文档介绍：Lesson 15
Aids to Vocabulary Development
Unit Five
Developing Your Word Power
The meaning of an unknown word can be determined
using context clues—information contained in the
surrounding text.
Many times a writer directly or indirectly defines a
word immediately following its use. Sometimes a
writer will include a formal definition of the type you
might find in a dictionary. In these cases the meaning
of the word will be stated directly. At other times a
writer may informally restate the idea or offer a
synonym, a word that means the same thing.
Definition Clues
Horology is the science of measuring time. (direct
definition)
2. There was a consensus, or agreement, among the
faculty to require one term paper for each course.
(indirect definition)
A second way to determine the meaning of an
unknown word is to look for examples that explain or
clarify it. Suppose you do not know the meaning of the
word “trauma,” and you find it used in the following
sentence:
Example Clues
Diane experienced many traumas during early
childhood, including injury in an auto accident, the
death of her grandmother, and the divorce of her
parents.
This sentence gives three examples of traumas, and
from the examples given you could conclude that
“trauma” means shocking or psychologically damaging
experience.
The examples are signaled by certain words or phrases:
“such as”, “including”, “for example”, “for instance”,
and “to illustrate”.
It is sometimes possible to determine the meaning of
an unknown word from a word or phrase in the context
that has an opposite meaning.
Contrast Clues
During the concert the audience was quiet, but
afterward the crowd became boisterous.
Although you may not know the meaning of
“boisterous,” you know that the audience was quiet
during the concert and that afterward it acted
differently. The word “but” suggests this. You know,
then, that the crowd became the opposite of quiet
(loud and noisy).
Many times you can de