即通过类属来推测词义。如：■ Bananas,oranges, pineapples, coconuts and some other kinds of fruit grow in warm areas. 说明：从句意我们知道pineapples 和coconuts 与bananas, oranges是同类事物，同属水果(准确地说是“菠萝”和“椰子”)。
2推理法
即根据文章的前后语境推出生词的词义。如：■That museum is so immense that it will be impossible to see all the exhibits in one day. 说明：既然一天之内看不完所有的展品，那么immense 的意思应该是“很大”了。
■Everyone agreed that the woman in the photo was gorgeous. It was easy to see why she had won the beauty contest.说明：既然“她在选美比赛中获胜”，说明她“很美丽”(gorgeous)。
3列举法
即通过对文章所列举的事物来猜测生词的词义。如：■Children like such creatures as dogs and monkeys. 说明：像 dogs 和 monkeys 之类的“creatures”，显然creatures的意思应是“动物”。
■In your spare time, you may look through any of these periodicals: Time Magazine, News Week, or The New Worker.说明：periodical是生词，但根据其后所列举的例子，我们可以推测出它的意思可能是“期刊”或“杂志”。
4构词法
即根据前缀、后缀、复合、派生等构词知识判断生词的词义。如：■Overwork may cause diseases. 说明：前缀 over- 的意思是“过分的，过量的”，故 overwork的意思应为“工作过度”。
■There was a dissatisfied look in the manager’s eyes.说明：satisfied的意思是“满意的”，前缀 dis- 的意思是“不”，故dissatisfied 的意思应该是“不满意的”。
5对比法
即根据文章前后的对比关系确定生词的词义。如：■He had been getting better, but during the night his condition deteriorated .说明：句中的 but 表明deteriorate 应该与get better 的意思相反，即“恶化”。
■In many countries there are two financial extremes, from penury to great wealth.说明：上文说两个经济上的极端，那么下文中penury 应与great wealth 相对，即表示“贫困”。
■Mrs.Smith is loquacious while her husband is the silent type.说明：while 表对比，意为“而”，所以loquacious 应是silent 的反义，即“多嘴的”。
■If you agree, draw a circle; and a cross if you dissent.说明：既然画圈表示同意，那么画叉便是“不同意”(dissent)。
6同位法
同位语是对所修饰词语的进一步说明和解释，若对所修饰的词语不熟悉，可通过其后同位语的“说明或解释”来确定其词义。如：■His father is an expert in phonetics, the study of the sounds of language. 说明：同位语 the study of the sounds of language 表示 phonetics 的意思应该是“语音学”。
■Jean was born with spina bifida, a birth illness that damages the spine(脊骨).说明：同位语 a birth illness that damages the spine 表明了spina bifida 是一种病，一种对脊骨有损害的病。
7释义法
即根据文章中所提供的释义关系来确定生词的词义。如：■They described him as a loon, or a mad man. 说明：句中的or 是对loon的解释，即loon与a mad man同义，即表示“疯子”。
■It will be very hard but also very brittle, that is, it will break easily.说明：句中的 that is 表明 it will break easily 是对brittle 的解释，从而猜测出其意为“脆”。
■The herdsman, who looks after sheep, earns about 500 yuan a year.说明：定语从句 who looks after sheep 表明herdsman 的词义为“牧人”。
■There are three kinds of snow. One kind is a fluffy snow that is somewhat dry andfeathery?说明：定语从句 that is somewhat dry and feathery(有点儿干、像羽毛似的)表明 fluffy snow 的意思可能是“鹅毛大雪”。
