阅读与训练 与父亲的夜谈

猜词是应用英语的重要能力，也是高考中常用的题型。它不但需要准确无误地理解上下文，而且要有较大的泛读量，掌握或认识较多的课外词汇。我们要学会"顺藤摸瓜"，通过构词，语法，定义，同位，对比，因果，常识，上下文等线索确定词义。
a. 定义法
如：Annealing is a way of making metal softer by heating it and then letting it cool very slowly.
句子给予annealing 以明确的定义，即"退火"。
It will be very hard but also very brittle------that is , it will break easily.
从后面的解释中我们可以了解到brittle 是"脆"的意思。
The herdsman , who looks after sheep,earns about 650yuan a year.
定语从句中 looks after sheep 就表明了 herdsman 的词义为"牧人"。
b 同位法
如：
They traveled a long way , at last got to a castle, a large building in old times.
同位语部分a large building in old times 给出了 castle 的确切词义，即"城堡"。
We are on the night shift----from midnight to 8 a.m.---this week.
两个破折号之间的短语很清楚地表明night shift 是"夜班"的意思。
c. 对比法
She is usually prompt for all her class, but today she arrived in the middle of her first class.
but 一词表转折，因此but