词汇(Vocabulary)是三级阅读理解测试中非常重要的一项。词汇类其实也是就细节进行提问，所不同的是这是唯一关于词或词组的练习项目，词汇题往往要求对文章中的某个单词、短语甚至句子等找出近义词或最合适的解释。解答这类题需要学生拥有较大的词汇量。可是，单词记忆似乎已成为学生普遍反映最头痛的难题。阅读理解中词汇类问题的常见提问方式有下列几种：
(1)According to the author，the word“…”means_______.
(2)Which of the following is nearest in meaning to“…”?
(3)The term“……”in paragraph…can be best replaced by…
(4)What's the meaning of“…”in line…of paragraph…
(5)As used in the line…，the word“…”refers to_______.
一般来说，在文章的阅读中解决释义的最邓办法是猜测词义。猜测词义也需要一定的技巧，可以通过：1)上下文间意义的联系;2)同义关系;反义关系;3)词的定义;4)对词的解释和举例;5)构词法知识猜测词义。
1、利用上下文词语意义的互相联系猜测词义
Example：
The fishermen make their canoes from tree trunks.They go from island to island in these light marrow boats and collect turtles' eggs.
我们从上下文中可以得出以下信息：“canoes”是一种渔夫用树木做的、来回于岛屿之间的、轻狭长的、类似于小船之类的东西。尽管我们可能还不能肯定它的确切解释，但这一生词已经不会影响我们的阅读和理解了。
Example：
Jogging has become very popular in some countries，It is believed to be a good exercise for old people.
“Jogging”的意思通过“a good exercise for old people ”可以推断出是一种适合老年人的剧烈的运动方式。
2、利用文章中词与词的同义和反义关系猜测词义
Example：
If you happened to be sitting in the woods outside the city，you might have witnessed a strange sight.You would have seen a very proud looking man riding along horseback，saying something.
在文章中可以很容易地判断出“witnesss”的同义关系词是“seen”，因此“witness”就是看见的意思。
Example：
In the northern regions the winters are generally cold and humid，and the summers hot and dry.
显然，冬天和夏天的气候是截然相反的，它们的修饰词的意思也应该截然相反。“cold”与“hot”对应，“humid”与“dry”对应。因此，“humid”是“潮湿”的意思。
3、利用文章中对词的定义猜测词义
Example：
Such experiences are not unusual for the amateur conchologists，people who collect shells.
Conchologists的意思可以根据该词后面的同位解释“people who collect shells”理解为收集贝壳的人或贝壳收藏家。
Example：
Jack is now a florist，who keeps a shop for selling flowers in our district.
“florist”的意思就是其后定语从句“who keeps a shop for selling flowers”所描述的拥有一家专门卖花的商店的人，即“花店主”。
4、利用文章中对词的举例及解释猜测词义
Example：
Today young couples who are just starting their households of ten spend lots of their money on appliances，for instance，washing machines，refrigerators and color TVs.
通过所举的例子(washing machines，refrigerators and color TVs)
可以看出，“appliances”应是这些名词的总称，即“家用电器”。
Example：
Finally the enemy surrendered.They threw down their weapons and walked out of the home with their hands over their heads.
通过后一句对“surrendered”的解释：扔掉武器(throw down their weapons)，举起双手(with their hands over heads)可知其意是“投降”。
5、利用构词法知识(前缀和后缀)猜测词义
Example：
They overestimate the interviewee's ability and asked him many difficult questions.
“estimate”是“估计”的意思，“over-”是前缀，意为“过分，过度，超过”等，因此“overestimate”就是“高估”的意思。
Example：
We were told that ours was the most spacious room in the hotel .That was why we had to pay so much for it.
“spacious”是由“space”(名词，空间)+“ious”(形容词后缀变化而来的，因此，可猜测其词义为“宽敞”。)
各种各样的前、后缀可以构成名词、形容词、动词、副词等，这些词缀需要平时不断地积累和记忆。掌握构词法知识是扩大词汇量和猜测生词词义的最佳办法。
