如何理解疑难单词？如何学会根据上下文猜出其大概意思？

（1）以上下文为线索： In spite of the fact that the fishermen were wearing souwesters, that storm was so heavy that they were wet through. Souwesters 是什么意思？根据wear,其宾语一定是某种穿的东西；而根据fishermen, heavy storm 和wet through, 则一定为某种防水防雨的东西。一查字典，souwesters 是一种雨衣。所以，根据上下文猜的与字典查的意思基本一致。 The largest whales outweigh elephants by tons. Outweigh 是什么意思？根据常识，whales和elephants是两种最大的海洋动物和陆地动物，by tons是以吨计算，再根据构词法，weigh是称重量，那么，outweigh的意思一定是重量超过的意思。

（2）以标点符号为线索：破折号、括号、冒号、逗号或引号引导出一个定义或范例来解释前面出现的生词。 In the island of Trinidad, the oil is in the form of asphalt, a substance used for making roads.什么是asphalt呢？逗号后面的内容就是解释，一种作路用的物质，即沥青。 One of the obstacle to fast reading is vocalizing---saying the words to themselves in a low voice. Vocalizing 的意思是什么？破折号后面的内容就是解释，即默读。 Carrying-on luggage can fit either under the seat or in a special compartment (enclosed space) above the seats over the heads of the passengers. Compartment的意思是什么？括号后面的内容就是解释，即行李仓。

（3）以提示词为线索：所谓提示词即or, that is, i.e.(拉丁词id est = that is ), called, namely, in other words. In the 1970s,the feminist movement, or womens liberation, produced additional economic and social changes. The feminist movement,就是or 后面的womens liberation,即妇女解放运动。 The period of adolescence, i.e., the period between childhood and adulthood, may be long or short, depending on…… Adolescence 根据i.e.的?热菁次?"青春期"。 A score is unreliable to the degree that it contains measurement error, that is, to the extent to which it has been influenced by irrelevant chance factors.所谓measurement error（测量误差），就是that is以后的内容,即to the extent to which it has been influenced by irrelevant chance factors(受到无关的偶然因素影响的程度引起的偏差)。

（4）以举例为线索：such as, for example, e.g., like The mass media, such as radio, television, newspapers, etc. ，have a powerful influence upon people.如果不知道the mass media (大众媒体)是什么，则一看radio, television, newspapers 就知道。 Heredity refers to the characters we get from our parents, like our intelligence and ability to sing. 如果不知道Heredity(遗传)是什么，则一看like our intelligence and ability to sing 就知道。

（5）同义词为线索： The detectives were deluded by all the false evidence. They were completely deceived and arrested the wrong person.从上下文看，deluded 就是deceived,即欺骗。 The cost of college education is skyrocketing. Since tuition costs are rapidly rising, many students must take jobs to help meet their expenses. Skyrocketing 就是are rising rapidly，即飞速上涨。

（6）以反义词为线索： The class covers only the most important philosophical ideas of the 19th century, not the trivial one. Not the trivial one 即the most important philosophical ideas. All the time Jane was talking with others while her sister Elizabeth remained reticent. Remain reticent 即was talking 的反义词。

考疑难词语提问方式有：

1) The expression "play safe" probably means ____.

2) The phrase "be brought forward" in line 2 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

3) The word "them" in line 8, paragraph 2 refers to ________.

4) By saying "Johns igloo was at the top of the world", the writer means that it was ______.

5) The term "occasion" in this passage could best replaced by ______.

6) According to the passage, what is "……"?

7) As used in the passage, the phrase "driven to the corner" suggests ______.

8) From the passage, we can infer that the word "……" means _______.

%26Oslash;如何抓重要细节或具体内容？

大部分细节或具体内容一般都能在文章中直接或间接地找到答案。应试者应该用查读(scanning) 方法找到包含所需信息的关键句子或短语。但正确选择项不可能和文中原句完全一样，而是用了不同的词语表示出来。例如：

They were told that they could branch off into the area of literature other than the novel.

A. They were told to study drama and poetry, too. B. They were told to study the novel.

C. They could take some of the branches off. D. They wanted to live in another area.

在上述四个答案中，B.(the novel), C.(branches off) and D.(another area)都是原文中有的词，而A中一个词也没有，然而正确答案偏偏是A，也即表面看起来离答案越远的，实际是正确答案。

考事实细节的提问方式有：

1) From the passage we know that ______.

2) In the passage, the author states that ______.

3) The writer mentions all of the items listed below except ______.

4) Which of the following statements is correct according to the passage?

