高考英语难点讲解[25]-依赖语境的词义猜测题[阅读理解]

　　猜测词义题要求学生根据以往所学知识，对上下文的理解及自身的生活经验等猜测生词意义或仅从字面无法确认其意义的短语的准确含义，是阅读理解题中的难点。

　　●难点磁场

　　1.(★★★★)Mental health care in China has dramatically improved over the last 10 years,according to experts.

　　Increasing numbers of urban Chinese are today seeking counselling on a wide range of issues related to mental health.

　　“We receive more than 120 visitors a day right now—20 per cent up over that of 1998,”said Zhang Haiyin,chief doctor with the Shanghai Mental Health Centre.Ten years ago,the centre received 70 to 80 visitors a week.

　　To accommodate the growing number of patients,the clinic has had to extend its service from five days to seven days a week.

　　Most of the counselling focuses on problems to do with education,employment,family life,relationships as well as mental distress,trouble and insomnia.White-collar workers are the major recipients of counselling,accounting for 30 percent of total patients,said Zhang.

　　“The growing visits indicate Chinese people pay more attention to their quality of life.They have a better understanding that mental health is as improtant as physical well-being.”

　　Chen Zhigang,an employee of a foreign-funded consulting firm in Beijing,felt depressed and was encouraged by friends to seek mental health counselling.The doctor found he was suffering as a result of workplace pressure and competition.After several months of treatment,he was back to full health.

　　“Mental health counselling helped reduce my pressure,”said Chen.

　　But many people are still reluctant to use counselling services.Zhu Chengyi,a railway worker from Shanghai,is unwilling to seek help.

　　“I will not go for it.It is too embarrassing for me,”said Zhu.“How can I tell my colleagues and family that I am seeking mental health counselling?They would think I was crazy.”

　　Zhang said a lack of information about mental health care prevented the grown of services in China.

　　He said a standardized training system was required to make sure all mental health doctors were properly trained.

　　“In Western countries,mental health counselling has a wide range of methods for consultation and treatment.We need to improve  our training to upgrade our services.”

　　Question:1.The underlined word “extend” in Paragraph 4 means ________.

　　A.pay attention to       B.feel like doing

　　C.enlarge and lengthen       D.reduce

　　2.(★★★★★)Professor Reason recently persuaded 35 people to keep a diary of all their absent-minded actions for two weeks. When he came to analyse their embarrassing errors, he was surprised to find that nearly all of them fell into a few groups.

　　One of the women, for instance, on leaving her house for work one morning threw her pet dog cer ear-rings and tried to fix a dog biscuit on her car. “The explanation for this is that the brain is like a computer,” explains the professor. “People programme themselves to do certain activities regularly. It was the woman’s custom every morning to throw her dog two biscuits and then put on her ear-rings. But somehow the action got reversed(颠倒) in the programme.” About one in twenty of the incidents the volunteers reported were these“Programme assembly failure.”

　　Twenty per cent of all errors were “test failures”—primarily due to not verifying the progress of what a body was doing. A man about to get his car out of the garage passed through the back yard where his garden jacket and boots were kept, put them on—much to his surprise. A woman victim reported: “I got into the bath with my socks on.”

　　The commonest problem was information “storage failures”. People forgot the names of people whose faces they knew, went into a room and forgot why they were there, mislaid something, or smoked a cigarette without realizing it.

　　The research so far suggests that while the “central processor” of the brain is liberated from second-to-second control of a well-practised routine, it must repeatedly switch back its attention at important decision points to check that the action goes on as intended. Otherwise the activity may be “captured” by another frequently and recently used programme, resulting in embarrassing errors.

　　Questions:2.The word “verifying” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by ________.

　　A.improving         B.changing

　　C.checking         D.stopping

　　3.According to the passage, the information “storage failures” refer to ________.

　　A.the destruction of information collecting system

　　B.the elimination of one’s total memory

　　C.the temporary loss of part of one’s memory

　　D.the separation of one’s action from consciousness

　　3.(★★★★)One of the greatest killers in the Western world is heart disease. The death rate (率) from the disease has been increasing at an alarming speed for the past thirty years. Today in Britain, for example, about four hundred people a day die of heart disease. Medical experts know that people can reduce their chances of getting heart disease by exercising regularly, by not smoking, by changing their diets, and by paying more attention to reducing stress (压力) in their work.

