62.(2009重庆卷，B篇) What does the underlined word “distractions” probably refer to?

　 A. Ways that help one to focus.

　 B. Words that help one to feel less tense.

　 C. Activities that turn one’s attention away.

　 D. Habits that make it hard for one to relax.

[解析]C。请看原文：When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve something. Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies.由前面的other可知distractions是与第一句意思基本相同，第一句话表达的是让人注意力分散的事情，结合上下文可知 答案为C。

6、根据同义关系进行猜测

当词或短语之间有并列连词and 或or时，其连接的两项内容在含义上是接近的或递进的，由此确定同等关系中的某个生词所属的义域，由此可推知其大致意思。

Although he often had the opportunity, Mr. Tritt was never able to steal money from a customer. This would have endangered his position at the bank, and he did not want to jeopardize his future.

作者为避免重复使用endanger一词，用其同义词jeopardize来替代它，由此推知其词义为“使……陷入危险，危及、危害”。

Doctors believe that smoking cigarettes is detrimental to your health. They also regard drinking as harmful.

句中detrimental是个生词，但判断出harmful替代detrimental后，不难推断出其词义为“不利的，有害的”。

[考例]

5、根据上下文的指代关系进行猜测

文章中的代词it, that, this, he, him 或them可以指上文提到的人或物，其中it和that还可以指一件事。有时代词指代的对象相隔较远，要认真查找；也有时需要对前面提到的内容进行总结，才能得出代词所指代的事。例如：

Like Schmid, the editors of several self-published art magazines also champion (捍卫) found photographs. One of them, called simply Found, was born one snowy night in Chicago, when Davy Rothbard returned to his car to find under his wiper(雨刷) an angry note intended for someone else: “Why’s your car HERE at HER place?”

them指的是前面出现的self-published art magazines。

However, the question that “moon people” asked is still an interesting one. A growing number of scientists are seriously thinking about it.

it指的是月球人(moon people)所问的问题(the question)。

[考例]

(2009四川卷，E篇) 58. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to “______”.

　A. the energy benefit　　　　　　　　　 B. the forest loss

　C. climate change　　　　　 　　　　　D. burning ethanol

　[解析]A。请看原文：Finally, over many years, the energy benefit from burning ethanol would make up for the forest loss. But by then, climate change would have progressed so far that it might not help. 燃烧乙醇带来的能源方面的好处可能会弥补失去森林的损失，但是到那时，气候的变化已经太大，“这”也于事无补了。由此判断，it指前面提到的the energy benefit。

(2009安徽卷，E篇) 73. What does the word “this” underlined in the third paragraph refer to?

　 　A. We will lose much more than we can gain.

　 　B. Humans have begun destroying rainforests.

　 　C. People have a strong desire for resources.

　 　D. Much carbon dioxide comes from burning rainforests.

[解析]A。this指代前文提到的“but we will suffer much more than we will benefit”，意思是“砍伐森林带来短期利益，但是从长远来看，我们遭受的损失远大于获得的利益”。因此选择A项。

(2009 浙江卷，A篇) 42. What does the underlined phrase “her gift” (Paragraph 2) refer to?

　　 A. Her words.　 B. Her smile.　 C. Her flowers.　 D. Her politeness.

[解析]B。请看原文：She smiled. It was a nice smile - warm and reassuring-and I retuned her gift by smiling back. 从前句话中可以知道her gift 指的是“smile”。

3、根据构词法(合成、派生、转化等)进行猜测

在英语中，有很多词可以在前面加前缀，在后面加后缀，从而构成一个词，乍看起来，这个词可能是新词，但掌握了一定的构词知识，就不难猜出它的词义。例如：

　“Our parties are aimed for children 2 to 10,” Anaclerio said, “and they’re very interactive and creative in that they built a sense of drama based on a subject.”

文中interactive是由前缀inter-(相互的)和active(活动的，活跃的)而构成的，同时根据上下文的意思可以判断，该词的含义应是“互动的”。

Perhaps, we can see some possibilities for next fifty years. But the next hundred?

possibility 是 possible 的同根名词， 据此可以判断定 possibility 意思是“可能性”。

[考例]

(2008全国卷I，B篇)62. The underlined word “fixture” in Paragraph 3 probably refers to something ______.

A. that people enjoy eating　　　 B. that is always present

C. that is difficult to get　　　　 　D. that people use as a gift

[解析]B。请看文章原句：The new type of pineapple was selling fast, and the Del Monte Gold pineapple rapidly became a fixture in the shopping basket of the healthy eater.从文章意思可知，这种新型菠萝很畅销，当然成为了健康饮食人士购物筐中的常客。另外根据构词知识可知，该词的词根是fix，含有“固定”之意。

82.(2004上海卷，C篇) The word “favouritism” in paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that________.

　　　　　　 A. bright children also need certificates go get satisfying jobs.

　　　　　　 B. children from well-respected schools tend to have good jobs

　　　　　　 C. poor children with certificates are favoured in job markets

　　　　　　 D. children attending ordinary schools achieve great success

[解析]B。请看原文：Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them-a form of favourtism will replace equality.

破折号后的句子是对前面进行解释说明的，二者是同位关系，因此要猜测favourtism的意思可从前面句子的意思入手。答案为B。

65.(2007山东卷，C篇)The underlined word “daunting” in Paragraph 1 most probably means __________.

A. discouraging 　B. interesting 　　C. creative　 　D. unbearable

[解析]A。请看文章第一段：When Andrea Peterson landed her first teaching job, she faced the daunting task of creating a music program with almost no money for equipment or supplies in a climate where standards-based learning was the focus and music just provided a break for students and teachers.

由后半句的解释“…with almost no money for equipment or supplies…”可知此项任务不可能是“interesting”或“creative”，而她的教学工作也与“unbearable”无关，故A项正确。

73.(2009福建卷，E篇) The underlined words “tipping points” most probably refer to “_______”.

A. freezing points　　　 B. burning points　　 C. melting points　 D. boiling points

[解析]C。请看原文：In his book, he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emissions to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points, such as the melting(融化)of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica. 根据后一句的such as the melting(融化)of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica.可知tipping points的意思是“融点”。

做这种类型的题，要根据词、词组、句子所在的语境上下文来判断其意义。因此熟练掌握一些猜词技巧是做好这类题的关键。命题者在出这类题时惯用常规词义来麻痹考生，我们要特别注意熟词生义，切不可脱离语境主观臆断。

下面结合近几年高考试题，对猜词悟义的技巧加以解读。

1、根据定义或上下文解释进行猜测

有时短文中出现一个需要猜测其意义的词或短语，下面接着出现其定义或解释，这就是判断该词或短语意义的主要依据。例如：

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

句子给予annealing 以明确的定义，即“退火”。

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

从后面that is(也就是说)的解释中我们可以了解到brittle是“脆”的意思。

The herdsman, who looks after sheep, earns about 650 yuan a year.

定语从句中 looks after sheep 就表明了herdsman的词义为“牧羊人”。

[考例]