高考英语复习：英语扩充词汇量 巧用构词法

南开中学 段胜利
　　3.合成构词法：由两个或以上单词合成在一起组成的新单词，有些保留原来两个单词的意思，可以说是原来两个单词语义的简单叠加。

　　例如下面的合成词，皆可“旧词生新”

　　breakdown, downtown, headmaster, headmistress, hometown, household, keyword, midnight, motorbike, network, seaside, sideways, software, teenager, timetable, website, backstage, headline, leaflet, lifestyle, masterpiece, nearby, overweight, rooftop, shoplifting, spaceship, toothache, watercolor。

　　但也有些则不能望文生义，因为原来两个单词语义与新单词语义有天壤之别。

　　例如下面的一些词，都是要格外留心，重新记忆的：

　　eggplant(茄子), hamburger( 汉堡包), pineapple(菠萝), French windows(落地长窗), sweetmeats(糖果), sweetbreads(牛羊杂碎), guinea pig(土豚鼠), overlook(忽视), oversee(监督)等。

　　二、三种构词法的应用

　　1.掌握构词法，为阅读扫清词汇障碍

　　很多同学在阅读中有一个不好的习惯，就是边读边查“生词”。而这里所谓的“生词”其实并不“生”。不要认为第一次看到的不认识的词就是生词，看看单词的构成，很多词用构词法完全可猜。例如，阅读下面一段话：

　　No one can fail to stand in awed admiration of the great discoveries of history—Newton' s laws of motion; Kepler' s principles of planetary movement, Einstein' s general theory of relativity. Equally awe-inspiring are artistic creations in painting, theatre, music and literature, which have also been brought about by discovery through personal efforts. What do these extraordinary achievements of well-known scientists and artists have to do with problem solving?

　　上面这段文字中的admiration，motion，planetary，artistic，creations等词语，让我们联想到admire(羡慕，钦佩)，move(动)，planet(行星)，art(艺术)和create(创造)等词语；而awe-inspiring，well-known等合成词，直接从原词词义就可获得。