Chương Bạn làm gì khi bạn đi qua những từ không quen thuộc nhưng bạn không có một từ điển? Chương này sẽ cho bạn thấy làm thế nào để sử dụng ngữ cảnh để tìm ra những gì từ không quen thuộc có nghĩa là. | CHAPTER What do you do when you come across unfamiliar words but you don t have a dictionary This chapter will show you how to use context to figure out what unfamiliar words mean. 4 Determining Meaning from Context Imagine you ve applied for a job that requires a written test. You answer all the math questions with no problem but the reading comprehension section gives you trouble. In the first passage alone there are several words you don t know. You re not allowed to use a dictionary. What should you do a. Pretend you re sick leave the room and go find a dictionary somewhere. b. Panic and leave everything blank. c. Take random guesses and hope you get them right. d. Use the context of the sentence to figure out what the words mean. This is trial version 41 42 READ BETTER REMEMBER MORE What s Context Context refers to the words and ideas that surround a particular word or phrase to help express its meaning. While you might be tempted to do a b or c the smartest choice is clearly d. That s because unless the exam is specifically testing your vocabulary you should be able to use the context of the sentences to help you determine the meaning of the word. That is the words and sentences surrounding the unfamiliar word should give you enough clues to determine the meaning of the word. You simply need to learn how to recognize those clues. EXAMINING CONTEXT Imagine you receive the following memo at work but you don t have a dictionary handy. If you find any unfamiliar words in this memo circle them but don t look them up yet. Just read the memo carefully and actively. TO Department Managers FROM Herb Herbert Office Manager DATE December 5 2000 RE Heater Distribution As I m sure you ve noticed the heating system has once again been behaving the office temperature went up and down between 55 and 80 degrees. The problem was fixed last night but as you know this system has a history of recidivism. Chances are we ll have trouble again