威者"，我们便可推知elbow的词义为"用肘挤，用肘推"。

【典例】...There are also varieties developed to suit specific local conditions. One of the very best varieties for eating quality is Orleans Reinette, but youll need a warm, sheltered place with perfect soil to grow it, so its a pipe dream for most apple lovers who fall for it....

Q:What does the underlined phrase "a pipe dream" in Paragraph 3 mean?

 A. A practical idea.  B. A vain hope.   

C. A brilliant plan.   D. A selfish desire.

【解析】本题考查猜测短语a pipe dream的意思。本段讲述了一种**吃的苹果，它被叫作Orleans Reinette，但其种植条件苛刻，所以爱吃的人很难得到。该短语前有明确的结果连词so连接前后句，根据前面要求的条件可知，后面的a pipe dream表示"脱离实际的愿望",与B项"徒劳的希望"意思一致。B。

【方法点津】利用逻辑关系猜测词义的特点：

（1）并列、转折和因果等逻辑关系都具有推理的必然性，因此使用逻辑关系推理的词义准确率会比较高；

（2）逻辑关系的判断需要平常多关注句式的逻辑关系，形成对逻辑关系词的敏感感知能力，快速有效地判断语句和词汇的关系和意义。

【小试牛刀答案】（1）①丰腴的，微胖的；②模仿    

（2）①傲慢的，高傲的；②错综复杂的

mean, refer to, is, that is, namely等后的内容往往是对前面进行注解性说明的，可以帮助猜测词义。

如：Annealing is a way of making metal softer by heating it and then letting it cool very slowly.

分析：本句就是一个由is引起的下定义的句子，is后面的内容对前面生词作了详细注解，故不难猜出anneal是"使（金属）退火"的意思。

【小试牛刀】 猜猜下面画线单词的意思

①Pantomime refers to a short play in which no words are spoken.  

②It will be very hard but also very brittle — that is, it will break easily.

如：Jack is now a florist, who keeps a shop for selling flowers in our district.

分析：非限制性定语从句修饰限定了先行词的内容和范畴,因此根据后面的从句可猜测出florist的意思为"花商"。

同位语是对其前的内容进行解释说明的，所以，同位语也是猜测单词词义的一个好办法。

如：Semantics, the study of the meaning of words, is necessary if you are to speak and read intelligently.   

分析：同位语the study of the meaning of words解释了Semantics的意思，因此可知，semantics的意思是"语义学"。

如：What is plagiarism? It is using others  ideas and words without clearly mentioning where the information is from. 

分析：本句使用了自问自答的方式解释了单词plagiarism的意思,指"不说明信息的出处就使用他人的观点或话语"，由此可以猜出plagiarism的意思是"剽窃，抄袭"。

如：The consequences of epochal events such as wars and great scientific discoveries are not confined to a small geographical area as they were in the past.

分析：本句使用such as列举了epochal events的一些典型例子，根据例子(战争和重大科学发现)可以推测出epochal event指的是"重大的事件，有划时代意义的事件"。

冒号、破折号和括号等标点符号也可以表示解释，能帮助我们猜测词义。

如：You may borrow from the library any periodicals: News Weekly, Readers Digest, The New Yorkers.分析：冒号表示解释，根据冒号后面所列举的期刊可以猜出periodicals的意思是"期刊"。

此外，periodical是一个由period（名词，时期）转化而来的单词，也可以根据构词法猜出这个单词的意思。

【典例】(2017·天津卷·C篇)...The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the "death valley" of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi\|autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future....

46.What does the phrase "death valley" in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. A place where cars often break down.

