例: Tales of the supernatural are common in all parts of Britain . In particular , there was (and perhaps still is) a belief in fairies (仙女) ( NMET2008广东).
例①:This strangely named vegetable is, however,as versatile as an egg. It can be steamed, fried or baked. 从后文的"这种蔬菜(像鸡蛋那样)可蒸、煎或烤"可推出versatile的意思为"(烹饪方法)多方面的"。
2.反义或转折关系。常见的提示词有 not, instead, on the contrary, though, although, even though, but, however, despite, in spite of, nevertheless, on the other hand等。
例②:Not all of these fairies are the friendly, people-loving characters that appear in Disney films, and in some folktales they are cruel and cause much human suffering(NMET2008广东).由not表示相反的逻辑关系,以及后文cause much human suffering可猜测与friendly和people-loving相对立的词cruel的意思为"残忍的"。
例③:Even though he was guilty,the merciful judge did not send him to prison.由even though表转折关系和主句意思可知,merciful 意为"仁慈的"。
3.因果关系。常用的连接词有because, so, thus, therefore, so…that…,consequently, as a result, as a consequence等。
例④:These tell the story of a mother whose baby grows sick and pale and has changed so much that it is almost unrecognizable to the parents(NMET2008广东). 由文中的has changed so much (变化如此之大) 可知unrecognizable 为"无法识别, 辨认不出来"的意思。
4.通过分析句子成分判断词性。
例⑤:Born in a poor family, Tom lives a tough life.通过句子分析可知tough为形容词,又由上文"出生于贫穷家庭",可推测出tough所修饰的生活应该是"艰难的"生活。
5.定义或举例,即从上下文的定义或举例中推测词义。常见的引导词有that, that is, that is to say, that means, or, namely, in other words等。
例⑥:The little girl is an orphan , that is to say, she has no father and no mother.由后文可知orphan为"孤儿"的意思。
英语中有许多词形、词义相近的单词,教学过程中对词形相近的词进行对比对于学生正确使用单词很有好处。如form, from; advice, advise; hard, hardly; invent, invite; decide, divide; choose, choice 等许多单词常被学生混淆,及时加以对比就可以帮助学生加深认识它们之间的差别,避免用错写错单词。对常用的同义词或词组,如divide, separate, tell; say, speak, tell, talk; join, take part in; run out, run out of 等应该及时帮助学生弄清楚它们之间的异同点,以便他们在实际运用中能正确使用。