　　However, Western health-care systems are still not paying enough attention to the prevention of the disease. There is a need for more programs to educate the public about the causes and prevention of heart disease. Instead of supporting such programs, however, the U. S. health-care system is spending large sums of money on the surgical (外科的) treatment of the disease after it develops. This emphasis (强调) on treatment clearly has something to do with the technological advances that have taken place in the past ten to fifteen years. In this time, modern technology has enabled doctors to develop new surgical techniques. Many operations that were considered impossible or too risky (有风险的) a few years ago are now performed every day in U.S. hospitals. The result has been a huge increase in heart surgery.

　　Although there is no doubt that heart surgery can help a large number of people, some people point out that the emphasis on the surgical treatment of the disease has three clear disadvantages. First, it attracts interest and money away from the question of prevention. Second, it causes the costs of general hospital care to rise. After hospitals buy the expensive equipment that is necessary for modern heart surgery, they must try to recover the money they have spent. To do this, they raise costs for all their patients, not just those patients whose treatment requires the equipment. The third disadvantage is that doctors are encouraged to perform surgery-even on patients for whom an operation is unnecessary—because the equipment and expert skills are there. A government office recently stated that major heart surgery was often performed even though its chances of success were low. In one type of heart surgery, for example, only 15 percent of patient improved their conditions after the surgery. However, more than 100 000 of these operations are performed in the United States every year.

　　Question:4.“To do this” (in Paragraph 3) means ________.

　　A.to help patients recover

　　B.to increase the number of heart surgeries

　　C.to get back the money spent on the equipment

　　D.to buy new equipment for the treatment of heart disease

　　4.(★★★★★)Some of the best-known names in the entertainment industry have taken part in an unprecedented telethon to help victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States.

　　The benefit (义演）,called“America:a Tribute to Heroes,”was sponsored by all four major U.S. television networks,ABC,CBS,FOX and NBC.It was broadcast by three-dozen television,cable and radio networks across the country and aired live to more than a hundred countries around the world.

　　Hollywood stars joined music entertainers in asking listeners and viewers to pledge cash donations to charities helping the victims of the September 11th attacks.

　　Actors,including Tom Hanks,Julia Roberts,Tom Cruise and Clint Eastwood,told stories of heroic acts by people who tried to save others from the burning World Trade Center and the Pentagon.Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali made a rare public appearance in a show of support.

　　The appeals alternated with performances by such popular entertainers as Bruce Springsteen,Mariah Carey,Stevie Wonder,Paul Simon and the rock band U—2.

　　They appeared on stages in New York,Los Angeles and London,decorated with hundreds of burning candles.

　　Singer Billy Joel sang “New York State of Mind”with a New York City firefighter’s hat on his piano.Sting dedicated his song “Fragile”to a friend who died in the World Trade Center.Stevie Wonder condemned hatres in the name of religion before singing his song “Love’s in Need of Love Today”.Pledge phones were manned by dozens of other celebrities,including Jack Nicholson,Meg Ryan,Whoopie Goldberg,Cindy Crawford,Al Pacino and Sylvester Stallone.

　　Organizers say the two-hour telethon raised millions of dollars.All participants,from stars to stagehands,worked without pay.

　　Question:5.The underlined word “telethon” most probably means ________.

　　A.a performance to raise money

　　B.a concert held by some television networks

　　C.a television program which lasts a long time

　　D.a television program for entertainment

　　●案例探究

　　1.A child’s birthday party doesn’t have to be a hassle;it can be a basket of fun,according to Beth Anaclerio,an Evaston mother of two,ages 4 and 18 months.

　　“Having a party at home usually requires a lot of running around on the part of the parents,and often the birthday boy or girl gets lost in wild excitement.But it really doesn’t have to be that way,”said Anaclerio.Last summer,Anaclerio and her friend Jill Carlisle,a Northbrook mother of a 2-year-old,founded a home party-planning business called “A Party in a Basket”.Their goal is to help parents and children share in the fun part of party planning,like choosing the subject or making a cake,while they take care of everything.

　　Drawing on their experiences as mothers,they have created(制作) 10 ready-to-use,home party packages.Everything a family needs to plan a party,except the cake and ice cream,is delivered to the home in a large basket.

　　“Our parties are aimed for children 2 to 10,”Anaclerio said,“and they’re very interactive(互动)  and creative in that they build a sense of drama based on a subject.For example,at the Soda Shoppe party the guests become waiters and waitresses and build wonderful ice cream creations.”

　　The standard ＄200 package for eight children includes a basket filled with invitation,gifts,games and prizes,paper goods,a party planner and the like.For more information,call Anaclerio at 708-864-6584 or Carlisle at 708-205-9141.

