雅思閱讀的準備過程中,后期會側重于對篇章整體架構的把握,以及針對各類題型應試技巧的掌握。但作為考試準備的前期階段,作為基本功的單詞,無疑需要作為重點來進行突破。
以下主要就雅思閱讀劍橋真題部分的一些存在熟詞多義的題目進行解析:
1、drive
C4T1P1:
In other words,they gave no indication of an appreciation of either the range of ways in which rainforests are important or the complex social,economic and political factors which drive the activities which are destroying the rainforests.
這是一個復雜的長難句,一共出現(xiàn)了三處定語從句,一處ways in which, 一處factors which,一處activities which。
drive的主語為連接代詞which代指的先行詞factors,提取之后變?yōu)閒actors drive the activities, 這里如果將這里作為動詞的drive 翻譯成駕駛,句子是完成不通順的,我們從后一處的定語從句中得知,activities指的是破壞雨林的行為,也就是前面的社會經(jīng)濟和政治因素drive了一些破壞雨林的行為,也就是說,這里的drive是導致,迫使的意思。
C6T1P2
選項型SUMMARY
Q24:Manufacturers of computers, for instance, are able to import 24.......... from overseas,rather than having to rely on a local supplier.
文章E段 To see how this influences trade,consider the business of making disk drives for computers.Most of the world's disk-drive manufacturing is concentrated in South-east Asia.This is possible only because disk drives,while valuable,are small and light and so cost little to ship.Computer manufacturers in Japan or Texas will not face hugely bigger freight bills if they import drives from Singapore rather than purchasing them on the domestic market.
通過manufacturers of computers定位到E段。閱讀后我們可以知道電腦制造商集中在東南亞制造和進口disk drives而不是本國市場。如果同學對電腦知識比較了解的話,對于drive在這里的理解應該問題不大。根據(jù)一定的語法知識我們看得出這里的disk drives和disk-drive是名詞用法,可通過drive的基本含義“駕駛”進一步引申理解,“駕駛磁盤”過渡為“讓磁盤啟動”,正確的理解含義為:磁盤驅動器。對應到題目提供的選項“B。 components”
2、subject
我們知道它由“科目”的意思,詞匯稍好的同學還會知道它還有“主語”和“主題”的含義。我們來看下面一題:
C5T1P2
單選題 Q20 The teacher-subjects were told that they were testing whether
A. a 450-volt shock was dangerous.
B. punishment helps learning.
C. the pupils were honest.
D. they were suited to teaching.
文章A段 Specifically, Milgram told each volunteer 'teacher-subject' that the experiment was in the noble cause of education,and was designed to test whether or not punishing pupils for their mistakes would have a positive effect on the pupils‘ ability to learn.
文章這里的‘teacher-subject’打了引號,也就是說即便同學你不認識,把它當作一個特殊詞符號,不理解不影響做題。不過明顯的是,把“科目”“主語”“主題”放這里,都不好理解。在雅思閱讀學術實驗類的文章中,subject是個高頻詞匯,作為“實驗對象”的含義來使用, 有時會同義替換為volunteer或participant。
C8T1P3
表格填空Q38 The results were then subjected to a 38……………………。
文章:In 1987,results from hundreds of autoganzfeld tests were studied by Honorton in a 'meta-analysis',a statistical technique for finding the overall results from a set of studies.
通過冠詞a我們可以知道此空填名詞單數(shù),并且從表格縱軸同行的特殊定位詞in 1987,我們找到了定位句。但是定位句中存在冠詞a的三處,到底三處后的單詞填哪個呢。單詞不會,語法來湊,通過題目和文章的主干結構的一致性:A be subjected to B和A be studied By B in C, 由于Honorton是人名且不符合填詞規(guī)定,順理成章的‘meta-analysis’成為我們的選填對象。那subject to到底什么意思呢,通過文章,我們可以知道大概是被研究的意思,查了字典我們就了解,正確含義為“受…支配”。
類似的用法單詞還有:
1、state n. (美國的)州,狀態(tài),政府,adj. 國家的,國立的 v.陳述,說明
C8T4P1 判斷題Q8 Private schools in Japan are more modern and spacious than state-run lower secondary schools. State-run adj.國立的
C7T4P1 第5段 There was a huge initial force- five times larger than the steady state force, Gharib says. State n.狀態(tài)
2、coin n. 硬幣, v. 創(chuàng)造,鑄造
C7T1P1 E段 The American zoologist Donald Griffin,who was largely responsible for the discovery of sonar in bats,coined the term 'echolocation' to cover both sonar and radar,whether used by animals or by human instruments. Coin v. 創(chuàng)造(first used)
3、spoke v. speak過去式,n. 車輪的輻條(C4T1P3)
4、 tuition n. 學費,課程,講授,教學(C4T1P1)
5、 complaint n. 抱怨,抗議,疾病(C4T2P2)
6、interest v. 是感興趣n。 興趣,利益,利息(C4T3P1)
7、leaves v. leave的動詞三單形式 n。葉子(Pl)(C8T4P3)
8、press v. 按壓,n. 印刷,新聞工作者,新聞(C5T1P3/C5T4P2)
(pressing adj. 迫切的,急切的 C7T1P2)
以上介紹的一些雅思單詞多義詞,很多都是英語初學者都知道的詞匯,偏偏以為很簡單的詞,但是放到雅思閱讀里,還是難道了許多同學。英語中有相當數(shù)量的多義詞,英語最常用的4000個高頻詞根基上都是多義詞,平均每個詞都有兩到三個意思,因此在學習過程當中,一定要特意留心一個單詞的詞性和同詞性的其它含義,通過不同的語言環(huán)境和背景去理解和記憶,從而逐漸消除由于一詞多義而造成的理解障礙,提高解題效率。