One night Mrs Green succeeded in setting the house on fire. Mr Green managed to lead the servants to safety and then went back into the mansion to rescue his wife.第二句中的mansion是生詞,從前后兩句看,發現mansion即第一句中的house。
用途線索
They like their house as it has a few elms in the back yard that will give them shade and keep the house cooler.
通過elms的作用,具有提供蔭涼使屋里涼快些,可猜出elms是種樹。
環境線索
She is pleased if she lives near the ocean because she loves to eat flounder.
從the ocean可得知flounder是種水產。
因果線索
I can’t play football now because I can’t find my white sneakers.
已知sneakers和玩足球有關,從white和sneakers的復數形式,可猜出sneakers是球鞋的意思。
對比線索
I usually prompt for all my classes, but yesterday I arrived in the middle of my first class.
But表示意思上的轉折,由此可看出前后句意思相反。后半句說我昨天遲到了,第一節課上了一半時我才來,由此可見我平時應該是“準時”的。
說明線索
Helen is very intelligent. She always knows the answers to all the teachers’ questions.
第二句是對第一句的補充說明。一個能回答老師所有問題的女孩子,Helen一定是很 “聰明”的。
順序線索
After Mr Green put the letters in the envelope, he sealed it and put a stamp on it.
在發信時,先把心裝入信封,然后封上口,再貼上郵票,是正常合理的動作順序,可見seal是封口的意思。
定義或解釋線索
Pruning is important because it encourages the growth of tender shoots(嫩芽), or young leaves of trees.
通過“encourages the growth of tender shoots(嫩芽), or young leaves of trees—鼓勵樹木嫩葉或新芽的生長”的解釋,可推斷pruning跟樹木的修建有關。
In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U.S. today.
根據后面的同位語“an endangered wild cat—一種瀕危野生貓”的解釋,可知ocelot是一種貓科動物。