7天搞定托福阅读-Day4UnderstandVocabulary

【托福备考·阅读篇】

在托福阅读中，有时候会出现词义题。

这种问题要求大家从下面四个选项中选出与题目中单词意思最为接近的单词。

因此大家需要理解这个单词在文中的意思。

我们先来看一个例子：

Question: The word promptly in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. purportedly

B. secretly

C. forcefully

D. hastily 

正确答案是D。在这句话中，promptly的意思是马上去做某件事。答案中只有hastily与之意思相似。

在托福阅读中，可能会碰到一些不认识的单词。如果碰到了，大家也不要紧张，因为不理解一些词的意思并不会影响阅读。

问题中的单词或短语可能是你已经知道的，也可能是你从未见过的。

The word you know

如果认识这个单词或短语，就可以直接看选项，不需要再去看原文这样可以节省更多的时间。

大家也可以在做完后阅读原文，检查答案。

The word you do not know

如果不认识题目中的单词，那就要注意这个单词在原文中的上下文，这会对理解词语的意思有所帮助。这种情况下，大家可以：

1. 浏览全文；

2. 将题目中的词放到文章的句子中理解，找出一个使句子意义通顺替代词；

3. 想一想这个词可能的意思，回想自己是否认识与这个词相关的其他词，在看选项前联想一下。

4. 看选项，4个词中哪个词的意思跟你想的相近，意思相近的词很可能就是正确答案。

5. 如果没有，就用排除法，选择可以使句子有意义而且逻辑清楚的词语。

我们来看下面一个例子：

Read the following passage and answer the question.

The meaning of the word "technical" in the passage is closest in meaning to

A) natural

B) specialized

C) old

D) foreign

读这段话后，我们可以先将”technical”替换为”rare”，因为前面一句话中有”you’re familiar with”，而这句话中有个连词”or”。再看一下选项，并没有与”rare”意思相同的词。但A项，词义明显不对。”technical”与”technology”的词根相同，并没有”old”的意思，因此C项也不对。D项”foreign”倾向于how well the reader knows the word，因此这道题的答案为B。

下面大家就来做几道题练习一下吧。

1. At first, it would appear that this question is impossible to answer. To find out how grammar is created, someone needs to be present at the time of a language's creation, documenting its emergence. Many historical linguists are able to trace modern complex languages back to earlier languages, but in order to answer the question of how complex languages are actually formed, the researcher needs to observe how languages are started from scratch. Amazingly, however, this is possible.
'From scratch' is closest in meaning to:

A. from the very beginning

B. in simple cultures

C. by copying something else

D. by using written information

2. Some of the most recent languages evolved due to the Atlantic slave trade. At that time, slaves from a number of different ethnicities were forced to work together under colonizer's rule. Since they had no opportunity to learn each other's languages, they developed a make-shift language called a pidgin. Pidgins are strings of words copied from the language of the landowner.

'Make-shift' is closest in meaning to:

A. complicated and expressive

B. simple and temporary

C. extensive and diverse

D. private and personal
 
3. Each child used the signs differently, and there was no consistent grammar. However, children who joined the school later, when this inventive sign system was already around, developed a quite different sign language. Although it was based on the signs of the older children, the younger children's language was more fluid and compact, and it utilised a large range of grammatical devices to clarify meaning. What is more, all the children used the signs in the same way. A new creole was born.

Look at the word 'consistent'. This word could best be replaced by which of the following?

A. natural

B. predictable

C. imaginable

D. uniform  

4. A second problem is the fact that many renewable power generation sources are located in remote areas, such as windy uplands and coastal regions, where there is currently a lack of electrical infrastructure. New infrastructures therefore must be built. Thankfully, with improved smart technology, this can be done more efficiently by reducing the reinforcement or construction costs.

The word 'remote' could be best replace by:

A. isolated

B. crowded

C. attractive

D. alone

5. Although Smart Technology is still in its infancy, pilot schemes to promote and test it are already underway. Consumers are currently testing the new smart meters which can be used in their homes to manage electricity use. There are also a number of demonstrations being planned to show how the smart technology could practically work, and trials are in place to test the new electrical infrastructure.

The word 'underway' is closest in meaning to:

A permanent

B complete

C beneficial

D in progress