　　Question:What does the underlined word “hassle”(Paragraph 1) probably mean?

　　A.a party designed by specialists    B.a plan requiring careful thought

　　C.a situation causing difficulty or trouble  D.a demand made by guests

　　命题意图：本题考查学生通过上下文猜测词义的能力，实际上也是考查学生的推理判断能力。属五星级题目。

　　错解分析：本题错解的原因主要是反义词领会不准确。

　　解题方法与技巧：（1）通读全文，抓文章大意，可知文章旨在推荐一种home party-planning business，其目的在于帮助父母及孩子筹办家庭晚会，从而把此工作化麻烦为乐趣。（2）仔细观察首段文字，“doesn’t have to be a hassle”和“can be a basket of fun” 互为反义，故可以推出答案。

　　答案：C

　　2.LONDON(Reuters)—Organic fruit,delivered right  to the doorstep.That is what Gabriel Gold prefers,and he is willing to pay for it.If this is not possible,the 26-year-old computer technician will spend the extra money at the supermarket to buy organic food.

　　“Organic produce is always better,”Gold said.“The food is free of pesticides(农药),and you are generally supporting family farms instead of large farms.And more often than not it is locally(本地) grown and seasonal,so it is more tasty.”Gold is one of a growing number of shoppers buying into the organic trend,and supermarkets across Britain are counting on more like him as they grow their organic food business.But how many shoppers really know what they are getting,and why are they willing to pay a higher price for organic produce?Market research shows that Gold and others who buy organic food can generally give clear reason for their preferences—but their knowledge of organic food is far from complete.For example,small amounts of pesticides can be used on organic products.And about three quarters of organic food in Britain is not local but imported(进口) to meet growing demand.“The demand for organic food is increasing by about one third every year,so it is a very fast-growing market,” said Sue Flock,a specialist in this line of business.

　　Question:What is the meaning of “the organic trend” as the words are used in the text?

　　A.growing interest in organic food      B.better quality of organic food

　　C.rising market for organic food       D.higher prices of organic food

　　命题意图：考查学生通过推理判断来猜测词义的能力。属五星级题目。

　　错解分析：本题错解的原因主要在于太孤立地看待相关语句，没能把上下文串起来。

　　解题方法与技巧：（1）通读全文，了解全文大意：越来越多的人热衷于有机食品。

　　（2）联系上下文。由第一段“That(即Organic fruit) is what Gabriel Gold prefers”,第二段“Organic produce is always better,Gold said.”可知Gold对Organic food深感兴趣，再根据“Gold is one of a growing number of shoppers buying into the organic trend,and supermarkets across Britain are counting on more like him”，可知Gold是越来越多的喜爱Organic food的购物者中的一员，而且全英国的超级市场也正依赖（count on）越来越多的像他这样的人（来赚钱）。因此可得出答案。

　　答案：A

　　●锦囊妙计

　　1.通读全文，领会大意。

　　2.对上下文进行逻辑推理。

　　3.利用同义词、反义词、近义词、构词法（派生、合成、转化）等推测词义。

　　4.依靠自己的生活常识和社会经验进行判断。

　　●歼灭难点训练

　　A

　　For more than twenty years scientists have been searching for signs of life on other planets. Most of these searches have been done over the radio. The hope is that someone in outer space may be trying to get in touch with us. Scientists also have sent radio and television messages on spaceships traveling through space,on the chance that someone may be receptive to such messages.

　　Scientists are using powerful radio telescopes to listen to signals from about 1 000 stars,all within 100 light years of Earth.In addition,they will scan(扫视） the entire sky to “listen” for radio messages from more distant stars. Using a computer, they will be able to monitor more than eight channels at one time. Scientists are looking for any signal that stands out from the background noise.

　　Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy（银河星系）, scientists find that five percent are like our sun. Perhaps half of them have a planet like Earth. Such a planet would be a reasonable distance from the star for temperatures to be right for the evolution(进化） of  life. Based on the inhabitable(that can be lived in) planets in our galaxy,most scientists agree that chances are likely that one or more of these planets support some life.

　　However, many scientists wonder whether intelligent(有智力的） life exists on other planets.Some believe that twenty years of searching without any intelligible messages shows that no one is out there. They say that the evolution of intelligence comparable to ours is unlikely.

　　Other scientists believe that our search hasn’t been long enough to rule out the possibility that intelligent life exists in our galaxy. Although our sun family is only about five billion years old, our galaxy is about 20 billion years old. In that time,some scientists think it is likely that civilization(文明） much more advanced than ours have developed. Perhaps these civilizations send us no signals; perhaps we have not recognized the signals they have sent us. If we hope to find intelligent life, these scientists believe that we have to keep looking.