B. A case where passing a law is impossible.

C. An area where no driving is permitted. 

D. A situation where drivers role is not clear.

【解析】本题考查文章中短语death valley的含义。在这一句话后面使用了冒号，冒号后的内容对这个短语的意义予以解释：能够拖延无人驾驶未来的介于半自动驾驶和完全无人驾驶汽车之间的灰色区域。D。

【典例】（2017·江苏卷·B篇）Before birth, babies can tell the difference between loud sounds and voices. They can even distinguish their mothers voice from that of a female stranger. But when it comes to embryonic learning（胎教），birds could rule the roost. As recently reported in The Auk: Ornithological Advances, some mother birds may teach their young to sing even before they hatch(孵化). New\|born chicks can then imitate their moms call within a few days of entering the world. ...

58.The underlined phrase in Paragraph 1 means "".

A. be the worst         B. be the best     

C. be just as bad       D. be just as gooddoor

【解析】在猜测短语rule the roost的意思时，我们可以注意到下文进行了举例，根据例子可知，鸟类在幼崽孵化之前就进行胎教，可见鸟类对幼崽抚育之好。B。

【小试牛刀答案】 ①哑剧；②脆的，易碎的

...Frequently it happens that a place has two names: One is named by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, old habits die hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost....Q：What does the underlined phrase "die hard" in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A. Change suddenly.         B. Change significantly.

C. Disappear mysteriously.    D. Disappear very slowly.

【解析】本题考查对短语die hard意思的猜测。根据生活常识可以知道，习惯很难改变，而且在汉语中，形容某人固执时也会使用"死硬"这一说法。再结合文章意思可知答案。D。

(2017·全国卷Ⅱ·B篇)...We shared the belief that if youre fortunate enough to have success, you should put something back — he with his Newmans Own food and his Hole in the Wall camps for kids who are seriously ill, and me with Sundance and the institute and the festival. Paul and I didnt see each other all that regularly, but sharing that brought us together. We supported each other financially and by showing up at events....26.What does the underlined word "that" in paragraph 3 refer to?

  A. Their belief.                    B. Their care for children.

C. Their success.                  D. Their support for each other.dot 

【解析】代词指代的大多都是前面已经出现的名词，为了避免重复而使用了代词。根据上文的内容可知，让作者和朋友走到一起的是两个人共同的信念。A。

【方法点津】代词指代题一般是在人物或事物关系比较复杂的情况下设置的一种题型，考查考生对复杂关系的分析能力，要求考生对代词所在句以及紧邻几个句子的结构和意思都有准确的理解。文章中的代词it, that, he, him, them等可以指上文提到的人或物，其中it和that还可以指代一件事。有时代词指代的对象相隔较远，考生要认真查找；有时考生需要对前面提到的内容进行总结概括，才能得出代词所指代的对象。考生可利用上下文语境，采用逻辑关系梳理法，使人物或事物的关系明朗化。要记住代词通常出现在原词之后，根据这条原则考生可以快速锁定答案，**后带入原句中进行验证。

【典例】The reason why a country like Britain does not buy snowploughs (扫雪机）is that they are used for a few days in any one year, and the money could be more useful in other things such as health care, education, helping the old and so on. 

Q: The word "they" refers to         .

 A. snowfalls          B. British people   

C. snowploughs     D. countries like Britain

【解析】这个题的解题思路有多个:根据代词的用法和单复数可知，代词用来指代前面出现的名词，they是指代名词复数的，观察前文，用作复数的名词就只有snowploughs。C。

【典例】I am Peter Hodes, a volunteer stem cell courier. Since March 2012, Ive done 89 trips — of those, 51 have been abroad. I have 42 hours to carry stem cells（干细胞） in my little box because Ive got two ice packs and thats how long they last. In all, from the time the stem cells are harvested from a donor(捐献者) to the time they can be implanted in the patient, weve got 72 hours at most. So I am always conscious of time. ...29.Which of the following can replace the underlined word "courier" in Paragraph 1?

A. provider       B. delivery man   

C. collector      D. medical doctor

【解析】本题考查单词courier的词义。根据下文中的"89 trips"和其后的"to carry stem cells(干细胞)"可知，作者是运送干细胞的人员。B。