詞句推斷題是高考閱讀理解試題中的一種常見題型，旨在考查考生在不使用詞典的情況根據材料背景和上下文等線索推測詞、句的確切含義的能力。這類試題包括對生詞生義的推測、熟詞生義的推測、以及對it/they/them等代詞的確指對象的判斷等。這類試題的設問方式主要有：

　　(1)What does the underlined word “them/it” refer to?

　　(2)In the... paragraph, the word... means (refers to).

　　(3)according to the passage,... probably means

　　(4)The author uses the word... to mean.

　　(5)The underlined phrase “punch line”most probably means______.

　　(6)The underlined word “one” could best be replaced by ______.

　　(7)What does “garden” in the last two paragraphs stand for?

　　(8)“But we stuck it”(in paragraph 3) means ______.

　　(9) “Professional work” as used in the text means ______.

　　(10)What does the author mean when he says, “we can’t turn the clock back”?

　　(11)Which of the following best explains the meaning of the word “baffle” as it is used in the text?

　　(12)Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the word？

　　下面再結合全國高考閱讀試題中的實例來說明做推測詞義題的幾種基本的技巧。

　　1. 據詞或詞組的指代對象確定其詞義。如：

　　Shu Pulong has helped at least 1000 people bitten by snakes. “It was seeing people with snake bites that led me to this career,” he said…

　　Which of the following words can take the place of the word “career” in the first paragraph?

　　A. conclusion        B. story         C. incident            D. job

　　這道題實際上要讀者推測“career”的詞義。根據“this”的基本用法(this可以指代前文提到過的事情)，我們知道“this career”指的是“Shu Pulong has helped at least 1000 people bitten by snakes”這句話所表示的意思。顯然，“help people bitten by snake”是“Shu Pulong”作為一名蛇醫的工作職責。四個選項中只有“job”符合這句話的意思，因此D選項是可以考慮的選項。

　　又如：Some stage schools give their children too much professional work at such a young age…

　　“Professional work” as used in the text means______.

　　A. ordinary school work            B. moneymaking performances

　　C. stage training at school                D. acting, singing or dancing after class

　　“professional work”指的是與一個人所從事的專業或職業相關的工作，在不同的行業，“專業工作”或“職業工作”(professional work)有不同的含義。對一個戲劇學校來說，它的“專業工作”或“職業工作”自然是戲劇理論方面的學習或舞臺訓練，因此，C選項符合文意，是正確答案。

　　2. 運用生活常識或經驗進行推理判斷。如：

　　Apple trees may grow as tall as twelve metres. They do best in areas that have very cold winters. Although no fruit is yielded during the winter, this cold period is good for the tree.

　　The word “yielded” in the last sentence means ______.

　　A. improved　       B. increased       C. produced      　D. sold

　　把四個選項分別取代文段中的“yielded”，我們可以得出以下分析：“improve fruit”是改進蘋果(質量)的意思，既然冬季有利于蘋果樹(的營養生長)，自然就有利于蘋果質量的改進，這是符合常識的，因此，A選項是錯誤的；可以說increase the output(產量) of fruit，但不可以說increase the fruit，也就是說increase不能與fruit構成動賓關系，因此B選項是錯誤的；“冬天沒有蘋果買”不符合常識，所以，D選項也是錯誤的；“冬天不產蘋果”是符合常識的，亦符合原文的意思，因此，C是正確的。

　　又如：Last November the two groups started “Dog Day Afternoon” in the children’s department of the main library. About 25 children attended each of the four Saturday-afternoon classes, reading for half an hour. Those who attended three of the four classes received a “pawgraphed” book at the last class.

　　A “pawgraphed” book is most probably ______.

　　A. a book used in Saturday classes           B. a book written by the children

　　C. a prize for the children                 D. a gift from parents

　　文段敘述的是孩子們參加“周六下午閱讀訓練班”的事情。根據常識我們知道，在一個學習活動結束時，通常會對一些先進分子進行表彰或獎勵。因此，我們可以作出判斷，“Those who attended three of the four classes received a “pawgraphed” book at the last class”這句話的意思應該是：那些參加了四個學習班中三個班的學習的孩子們在參加最后一個班的時候可以得到某種獎勵。A、B、D都不符合常識，所以只有C選項是正確答案。

　　3. 根據文段中出現的同義、近義或反義詞(詞組)的意思進行判斷。

　　如：I had just gone to bed after a very hard day when the phone rang. It was an eccentric(怪僻的)farmer. I had never met him before although I had often heard people talk about him. He sounded quite nervous and he had been talking for a minute or so before I understood anything. Even then all I could make out was that someone called Milly had had a very bad accident. I hadn’t the slightest idea who she was but I obviously had to go.

　　The underlined phrase make out in the first paragraph means ______.

　　A. expect            B. understand          C. see clearly  D. hear clearly

　　根據第四句話的意思，我們知道“Even then”實際上是指前文的“I understood anything”，因此這句話可以理解為“Even when I understood anything, all (that) I could make out was that someone called Milly had had a very bad accident”。顯然，“make out”是被用來取代前面的“understood”，以避免重復，它們應該是近義或同義詞，所以，B選項可能是正確的。

　　又如：One mistaken idea about business is that it can be treated as a game of perfect information. Quite the reverse, business, politics, life itself are games which we must normally play with very imperfect information.

　　Which of the following can be used in place of “Quite the reverse”?

　　A. Quite right.       B. True enough. C. Most unlikely. D. Just the opposite.

　　根據quite the reverse這個短語前后兩個句子中的“perfect information”與“imperfect information”這兩個意思相反的詞組，我們可以推斷出quite the reverse這個短語應該是表示它前后兩個句子的轉折關系。只有D選項符合這種意思，因此，可以考慮它是正確答案。

　　4. 根據下文的舉例或解釋推測詞義。如：

　　Finally, renewable energy sources are used even though they are often expensive to develop. One form of these is geothermal energy. In certain parts of the world the temperature of the earth increases thirty degrees centigrade with each kilometre down. At six kilometres, therefore, it rises to nearly two hundred degrees. To get the heat, water is pumped(壓;抽)down into the rocks and back up to the surface. Heat from the earth is already used in certain countries.

　　The underlined words geothermal energy in the third paragraph mean ______.

　　A. renewable source　　                        B. underground source

　　C. heat inside the earth　　                     D. temperature of the earth

　　這一段講的是“renewable energy sources”的開發問題，并且舉例“geothermal energy”是其中的一種，接下來文章進一步解釋“geothermal energy”的形成及開發利用的方式。A、B、D三個選項指代的范圍都太大，與下文對“geothermal energy”的解釋不完全一致，因此都可以排除。下文在解釋了地內溫度升高的一般規律后接著說“To get the heat, water is pumped(壓;抽)down into the rocks and back up to the surface”，并且說“Heat from the earth is already used in certain countries.”因此，可以確定“geothermal energy”指的是“地熱資源”，所以C選項是正確的。

　　又如：Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother - or my father - was at my age.” No one says “Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.

　　“Act your age” means people should ______.

　　A. be active when they are old

　　B. do the right thing at the right age

　　C. show respect for their parents young or old

　　D. take more physical exercise suitable to their age

　　“We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways” 這句話的意思是“看到老年人表現出年輕人的行為舉止，我們(現在)不再感到奇怪”，即“現在不再(像以前那樣)要求老年人的行為舉止與他們的年齡相符”。這句話實際上是以老年人為例，對“No one says ‘Act your age’ any more”這句話進行解釋，B選項符合這句話的意思，因此，是正確選項。