　　1.(★★★★★)The underlined word “monitor” in the passage means “________”.

　　A.find           B.follow

　　C.check           D.form

　　B

　　Internet shopping is a new way of shopping. You no longer need to walk round hundreds of shops looking for the items you need. Nowadays, you can shop for just about anything from your armchair. All you need is a computer which is linked to the Internet. Shopping on the Internet is becoming increasingly popular. In the United States, 50 per cent of families have computers at home and almost one third are linked to the Internet. Americans spent over US ＄2.5 billion on Internet shopping in 1998. This figure is expected to reach US ＄11 billion by the year 2004.

　　People can shop for a variety of products on the Internet. Physical products include things such as books, CDs, clothes and food. These types of products are the most common purchases(购入品) through the Internet. You can also buy information products such as on-line news or magazine stories, or you can download computer software through the Internet. Services such as booking airline tickets, reserving(预定） hotels or renting cars are also available(可得到的) on the Internet. You can also go shopping on the Internet for entertainment services and take part in on-line games or e-mail “chats”.

　　2.(★★★★)The phrase “physical products” in  the second paragraph means things _____.

　　A.that can be seen or felt        B.useful for health care

　　C.that help you keep fit        D.connected with sports

　　C

　　TERNANG，Mon—More than 10 000 people were made homeless in Ternang when the Sungai Mas overflowed its banks yesterday after six days of continuous heavy rain.

　　Flooding first appeared at mid-afternoon yesterday along the river banks.People straggling higher ground were just in time to get away from the destroy of the flood.Most of the flood victims had to leave their possessions behind.

　　The flood victims are now housed in various make-shift relief centers in the nearby town of Tulang.

　　“Everything possible is being done to help the unfortunate people.”A government spokesman said,“In fact,money,food and clothing have begun to come in from public-spirited organizations and generous persons.”

　　According to latest reports it is still raining heavily at Ternang.The whole town is expected to be totally covered by water.So far no casualty has been reported.

　　3.(★★★★)The word“casualty”in the last sentence means________.

　　A.the house that is being built

　　B.the money that is given to the victims

　　C.the person killed or injured in an accident

　　D.the things lost in the flood

　　D

　　If women are exploited(剥削) year after year,they have only themselves to blame.Because they shake at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion(时髦),they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores.Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion.When you come to think of it,only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe(衣柜) packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.

　　Changing fashions are nothing more than the creation of waste on purpose.Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn.Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way,waste hours of their time changing the dresses they have.Skirts are lengthened or shortened;neck-lines are lowered or raised,and so on.

　　No one can declare that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society.Fashion designers are seldom concerned with important things like warmth,comfort and durability(耐用).They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort,as long as they look right.There can hardly be a man who hasn’t at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day,or picking her away through deep snow in high-heeled shoes.

　　When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious.Do the constantly changing fashions of women’s clothes,one wonders,show basic qualities of inconstancy and instability(不稳定性)?Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers.Do their unchanging styles of dress show basic qualities of stability and reliability?That is for you  to decide.

　　4.(★★★★★)By saying “the conclusions to be drawn are obvious”,the writer means that ______.

　　A.women’s inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at

　　B.women are better able to put up with discomfort

　　C.men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers

　　D.men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion

　　E

　　I had applied for the nuclear submarine (潜艇)program,and Admiral Rickover was interviewing me for the job.It was the first time I met Admiral Rickover,and we sat in a large room by ourselves for more than two hours,and he let me choose any subjects I wished to discuss.Very carefully,I chose those about which I knew most at the time—current events,seamanship,music,literature,

　　naval tactics,electronics,gunnery—and he began to ask me a series of questions of increasing difficulty.In each instance,he soon proved that I knew relatively little about the subjects I had chosen.

　　He always looked right into my eyes,and he never smiled.I was saturated with cold sweat.

　　Finally,he asked me a question and I thought I could recover myself.He said,“How did you stand in your class at Georgia Tech before entering Annapolis as a first year student?”I had done very well,and I swelled my chest with pride and answered,“Sir,I stood fifty-ninth in a class of 820!”I sat back to wait for the congratulations—which never came.Instead,the question:“Did you do your best?”I started to say,“Yes,sir,”but I remembered who this was,and recalled several of my times at the Academy when I could have learned more about our allies（二战时的同盟国）,our enemies,weapons strategy,and so forth.I was just human.I finally gulped and said,“No.Sir,I didn’t always do my best.”