5) Which of the following statement is NOT true?

6) Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the third paragraph?

%26Oslash;推论题、作者观点态度题的提问方式有哪些？

一篇文章总是为了表达作者的观点的：赞成或反对，肯定或否定。通过快速通读，读者应该可以找到推论的依据，从而可以找到正确的答案。考推论的提问方式有：

1)The author implies (suggests) that ______.

2)It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

3)It may be concluded from the passage that ______.

4)The passage suggests which of the following statements?

5)According to the passage, which of the following is ______.

6)The author may agree with which of the following?

7)What does the passage say about _____?

考作者观点态度的提问方式有：

1) What is the authors attitude towards _______.

2) In the passage the authors attitude towards "……" is ______.

3)The author seems to think that ______.

4)The writer is trying to present a point of view in ______.

5)The author wants to appeal to _______ .

6)The authors style is ______ .

7)The authors tone would be best described as _______ .

8)What is the authors opinion of ______?

%26Oslash;遇到长句难句怎么读？

通过分割，划出主要成份，跳过次要成分或将句子分解，则难句也就迎刃而解了。例如：

1) Anyone with an alertness of mind will encounter during the course of an investigation numerous interesting side issues that might be pursued.

去掉主语、谓语和宾语之间的分割成分之后就很容易理解：Anyone will encounter numerous interesting side issues.

2) The processes of photosynthesis, by which carbon dioxide and water are combined in the presence of chlorophyll and with energy derived from light to form sugars, require that carbon dioxide from the air enter the plant.

去掉主语和谓语之间的分割成分（by which…to form sugars）之后,主要成分（The processes of photosynthesis require that carbon dioxide from the air enter the plant）就很容易理解了：光合作用要求空气中的二氧化碳进入植物。什么是光合作用呢？逗号后面的内容就是解释：二氧化碳和水在叶绿素和阳光的作用下构成糖分的过程就叫光合作用。可见表面看起来复杂的句子其实是由若干个简单句构成的。

3) Exercise as a part of ones daily life did not catch on until the late 1960s when research by military doctors began to show the health benefits of doing regular physical exercises.

可将这个句子在1960s处分成两部分就容易理解。前半句介绍直到六十年代后期，体育锻炼才成为时尚；后半句介绍因为那时军队医生研究表明定期体育锻炼对身体有好处。

4) Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of.

这句话可先分析一下：主语为Money spent on advertising,表语为money spent。那么,as well as any I know of 做什么用呢？如果把as well as 理解成also、too,则就解释不通了。但是如过把后半句改写成money which is spent well, as well as any (money spent)I know of就好理解了，即花在广告上的钱是值得花的钱，花得值得。这是利用分析和分割解决难句理解的一个例子。

5) It should be noted that one of the few characteristics shared by all of the 1700 comets observed since 2316 B.C. is the common focal point of their elliptical orbits---the sun.

先跳过次要成分shared by all of the 1700 comets observed since 2316 B.C.(自公元前2316年以来观察到的1700颗彗星所共有的)，把主要成分It should be noted that one of the few characteristics is the common focal point of their elliptical orbits---the sun（应注意到少数几个特征之一是其椭圆轨迹的焦点--太阳）划出来，理解也就解决了。

6) As families move away from their stable community, their friends of many years, their extended family relatoinships, the informal flow of information is cut off, and with it the confidence that information will be available when needed and will be trustworthy and reliable.

在本句中，理解的关键是看清move away 有三个宾语，and with it 后面省略了is cut off；confidence 后面跟了一个同位语从句。分析清楚了，翻译也就容易了。即随着家庭从稳定的社区、多年的老朋友和大的家庭关系中离开的时候，他们之间传递信息的非正式渠道就切断了；随之而失去的是这样一种信心：即需要时可得的、可靠的和可以信赖的信息没有了。

7) Coupled with the growing quantity of information is the development of technologies which enable the storage and delivery of more information with greater speed to more locations than has ever been possible before.

