备考英语四级的同学不难发现，阅读是英语四级考试中非常重要的一部分，阅读理解题想要拿到比较理想的成绩，就要加强练习，不断提高自身的阅读能力。
语义题：
题型科普：四级阅读必考题型。08年5道语义题。09年2道语义题。10年4道语义题。11年1道语义题。平均来讲每次四级考试中会有1-2道语义题。
题型形式：语义题一般就原文中一个有特殊含义的单词，词组或句子进行提问，题目形式非常有特点。
如：By “a one-way street” (Line 1, Para. 1), the author means ________.
[A] university researchers know little about the commercial world
[B] there is little exchange between industry and academia
[C] few industrial scientists would quit to work in a university
[D] few university professors are willing to do industrial research
解题思路：
整体来讲，语义题属于四级阅读中偏难的题目。因为既然问到一个单词词组或句子的意思，那正确答案就必然不能从原文本身来找寻。个别语义题需要进行语义理解甚至一步简单推断。但还是有一些语义题是能够有标准化的做题思路的，即：
结合上下句，重点关注并列转折和解释说明部分。
这个思路包含三方面内容，分别展开讲解。
1.结合上下句。
语义题所提问的单词词组或句子一般同学都不认识，即使认识，正确答案也未必是同学认识的含义。这种题的目的就是希望同学能结合上下句，来理解不认识的单词词组或句子。很多情况下，正确答案直接对应语义考查词句的上下句。
如2011年12月的语义题：
63. What does the author mean by saying "money is known ... to bring a relationship to its knees"(Line 1, Para. 2)?
A) Money is considered to be the root of all evils.
B) Some people sacrifice their dignity for money.
C) Few people can resist the temptation of money.
D) Disputes over money may ruin a relationship.
Since money is known to be one of the things most likely to bring a relationship to its knees, we should be grateful. For many families the recession means more than not booking a holiday A YouGov poll of 2, 000 people found 22% said they were arguing more with their partners because of concerns about money.
解析：同学做这道题完全不需要理解"money is known ... to bring a relationship to its knees"这句话本身。就从上下句来看。同学记住，所谓上下句，并不是上下句都一定要看，而是去看上下和该句有关系的句子。从文章结构上看，很明显，语义考点在该段第一句，后面的句子肯定要支撑前面的信息。所以重点看后面信息即可。For many families the recession means more than not booking a holiday A YouGov poll of 2, 000 people found 22% said they were arguing more with their partners because of concerns about money.
简单阅读后文，易得正确答案D选项，Disputes over money may ruin a relationship.答案中Disputes over money对应原文concerns about money，答案中ruin a relationship对应22% said they were arguing more with their partners.
2.重点关注并列转折关系。
这是也是做语义猜词的一大利器。因为由并列转折连接的两部分会存在语义含义和成分的对应。所以如果有一个单词不认识，就可以去看其并列或转折部分的信息中找对应信息。试举一例：
Foreign students earn 30% of doctoral degree awarded in the United States and 38% of those in the United Kingdom.
该句中and后面的those应该如何理解。同学从并列关系连接的两部分中易得出，百分比对应百分比，in the United States对应in the United Kingdom，所以those指的就是doctoral degree.
3.解释说明部分
其实考官在出一些语义题的时候也是动了恻隐之心的。会在晦涩难懂信息的附近存在一个解释说明部分。解释说明部分的标志是逗号，冒号，破折号，双引号。
举例08年12月的真题：
原文：Then there’s the ostrich approach. “Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know,” says Dr. Ross Cartmill.
What does Dr. Ross Carmill mean by “the ostrich approach”?
A.A casual attitude towards one’s health conditions.
B.A new therapy for certain psychological problem.
C.Refusal to get medical treatment for fear of the pain involved.
D.unwillingness to find out about one’s disease because of fear
解析：原文中的the ostrich approach同学不理解完全不影响解题。后面的双引号是非常明显的解释说明，直接通过该句比较选项即可。正确答案D, unwillingness to find out about one’s disease because of fear。选项中的unwillingness to find out对应原文中的would rather not know，选项中的fear对应文章中的scared。
另外，语义题排除选项还有两个技巧。
1.排除字面解释。
2.排除跨度选项。
分别解释：
排除字面解释。
语义题考的就是同学能不能结合文章其他信息来理解不认识的词句，所以正确答案绝对不能是语义考查词句的字面解释。
以2010年6月的语义题为例：
64. What does the author mean by "… you're just underlining his faults" (Line 4, Para. 3)?
A) You are not taking his mistakes seriously enough.
B) You are pointing out the errors he has committed.
C) You are emphasizing the fact that he is not intelligent.
D) You are trying to make him feel better about his faults.
原文：research showing that when people get feedback which they believe is overly positive, they actually feel worse, not better. If you tell your dim friend that he has the potential of an Einstein, you're just underlining his faults.
解析：这道题即使同学读不懂原文，也应知道，这题you're just underlining his faults，肯定和字面解释，“错误”无关。所以A选项的mistake，B选项的error和D选项的fault都揭示了此三个选项出局的命运。正确答案C，绝对不是字面本身的意思，要有一个引申含义。
排除跨度选项。
以2006年12月题目为例：
59.The “fancier brands” (Line 3 Para. 5) refers to ________.
A) tap water from the Thames River
B) famous wines not sold in ordinary stores
C) PepsiCo’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani
D) expensive bottled water with impressive names
(D)
该题涉及原文信息：
But is plain tap water all that bad? Not at all. In fact, New York’s municipal water for more than a century was called the champagne of tap water and until recently considered among the best in the world in terms of both taste and purity. Similarly, a magazine in England found that tap water from the Thames River tasted better than several leading brands of bottled water that were 400 times more expensive.
Nevertheless, soft-drink companies view bottled water as the next battle-ground for market share—this despite the fact that over 25 percent of bottled water comes from tap water: PepsiCo’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani are both purified tap water rather than spring water.
As diners thirst for leading brands, bottlers and restaurateurs salivate (垂涎) over the profits. A restaurant’s typical mark-up on wine is 100 to 150 percent, whereas on bottled water it’s often 300 to 500 percent. But since water is much cheaper than wine, and many of the fancier brands aren’t available in stores, most diners don’t notice or care.
此题A,C两个选项可以排除。因为A选项中的thames river和C选项的PepsiCo’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani分别是上上段和上段中的例子内容，很难和本题考点词产生任何逻辑和语义关系。所以这种的跨段选项，排除。
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