… (2008·广东卷)

41. The underlined word “gulf” in Para.3 most probably means _________。

A. interest B. distance C. difference D. separation

【解析】 本文讲述“代沟”的发展、变化。以40岁左右为分界线，之前和之后与子女间的关系在改变，虽然代沟越来越窄，但仍没有消失，家庭研究专家提醒新的平等关系也会导致子女对父母的不尊重。41. D 由上文中提到的 “…he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager。”以及“There was just a complete gap in taste。”可知gulf应表示两代人之间关系的“代沟”。separation指“分开，分离”。猜测词义时更多用到的方法是：结合上下文的意义、线索、内在逻辑关系。一般情况下，上下文所提示的意义与所考词汇通常是同义、反义或针对性解释的关系，可直接确定词义。根据上下文意义很难作出判断的，就考虑用句法和内在逻辑方法去判断，符合句法和内在逻辑的可能为正确答案，反之则排除。

【典例2】

Dear Hamilton,

We are fortunate that in such a large, high-pressure office we all get along so well. You are one of the people who keep the social temperature at such a comfortable setting. I don’t know anyone in the office who is better liked than you。

You can perhaps help with this. The collection of contributions towards gifts for employees’ personal-life events is becoming a little troubling. Certainly, the group sending of a gift is reasonable now and then. In the past month, however, there have been collections for two baby shower gifts, one wedding shower gift, two wedding gifts, one funeral(葬礼)remembrance, four birthday gifts, and three graduation gifts。

It’s not only the collected-from who are growing uncomfortable (and poor)， but the collected-for feel uneasy receiving gifts from people who don’t know them outside the office, who wouldn’t even recognize their graduating children, their marrying daughters and sons, or their dead relatives。

This is basically a kind gesture (and one that people think well of you for)， but the practice seems to have become too wide-ranging and feels improper in today’s office setting。

Thank you for understanding. (2008·北京卷)

63. The underlined word “contributions” probably means ________。

A. money B. suggestions C. reports D. understanding

【解析】 这是一篇书信，作者提出办公室里存在一种不好的现象：无论有什么事，办公室里所有人都凑份子钱。作者对这种做法提出质疑，说这种风气不好，并希望收信人能够关注此事。63. A 第二段说凑份子是为了买礼物庆祝职员个人生活中的大事，比如婚礼，葬礼等。结合选项判断，画线部分的contributions指money，故选A。做题时，首先要仔细看单词来确定词性，是名词、动词、形容词还是副词，(如上面的高考题中的contributions，根据-tion我们可以推知该词应该是名词);然后好好研究含有生词的从句或句子与其他的句子或段落之间的关系，或跟相邻单词或句子的关系，它们之间可能出现因果、比较、时间、例证等关系，有时候标点符号也可以提供线索。最后还要根据上下文检测猜测结果的正确性。

(四)细节理解题

细节理解题在高考阅读理解题中占有相当大的比例。从2007·全国各地的试题来看，细节理解题占全部阅读理解题的50%还多。细节理解题一般是根据短文提供的信息和事实提问的。细节题可分为两种类型：一种是答案几乎可以直接出短文中获得，正确答案和原文中含相关信息的句子也几乎相同;另一种细节题要复杂一些，有时在原文中找不到同正确选项相近的词，正确答案可能是原文某一事实的结果、原因、前提等。细节理解题的特点是：要选择的答案一定要在短文中找到相关的词、短语、句子或段落。选择的依据必须是短文本身提供的信息，而绝不是根据自己的主观假设或推测或是自己的观点来决定。在阅读过程中对一些涉及到who, what, when, where, how, why等常考的细节内容做适当标记，以便于解题时迅速、准确的查找。

常见的命题方式：

According to the author, who/what/when/ where/which/why/how…?

Which of the following statements is true/not true?

The statement made by the author is based on the evidence/example/fact that_____

Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned in the text?

The author states all of the following EXCEPT_________

当问题中含有not,except,but等表示否定、排除等意义的词时，需要进行逆向思维。因此，一定要保持思维清晰、认真审题，不要武断。

【典例1】 Despite the fact that it has never been seen almost everyone is familiar with the legendary unicorn(独角兽). Descriptions of unicorns have been found dating from ancient times. The great philosopher Aristotle theorized that there were two types of unicorn--- the so-called Indian Ass and the Oryx, a kind of antelope. Unicorns are often used in the logo of a noble family, town council or university as their special sign. Even Scotland is represented by a unicorn。

According to the legend, anyone attempting to catch a unicorn had to be extremely cautious as it has a reputation for being very fierce. A clever trick suggested by unicorn-trappers, in order to catch this magnificent beast without being hurt by its horn, was for the hunter to stand in front of a tree and then to move quickly behind it as the unicorn charged. Hopefully, the creature could then be captured when its horn was stuck in the tree。

… (2008·江西卷)

56. Which of the following is TRUE of the unicorn?

A. It was not historically recorded

B. Its horn was first used in France

C. It was similar to the Indian Ass and the Oryx

D. It could be the symbol of a university

57. To catch a unicorn, the unicorn-trappers had to try all of the following EXCEPT ____。

A. tempting the unicorn to attack

B. making use of the tree as a protection

C. hiding quickly behind the unicorn

D. having the unicorn horn stuck in the tree

【解析】 本文为一篇说明文，主要介绍了传说中的独角兽，如何捕捉，以及独角兽角的用途等。56. D 细节理解题。A项错误是因为与第一段第二句不吻合;B项错误是因为与第三段中的事实不符，文中只提到了the French court用了unicornhorn，时间是the French Revolution in 1789，并未说这是第一次使用;C项错在与第一段不符，文中只提到了Aristotle的理论阐述，并没有说人们对the Indian Ass和the Oryx熟悉;D项与第一段倒数第二句内容吻合。对细节考查通常涉及一些长难句，对此，不要惊慌，首先判断是简单句还是复合句，若是简单句，先找句子的主、谓、宾，理解其主要意义，再加附属成分的意义。若是复合句，先判断从句，再分析各自的意义，最后联合整句意义。对于细节理解题要认真，周全考虑方能选取正确答案。这种题的正确选项往往是原文意义的不同表现形式。干扰项常是以下几种情况：选项本身正确，但不符合题干要求;选项本身错误或原文根本没有提到;选项中含有原文信息，但其中个别词描述的不准确，这种选项的干扰性最强，考生在答题时要十分注意。

57. C 细节理解题。A项正确是因为与第二段中提到的the hunter的诱捕行为吻合，即stand in front of a tree来引诱unicorn的攻击，其目的就是catch a unicorn;B项正确是因为 the hunter 引诱unicorn来攻击而后move quickly behind it(the tree)，其目的就是利用the tree作为掩护，而不是躲到unicorn的后面，所以C项错误;D项正确是因为与第二段最后一句吻合。问题中有时含有NOT，EXCEPT，BUT等表示否定、排除等意义的词语，需要进行逆向思维。因此，一定要保持思维清晰，认真审题，不宜匆忙武断。