猜詞題在最近17年的考研英語中總共出現過39次，而在2002年考研閱讀Part A部分的出題形式改變之后，總共出現過20詞，每年出題數量在2道左右，而對于這類題型，大綱中其實已經給出了方法，即“根據上下文推測生詞的含義”，而“上下文”作為一個乍聽比較寬泛的概念，一般在猜詞題的破解過程中包括邏輯關系、指代關系和特殊標點三種情況，我們看一下邏輯關系在猜詞題中的應用。

英文文章行文緊湊，句與句之間的銜接也非常緊密，考試中常涉及的邏輯關系包括轉折、讓步、因果、遞進、并列等，而在具體的解題過程中，我們可以對其進行簡化處理：將句與句之間的關系簡單地分為順承和轉折兩類，順承表示前后語句同義，而轉折表示前后語句反義，于是對于并列、因果、遞進而言，前后句在方向上并未發(fā)生變化，而轉折和讓步則不然。同時，我們知道在閱讀中應當把握具有感情色彩的詞匯，正性的詞匯用＋進行標記，如promising, driving force, positive等，而負性的詞匯用－進行標記，如handicap, problem, economic decline等，因此我們可以把題目簡化成通過方向的不同來解題。我們看一下簡單的漢語例子：

a、我們都希望自己有朝一日可以長生不老，but我們知道，長生不老是_______。

b、我們都希望自己有朝一日可以長生不老，because我們知道，長生不老是_______。

在這個簡單的漢語句子中，前面一個分句表達了“長生不老”是人們的一種訴求，可以用＋代替，而第一個句子前后轉折，第二個句子前后順承，于是第一句中劃線處所填詞匯必定為負性詞匯，如不可能的、無法實現的、沒有希望的，第二句劃線詞匯為正性詞匯，如可以的、有希望的等。按照這個思路，我們不難對具體的猜詞題目進行判斷：

People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too。(2006.4)

37. The word “bummer” (Line 5, paragraph 5) most probably means something ________。

[A] religious [B] unpleasant [C] entertaining [D] commercial

根據題干中的提示”Line 5, paragraph 5”我們很容易地定位到本段末句，通過分析段落，不難發(fā)現本段共包括4句話，前三句之間并沒有出現表示邏輯關系的詞匯，因此沒有轉折現象發(fā)生，而最后兩句之間出現Give all this作為連接，很明顯四句話之間均為順承關系，通過閱讀文章我們不難發(fā)現前三句中出現的諸如misery, worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young, their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms等信息都是負性詞匯，因此bummer一詞必然表達了一種負面的含義，通過選項的分析，AD都為中性詞，只有B表達了負面含義，因此本題選擇B作為正確選項。

在不涉及到正負評價的題目中，通過邏輯關系把握語義同樣可以適用，例如：

In spite of “endless talk of difference,” American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is “the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference” characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into “a culture of consumption” launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered “vast s of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite,” these were stores “anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act。” The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization. (2006 1)

21.The word “homogenizing” (Line 2, Paragraph 1) most probably means ________。

[A] identifying [B] associating [C] assimilating [D] monopolizing

通過題干信息我們很簡單地將題目定位到本段第一句，在本句中通過瀏覽會發(fā)現表示邏輯關系的“in spite of”這一短語，于是我們知道，后半句中的homogenizing一詞必然與前半句中的 “endless talk of difference”相反，所以homogenizing一詞為difference的反義詞，選項C. assimilating(同化)符合題意，因此本題答案選擇C選項。

此外，本段中第一句與后面一句之間并未出現轉折詞，說明這兩句之間同樣是順承關系，而第二句中出現的uniformity和popular culture兩個信息點同樣提示我們，所考詞匯應當表達了與一致、相同有關的意思，按照這個思路我們同樣可以確定答案為C. assimilating。

在理解句子的題目中，邏輯關系也是我們解題的首選，如

The townsfolk don’t see it this way and local council does not contribute directly to the subsidy of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stratford cries poor traditionally. Nevertheless every hotel in town seems to be adding a new wing or cocktail lounge. Hilton is building its own hotel there, which you may be sure will be decorated with Hamlet Hamburger Bars, the Lear Lounge, the Banquo Banqueting Room, and so forth, and will be very expensive。

28. By saying “Stratford cries poor traditionally” (Line 2-3, Paragraph 4)， the author implies that ________。

[A] Stratford cannot afford the expansion projects [B] Stratford has long been in financial difficulties

[C] the town is not really short of money [D] the townsfolk used to be poorly paid

通過題干信息我們得知，Stratford這個地方一直在“哭窮”，通過前后銜接處的搜索，我們發(fā)現本句只有出現了nevertheless一詞，因此我們知道，Stratford其實并不“窮”，比較四個選項，A中的cannot afford, B中的financial difficulties以及D中的poorly paid都說明Stratford確實“窮”，只有[C] the town is not really short of money說明這里其實并不窮，因此本題選擇C選項。

三、此類解題思路的推廣

本方法遵循了考研閱讀理解中“化簡”的原則，盡可能地提煉主要信息，在考研閱讀理解其它題型以及完形填空的題目中，邏輯關系和正負評價的思路依然可以適用，例如：

55. From the text we can see that the writer seems ________。(2002.3)

[A] optimistic [B] sensitive [C] gloomy [D] scared

根據題干我們可以判定這是一道態(tài)度題，這就需要我們把握文章的主線并且提煉出作者的態(tài)度，各段首句分別為；

第一段：Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return?

第二段：The oil price was given another push up this week when Iraq suspended oil exports。

第三段：Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s。

第四段：Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price。

第五段：One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand。

在這幾個首句中，第一句的bad old days of economic decline表明了一個負性事件的發(fā)生，并且首句設問(問題答案型文章)，我們需要格外把握對問題的回答，第二句中another一詞說明本段是對第一段的延伸，第三段首句出現Yet一詞，并且之后的less severe一詞表明本段是正性態(tài)度，第四段中的also以及l(fā)ess dependent on oil和less sensitive to swings in the oil price說明本段與之前一段的順承關系，末段首句的One more reason表明了最終作者的態(tài)度，因此通過邏輯關系和正負評價的思路我們很容易發(fā)現，前兩段給出負性事件，后三段分別說明不需要過于擔心的原因，題干橫線上可以標明＋，選項中CD都為－所以首先排除，比較A樂觀的B敏感的，很容易得出作者的態(tài)度為A optimistic。

總之，邏輯關系是閱讀理猜詞題中非常重要的解題方法，考生在掌握了此類方法之后，可以在各類題型中融會貫通，真正做到閱讀理解解題質的飛躍。