详情

　　虽然GRE单词的考察点大量集中在填空题上，但是阅读部分的很多题目也会考查学生对词汇的理解，这里的词汇不仅仅是我们理解上的难词，而且还会涉及“熟词僻义”和语义精准度。
　　例如:
　　1、雅思托福的考生在记忆“qualify”这个词时，基本上只记得“证明…合格”这个意思，但是在GRE阅读中，“qualify”常指“限定”这一含义。再
　　2、“detachment”原意是“分离、拆分”，但是在GRE阅读中，很多时候“detachment”意为“客观、超然、冷静”。
　　那么下面，我们结合两篇文章，来具体剖析一下阅读中“熟词僻义”和“语义精准度”这两种词汇考点。
　　“熟词僻义”——“qualify”
　　An influential early view held that ecosystems contain niches for a limited number of species and that competition for resources among species—whether native or nonnative invading ones—determines ecosystems’ species composition. However, factors other than competition often help explain invading species’ success. For example, the American grey squirrel, often cited as a classic example of competitively superior invading species, was introduced in England in 1876 and now thrives, while the native red squirrel population has declined. Although scientists have found gray squirrels to be more efficient foragers than red ones, they also note that even before the gray squirrel’s arrival, Britain’s red squirrel populations had a periodic tendency to die out, only to be subsequently reintroduced. Furthermore, many gray squirrels are silent carriers of a disease fatal to red squirrels.
　　▲ It can be inferred that the author of the passage mentions the efficiency with which gray squirrels forage primarily in order to?
　　A. identify a factor that explains a certain phenomenon?
　　B. call attention to an inconsistency in a particular theory
　　C. suggest that competition cannot be the factor responsible for a particular outcome?
　　D. acknowledge a fact that appears to support a view that the author intends to qualify?
　　E. cite evidence that is not consistent with an early influential view about species competition
　　这里的细节目的题是我们上文读到的让步句考点，跟我们上文的剖析，让步句的目的其实是支持了一、句话的说法，即竞争会影响物种的繁殖。
　　D选项中的“qualify”指的是“限定”，而非“证明…合格”这一意思。该句意思是承认一个事实，这个事实支持了作者想要削弱的观点。
　　因此，这道题应该选D。
　　语义精准度——
　　“porous frontiers” & “isolated”
　　Ecologists study how millions of species share the world, rather than take on the whole planet at once; they generally focus on a single ecosystem, be it a prairie, a tidal flat, or a sand dune. Even within those limits, they are frustrated by porous frontiers. As a result, ecologists have done some of their most important work on islands, nature’s own isolated laboratories, which may be colonized only a few times over the course of millions of years. On them, ecologists have figured out how the size of a given habitat determine how many species it can support. They have then applied that knowledge to the mainland, showing how fragmented ecosystems become like archipelagoes, where extinctions can strike.
　　其实整体来说，这篇文章难度不大，主旨内容大家都很容易理解，但是对于部分词汇的意思，需要同学们结合文章上下文以及该词的引申义得出。
　　像这类涉及“语义精准度”的题目是很多GRE考生不太擅长的，因为考试的时候学生没有过多思考的时间。
　　▲ It can be inferred that the term “porous frontiers” is used to refer to
　　A. a tendency for the area of an ecosystem to shrink?
　　B. human-caused processes that alter the character of an ecosystem
　　C. movement of species into an ecosystem from outside
　　D. variation in what the term “ecosystem” signifies
　　E. lack of protection for endangered habitats
　　根据上文的剖析我们可以知道，在这里“porous frontiers”指的是外来物种的入侵，因此答案选C。
　　▲ In the context in which it appears, “isolated” most nearly means
　　A. completely uncontaminated?
　　B. somewhat unusual?
　　C. extremely rare
　　D. relatively inaccessible
　　E. strictly confined
　　很多同学看到这一题的时候都觉得是送分项，但是一旦看到选项会发现D和E这两个选项看似都对。
　　“isolated”意为“孤立的，偏远的”，其强调的意思是和外界的联系较少（即“without much contact with other people or other countries”），因此E中的“严格的”并不符合词义，该题应该选D，意为“相对闭塞的”。
　　这两篇真题所涉及的考点词其实都是平时大家背过的单词，但是GRE不是语言类考试，而是一种能力型考试，就像公务员考试中也会考到词汇选择题一样，GRE中的词汇考点是不能脱离文章的，也就是需要大家结合语境。
　　但与此同时，GRE考生们在背诵生词的同时，也需要注意一些常见词汇的“引申含义”和“熟词僻义”，增加自己的单词储备量，这样在考试的时候才可以快速读出考点词的准确含义。