Reading Methods --Word-guessing
•Ignore them and continue reading
•Look them up in the dictionary
•Guess the meaning
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Homework check
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1. The lion has its “territory” , which is an
area that an animal ,usually the male,
claims as its own.
“territory” means ____________________
an area that….
2. He is a resolute man. Once he makes up his
mind to do something, he won’t give it up halfwa
The underlined word means____.
A. strong B. determined C. kind D. clever
The largest player – Shanghai Bashi Tourism
Car Center offers a wide variety of choices,
such as deluxe sedans, minivans, station
wagons, coaches. Santana sedans are the
big favorite of the tourists. …
The words “deluxe sedans,” “minivans” and
“station wagons” used in the text refer to
____.
A. cars in the making
B. car rental firms
C. cars for rent
D. car makers
Skill 4: from _____________
In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered
wild cat, exist in the U.S. today．
an endangered wild cat
“ocelot” means _________________
The relative clause or the following sentence is actually
a definition or an explanation
Skill2:
definition or explanation
Using __________________________
I feel that since you are my superior
（上司）, it would be presumptuous
of me to tell you what to do .”
The word “presumptuous” is closest
in meaning to “ B ” .
A．full of respect
B． rude and too confident
C．lacking in experience
D．too shy and quiet
She also feels North American students
often discriminate against other students
who don’t have fashionable clothes and
hairstyles. In her opinion, North Americans
aren’t open to different cultures and
customs.
The underlined phrase “discriminate against”
in the last paragraph may be replaced by
“________”.
B A. fight against
B. look down upon
C. take to
D. distinguish
Pruning is important because it
encourages the growth of tender
shoots(嫩芽）, or young leaves of trees.
The word “pruning” means______
A. Regular cutting of the plants
B. Frequent watering
C. Regular use of chemicals
D. Growing the plants high in the mountain
Skill 3:
related information/common sense
From _______________________________
Cause and effect
Most women in Ghana--- the educated
and illiterate, the urban and rural, the
young and old--- work to earn an income
in addition to maintaining their roles as
housewives and mothers. Their
reputation for economic independence,
self-reliance, and hard work is well
known and well deserved.
The underlined word “illiterate” in the
passage means ____.
A. repeated
B. professional
C uneducated
D. sick
Unlike her gregarious sister, Jane is a shy
person who does not like to go to parties or
make new friends.
A.social
B. independent
C. timid
D. brave
Skill 4：
comparison or contrast
From_________________
Synonym or Antonym clues.
Insight-developing
skills
zoologist, courageous,
fictional, reminder, mouthful,
purify …
preschool, rebuild , ex-soldier,
subway…
disloyal, mispronounce, unlock,
nonstandard,, irrelative …
forget-me-not, brunch; co-worker, smog,
telecast…
Skill 1:
Word formation (prefix, suffix,
From__________________________
Compound, etc.)
__________________________
1. It will be very hard but very brittle —
that is , it will break easily.
2. The herdsman , who looks after sheep,
earns about 650 yuan a year.
3. We are on the night shift --- from
midnight to 8 a.m. --- this week.
signals
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Skill 2:
definition or explanation
From __________________________
Signal words:
that is (to say), ----, the following relative
clause…
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4 I’ve found Lucy is quite liberal. For example,
whenever she meets a beggar, she gives some coins
to him.
generous
5 I like to read periodicals, such as “Crazy
English”, “News Week”, “Reader’s Digest” etc.
(magazine or other publication) that is publishes
regularly, eg weekly or monthly
6 Before long, many dinners stayed open around
the clock. In other words, people were able to eat
in a dinner at any time.
a place or stand where people can have a dinner
Skill 2:
definition or explanation
From __________________________
Signal words:
that is (to say), in other words, namely, mean,
refer to, be known as , be called , can be defined
as ;
such as, for example, for instance …
1. He had been getting better but during the
night his condition deteriorated.
2. His father despises him while his mother
loves him very much.
3. Unlike her gregarious sister, Jane is a shy
person who does not like to go to parties or
make new friends.
4. The football player was penalized for
unnecessary rudeness and the punishment
was a good lesson for him.
5. The old woman has a strange habit to
keep over 100 cats in her house. Her
neighbors all called her an eccentric lady.
Skill 3:
synonym or antonym clues
From __________________________
comparison or contrast
__________________________
Signal words:
and, but, however, otherwise, though
unlike, while, on the other hand, in spite of,
in contrast
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1. That museum is so immense that it will be
impossible to see all the exhibits in one day.
relevant information
2. Most women in Ghana — the educated
and illiterate, the urban and rural, the young and old
work to earn an income in addition to maintaining
their roles as housewives and mothers.
Blank filling:
Every Chinese, home and a________ , celebrate
our traditional Spring Festival to show our
respect and love for our civilization.
Whether you are a motorist or a p______________, you
should obey the traffic rules.
Skill 4:
related information/common sense
From _______________________________
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consolidation
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1. Charlotte’s tale was inspired by the girls’ coin
collection. ”We’ve collected foreign coins for years---since our families went on holiday to Tenerife ,”she
explains. “That was before the Euro, so we put
pesetas in.”
Q: The underlined word “pesetas” refers to a kind
of___.