首先要看清楚这是个倒装句，主语为the development of technologies,其次要看到technologies 有一个定语从句which enable……,还要看到这个从句中还有个定语从句：to more locations than has ever been possible before。分析清楚了，意思也就出来了。即信息量增加的同时，技术也发展了。这些技术能以前所未有的速度储存并发送比以往更多的信息到比以往更多的地区。通过上述例子的分析讲解，大家不难看出，通过分割，分析语法，找出主要成分，理顺关系是解决长句和疑难句理解的有效方法。

%26Oslash;理解中心思想

中心思想或主题是一个段落或一篇文章的核心。任何文章或段落都有其中心思想。它为该文章或段落提供了一个目的或方向，是作者文章中所表达的关键思想。它贯穿文章始终，作者会从多角度、多层次，围绕这个中心进行阐述。

较长的文章由几个段落组成，要把握中心，首先必须抓住每段的中心。怎样抓段落中心？

（1）明确的主题句：据统计，topic sentence 50%为第一句或段首句，30%为段尾句， 15%为段首、段尾句。

（2）不明确的主题句：无topic sentence，中心思想通过阐述暗示出来。读者应通过文章阅读概括出来。好在这一类文章或段落不多，仅占百分之几。

怎样抓多段落和文章的中心思想，即the main idea of a passage呢?应试者应把握每段的topic sentence ，然后把它们归纳在一起，这样就可概括出整篇文章的中心思想。现举例说明如下：本书高级阅读第二篇就是个很典型的例子。文章的第一段就是全文的中心思想：There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be described as the market system, the administered system and the traditional system.各种经济单位相互作用的方法很多，其中有三种基本方法，即市场法、行政管理法和传统法。接下来三段的段首句即为每段的段落中心思想：第二段介绍的就是市场法：In a market system individual economic units are free to interact among each other in the marketplace.第三段介绍的就是行政管理法：An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agency over all transactions.第四段，也即最后一段介绍传统法：In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition: parentage, religion, and custom fix every persons place within the economic system.

考主旨大意的提问方式有：

1)The main idea of this section may be best expressed as ______.

2)The best title for this passage might be ______.

3)This passage is mainly about ______.

4)The main idea of this article is _______.

5)The authors purpose of writing this passage is to ______.

6)In this passage the author discusses primarily ______.

7)This passage illustrates _______.

8)Which of the following best states the theme of the passage?

9)The major point discussed in the passage is ______.

10)This first paragraph is mainly about ______.

11)What is the topic of this paragraph?

12)Which sentence best expresses the main idea of this passage?

13)What is the authors main point?

14)Which of the following would be suitable as a title for the passage?

%26Oslash;如何提高答题的正确率？

在看懂的前提下：(1)看清楚问题怎么问（直接事实，间接事实，或词语用法）（2）看文章如何说，要从总体上、深层上考虑。注意是答案看起来不象答案，不是答案却反而象答案。是答案尽量用原文不同的词，但与原文表达的意思一致。不是答案的，尽量用与原文一致的词语和说法。例如，主旨大意只说部分内容（太具体、太特殊、太片面）或太大，超出原文范围，或太小，没有涵盖原文包括的意思；或把一般常人的看法提出来；因此，要用怀疑的态度对待提供的答案，不要顺着答案想法考虑。怀疑不了的答案，往往就是正确的答案。例如：

1) The great interest in exceptional children shown in public education over the past three decades indicates the strong feeling in our society that all citizens, whatever their special conditions, deserve the opportunity to fully develop their capabilities. Question: The reason that the exceptional children receive so much concern in education is that _______.

A. they are expected to be leaders of the society.

B. they might become a burden of the society.

C. they should fully develop their potentials.

D. disabled children deserve special consideration.

正确答案是C,而A.B.和D.,尤其是B.和D.都是人们心理上的共识。

2) Big changes are apparent in current life patterns of women in the developed countries. Their span of life is longer by decades; many more marry; their old average of five children now numbers well below three; their chance of outliving their husbands approaches 90 percent. The end of marriage clearly puts men at dramatically greater health risk than it does women. Question: In developed countries, ______.

A. womens present life patterns have had apparent changes

B. 90% of women live longer than their husband.

C. women can expect to live several decades longer than men

D. on average, each woman has three children

正确的答案为A，因为这是本段的主题句（Big changes are apparent in current life patterns of women in the developed countries）的换一种说法。答案B.C.和D.都是原文中的具体例子，是以点盖面，是不全面的，因而都是错误的。

3）Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. Question: By this sentence the author means that ______.

A. he is fairly familiar with the cost of advertising

B. everybody knows well that advertising is money consuming

C. advertising costs money like everything else

D. it is worthwhile to spend money on advertising

正确答案是D.答案A似是而非，答案B和C利用了大家的心中的常识，很容易上当。以上是看懂情况下做题时要注意的地方。下面说说看不懂时怎么办。看不懂时，要找出句子的主要成份，看看是否分割，倒装或词组特殊、虚拟，然后再决定意思。总之，只要把上述方法和技巧不断用于阅读实践，就能逐步提高自己的阅读理解能力。