很多雅思考生都认为阅读是雅思中最不需要词汇的一门单项,依靠技巧就万事大吉。这种想法是完全错误的。事实上,不管是雅思、托福抑或是高考,阅读准确性首先需基于对题目的正确理解。雅思阅读考试的考核目的之一正是为了检验考生是否具有一定的词汇量,以顺利完成国外学业和生活。所以,了解阅读中词汇考查重点是尤为关键的。俗话说,知己知彼,方可百战百胜。总结下来,雅思阅读考试对词汇的检验可分为三部分,将在此文中做一详述。
一、对词义的理解
即是否理解该单词的正确含义。
比如：The growing importance of themiddle classes leds to an increased demandfor dictionaries.
Johnson set up an academy to helpwith thewriting of hisDictionary.
这两道题为判断题,同时都是考察对关键词的正确理解程度。首先academy 解释为"学术团队",middle class为"中产阶级".如果认识这两个词,那么解这道题就会变得简单许多,可以直接将该两个词作为定位词,回原文快速定位。
又如：The expected statistical outcome.
这道题是段与句搭配题,一直是雅思阅读难读系数最高的题型之一。但若能正确分析statistical的含义,问题自然能迎刃而解。这里的statistical解释为"数据",通过字义应该回原文找数字最集中的一个段落。
再如：What is thewriter‘smain pointabout lobby groups in paragraph 6
A.Some aremore active than others.
B.Some are better organised than others.
C.Some receive more criticism thanothers.
D.Some supportmore important issuesthan others.
根据题目指示,回第6段定位That would matter less if people applied the same degree of scepticism to environmental lobbying as they do to lobby groups in other fields.这题的解题关键就是对原文这句话中scepticism的理解。其词义为"怀疑",对应的是C选项中的criticism,因此答案应为C.
二、感情色彩
即判断单词的正面/负面色彩。
如：Australians have been turning to al-ternative therapies in increasing numbersover the past 20 years.
该题为判断题,在原文中可以找到相对应的句子为 Disenchantment with orthodox medicine has seen the popularity of alternative therapies in Australia climb steadily during the past 20 years.大多数考生普遍不认识disenchantment,但通过该词前缀dis-（否定前缀）,可以推断出其感情色彩应为负面；相对应的是popularity为正面感情色彩,因此可以推断出原文该句理解为"在过去20年澳大利亚‘alternative therapies‘越来越受欢迎,而‘orthodox medicine‘越来越受冷落",所以该题为True.并且,从中可以推测出 alternative therapies与 orthodox medicine为一对相反词,alternative为"选择性",借助整句句义,可以推测出orthodox为"传统性",这对之后其他题型的解题帮助甚大。
又如：In the past,Australians had a high-er opinion of doctors than they do today.
该题同样为判断题,原文相对应句子为
The high standing of professionals, including doctors, has been eroded as a consequence. 这句中consequence意为"不好的结果",是负面单词,因此推断出erode也为负面单词,那么这句句义就可以理解为医生的地位现在结果不好。所以,答案为True.
三、同义替换
即是否同时掌握具备相同含义的多个近义词。
如 :It has been suggested that children hold mistaken views about the ‘pure‘ science that they study at school.
该题为判断题,回原文定位Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure‘, curriculum science.,这句话中curriculum（课程总称）对应的即为题目中的"at school",因此为True.
又如：Which species swims upside down while eating
该题为简答题,原文中…freshwater dolphins,which often swim on their side or upside down while feeding… 该句中feeding即为题目中的eating,所以可以完全肯定答案为freshwater dolphins.
从雅思阅读中词汇的考点分析中可以发现,单词在阅读中的重要性不容忽视。因此,建议大家一定要高度重视词汇量的积累,在强调题量的同时,可以借助分析题目和文章,记录一定的同义词替换；并且在背诵单词时,做一个有心人,了解学习单词的相关构词法（词根、词缀）。只要努力坚持一段时间,学生就会发现自己的词汇量不但上去了,背单词也变得简单了,当然阅读的速度和准确率也相应地得到了提高。