　　He looked at me for a long time,and then turned his chair around to end the interview.He asked one final question,which I have never been able to forget—or to answer.He said,“Why not?”I sat there for a while,shaken,and then slowly left the room.

　　5.(★★★★)The word “saturated”in the second paragraph may probably mean ________.

　　A.satisfied          B.completely wet

　　C.shameful          D.separated

　　F

　　In recent years many countries of the world have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive. Some experts claim the answer is to make jobs more varied . But do more various jobs lead to greater productivity ?There is evidence to suggest that while variety certainly makes the worker’s life more enjoyable, it does not actually makes him work harder. As far as increasing productivity is concerned, then variety is not an important factor.

　　Other experts feel that giving the worker freedom to do his job in his own way is important , and there is no doubt that this is true. The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way. Thus while freedom of choice may be important , there is usually very little that can be done to create it .

　　Another very important consideration is how each worker contributes to the product he is making . In most factories the worker sees only one part of the product. Some car factories are now experimenting with having many small production lines rather than one large one,so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line.It would seem that not only is degree of the worker contribution an important factor, therefore, but it is also one we can do something about.

　　To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity?The workers themselves certainly think this is important . But perhaps they want more money only because the work they do is boring. Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more.A similar argument may explain  demands for shorter working hours. Perhaps if we succeed in making their jobs more interesting , they will neither want more money, nor will shorten working hours be so important to them.

　　6.(★★★★)In the article, the word“productivity” means________.

　　A.the activity of producing something    B.the production volume in a time unit

　　C.the plan and the method of production  D.both the quantity and quality of a product

　　G

　　One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’s mistakes.It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like “I was wrong about that,”and it is even harder to say,“I was wrong,and you were right about that.”

　　I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago.He told me he had been the manager of a certain store in the neighbourhood where I grew up,and he asked me if I remembered the egg cartons (in many countries,eggs are sold by the dozen and are put in cartons).Then he related an incident (event,matter)and I began to remember unclearly the incident he was describing.

　　I was about eight years old at the time.I went into the store with my mother to do some shopping.On that particular day,I must have found my way to the food department where the incident took place.

　　There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there were lots of eggs in dozen and half-dozen cartons.The cartons were put three or four feet high.I must have stopped in front of the piles of egg cartons.Just then a woman came by pushing her shopping cart and knocked off the cartons.For some reason,I decided it was up to me to put the eggs back together,so I went to work.

　　The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened.When he appeared,I was on my knees looking at some of the cartons to see if any of the eggs were broken,but to him it looked as though I was the one who just did it.He severely reprimanded me and wanted me to pay for any broken eggs.I tried to explain,but it did no good.Even though I quickly forgot all about the incident,it is plain that the manager did not.

　　7.(★★★★)The word “reprimanded”in the last paragraph most exactly means “________”.

　　A.frightened          B.scolded

　　C.warned           D.comforted

　　H

　　Tony Bennett,the American singer recently touring Britain,can’t remember how many times he has sung his standard hit “I Left My Heart In San Francisco.”He sang it again to his audience at the London Palladium last night.

　　“I never get tired of singing it,”he said,“I like it too much.It’s a great city and it’s a good song.”

　　Bennett is to record a TV special with American singer Lena Home while he is here.And a new LP recorded by him in London for Philips titled “Listen Easy” will be published in June.

　　“I like it here,”he added quietly over whiskey.“I would like to live here so many months of the year.”

　　He already keeps a large flat in Grosvenor Square,where he is staying with his actress wife Sandie Grant and their three-year-old daughter Joanna.It has a studio where he likes to paint.Tony plans to have his first exhibition later in the year and he has already sold one picture ＄4 000.At the end of the year Tony is to star in a musical film which has been specially written for him called “Two Bits,” an informal expression for 50 cents.It’s about an Italian immigrant(移民) who goes to America,but he becomes a failure.

　　“In many ways it’s very close to my life the way the story has been written,”said Bennett.“My father,an Italian,was ill and died when I was nine.He always wanted me to sing,but he never lived long enough to be a part of my success.”

　　The film is to be made by Italy’s top director Vittoria De Sica.

　　8.(★★★★★) The  phrase “standard hit” most nearly means ________.

　　A.Bennett’s favourite song but it’s not very popular

　　B.a song that is always popular

　　C.a song which makes him standard

　　D.a song which is like a heavy blow to his audience