A.story
B. collection
C. inspiration ∨D. foreign coin
2. Rainforests like the Amazon are
important for mopping up CO2 from the
atmosphere and helping to slow global
warming . Currently the trees in the
Amazon take in around 500 million tons
of CO2 each year.
Q: The underlined phrase “mopping up”
in the second paragraph means .
A．cleaning up
∨B．taking in
C．wiping out
D．giving out
3. 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.
Q: What does the underlined word “hassle”
probably mean?
A. a party designed by specialists
B. a plan designed by specialist
∨C. a situation causing difficulty or trouble
D. a demand made by guests
4. The schools are reluctant to take time off —— even
teachers with tickets for the England – Argentina game
had trouble getting the day off.
Q: The underlined word “reluctant” in the passage
may probably mean_____.
A. kind ∨
B. unwilling C. free D. careless
Skills in word-guessing:
1. From Word formation (prefix, suffix,
compound, etc.)
2. From definition or explanation
3. From comparison or contrast
Synonym or Antonym.
4. From common sense or related information
Try to find the signal words!
Some common sentence patterns
concerning word-guessing:
 1. The underlined word (phrase, term)
“…” means _____.
 2. The word “…” could best be replaced
by _______.
 3. The word “…” in paragraph … refers
to ____.
 4. Which of the following is closest in
meaning to “…”?
Ability-developing
Activities
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 We earn our_____________ (live) in America
today in peaceful ____________ (compete) with
people all across the Earth. Profound and
_________ (power) forces are shaking and making
our world, and the urgent question of our time is
whether we can make change our friend and not
our enemy. This new world has already
___________ (rich) the lives of millions of
Americans who are able to adapt to the
____________ (compete) world and win in it. But
when most people are working harder for less,
when others cannot work at all, when the cost of
health care devastates families and ______(threat)
to bankrupt our enterprises, great and small, when
the fear of crime robs law abiding citizens of their
_____________ (free), and when millions of poor
children cannot even imagine the lives we are
calling them to lead, we have not made change our
friend.
living, competitions, powerful, enrich,
competitive, threatens, freedom
Passage 1
Recently, studies have been undertaken to determine
if a relationship exists between violence on television
and violence in the streets of America. More and better
research is needed to assess fully the effects of exposure
to violence on human behavior; however, early results
seem to indicate that certain elements of society are
influenced negatively by what they see on television.
The word "assess" could best be replaced by
A. undertaken
B. determine
B
C. indicate
D. influence
Passage 2
Remember that People on line may not be who they
seem. Because you can't see or even hear the person. It
would be easy for someone to misrepresent
himself/herself. Thus someone who says that "she is a
12-year-old girl." could really be an old man.
A. making a wrong judgment about
B. understanding somebody wrongly
C giving a wrong description of
C.
D. forming a wrong opinion about
Passage 3
We live in a materialistic society and trained from our earlier days to try to
get more.
This materialistic opinion has seriously influenced education. Fewer and
fewer young people these days learn knowledge only for their own benefit.
Every course of studies must lead somewhere, i.e. to a good deal of money. The
supply cannot satisfy the demand for skilled personnel(人才) and big
companies compete with each other to get good students from the
university before they have completed their studies. Big salaries are
offered to them. This kind leads to the brain drain, the process by
which highly skilled people offer their services to the highest
bidder(the company which provides them more money). The most
able citizens of poorer nation move to the wealthier neighbors.
As a result, the rich get richer and the poor, poorer.
The underlined word means ______.
A. shortage of skilled personnel
B. outflow of talented people
B
C. job-hopping(跳槽)
D. interchangeability of personnel
Passage 4
A man’s position among the black-tent people
depends on his ancestors, relatives, and fellow
tribesmen. If they are honored, he is also honored.
If they are disgraced, he too is disgraced. Therefore
one carefully guards the honor of his family, his
lineage(宗系), and his tribe.
The word “disgrace” means _________ in this text.
A. honor B. endanger C. proud D.
D shame
Passage 5
The ruler had been so cruel and dishonest that
after the revolution he was banished. A few
members of the Senate(参议院) opposed this
decision, but the majority voted that the ruler
should leave the country for ever.
The underlined word “banished” mean_______.
B sent away
A. killed by stoning B.
C. imprisoned
D. punished by whipping
Passage 6
My first job was to drive the oxen that ploughed the
cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him
with a broomstick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours
straight, with no food breaks. It was very tedious work,
but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting
lessons. Because the plantation owners were always
watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as
hard as I could.
What does the underlined word “tedious” probably
mean?
A. interesting B
B. tiresome C. relaxing D. challenging
Passage 7
Although he often had the chance, Mr. Brown
was never able to steal money from a customer.
This would endangered his position at the bank,
and he did not want to jeopardize his future.
The word “jeopardize” means _____ in this text.
A. protect B
B. endanger C. continue D. stop
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Passage 8
After a four-year relationship with a major
fortune 100 company beginning as a sales trainee
and ending as a regional sales manager, I left the
company at the height of my career. Many people
were astounded that I would leave after earning a
six-figure income. And they asked why I would risk
everything for a dream.
The underlined word “astounded” means ____.
A. very sad
B. very sorry
D
C. very pleased
D. greatly surprised
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Enjoy life!
Enjoy English!
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