In the first paragraph, 'the distance was formidable'. In this sentence, formidable means
答案: B
答案：B
读这个词所在的句子。造桥的提议有过"many times"却一直没建成，所以距离一定是很大的障碍，正符合"so great it was hard to overcome"，答案是B。文中没有说距离无法测量，所以C不合适。
维州精英中学
维州精英中学考试阅读词义题
看选项之前，先让孩子根据句子猜出这个词的意思。
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简短回答
词义题问的是一个词在句子里是什么意思，不一定是词典里的第一个意思。现在读七年级的孩子会在八年级遇到这类题，考试预计在2027年6月。
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独立网站，与维州教育部或ACER无隶属关系。
词义题是什么样的？
ACER表示，阅读部分考查在文章中查找信息，并整合、解读、反思和评价其中的观点。词义题属于“解读”：正确的意思取决于句子，而不是词典里排在第一的意思。
下面的题是我们原创的，共用一篇短文Two Halves of an Arch，讲悉尼海港大桥是怎样建成的。题目为英文，解析为中文。每道题都直接给出答案和解析，请和孩子一起读；把每个错误选项代回句子里读出来，意思不对，句子就会读着别扭。
Two Halves of an Arch
Two Halves of an Arch
For most of the 1920s, Sydney residents who wanted to cross the harbour between the city and the North Shore had to take a ferry or make a long journey around by road. A bridge had been proposed many times, but the distance was formidable, and the harbour had to remain open to tall ships.
The design finally chosen was a single steel arch. Its builders could not rest the arch on supports in the water while they worked, so they built it outward from both shores at once. Each half leaned out over the harbour like a reaching arm, held back by enormous steel cables anchored in tunnels cut into the rock behind it.
For two years the halves crept towards each other. Every new piece of steel had to be lifted by cranes that travelled along the top of the arch itself, and every piece made the cables bear a little more weight. Engineers checked the measurements constantly, because a small error at the base of each half would grow into a large one at the top.
By August 1930 the two tips were close, but they were not simply pushed together. The engineers slackened the cables a little at a time, lowering the halves gently towards each other. Heat made matters more delicate still: the steel expanded in the warmth of the day and shrank in the cool of the night, so the gap itself kept changing. When the halves were finally joined, the arch could stand on its own, and the cables that had held it for so long were no longer needed.
The deck that carries the road was then hung from the arch, and the bridge opened in 1932. Today it is so familiar that it is easy to forget that, for a time, it was two halves of a promise, each waiting for the other.
'Every piece made the cables bear a little more weight.' In this sentence, bear means
答案: D
答案：D
想象钢缆在做什么：它们在水面上方拉住拱的每一半，每加一块钢，就多一份要承受的重量。这是bear"承受、支撑"的意思，答案是D。A也是常见意思，如"I can't bear it"，但钢缆不会有耐心；这句话讲的是重量。
The writer says that, for a time, the bridge 'was two halves of a promise, each waiting for the other'. What does promise suggest here?
答案: C
答案：C
promise是尚未完成、却有人在指望的事。两半合拢前，桥还没建好，但人们盼望已久的通道全靠两边接上，答案是C。D有迷惑性，因为桥曾"proposed many times"，但文中工程师一直稳步施工，并没有怀疑。A是按字面理解，文中没提到任何协议。
孩子怎样根据句子判断词义？
先猜，再验证。孩子用自己的话说出来的意思，比直接对着一排选项更容易配对。
以下步骤是我们的建议，来自上面各题的解析。
读完整个句子
读这个词所在的句子，再读前一句。线索可能就在引文外面。
先猜再看
请孩子先用自己的话说出这个词在这里的意思，再找最接近的选项。
把选项代进去
用每个选项替换这个词，能让句子说得通的就是答案。
想象画面
钢缆拉住钢梁，不可能“有耐心”，所以bear只能是“承受”。想一想画面，就能排除错误的意思。
想想比喻带来了什么
一个词被当作比喻用时，比如promise，要问这个意思给句子添了什么。
常见的陷阱有哪些？
下面每个陷阱都是上面题目里的一个错误选项。问问孩子哪一个乍看最像对的，再把正确的意思代进句子，听听有什么不同。
- 日常意思。 bear可以指“忍受”。第二题里这句话讲的是重量，所以这里是“承受、支撑”。
- 把比喻当字面意思。 最后一道题里，promise不是指书面协议，而是形容一座尚未建成、人们却在指望的桥。
- 文中不支持的意思。 第一题里，文中没有说距离无法测量。这里的formidable是指距离大到难以克服。
在家怎么练？
孩子遇到生词时，先让孩子根据句子猜意思，再一起查词典核对。
收集一词多义的词，比如bear、fair或current，为每个意思各造一个句子。
维州教育部（Victorian Department of Education）表示，任何部分所需的知识都不超过八年级课程。所以广泛阅读比背生僻词表更有用。
为什么不能只背单词表？
因为考试当天没有词典可查：词典不能带进考场。孩子能带进考场的，是在句子里读懂一个词的习惯。
阅读和语言推理同场，共55分钟。三道题能教会方法；一整场才看得出，计时之下孩子还会不会先根据句子去猜。先做练习测试1：注册免费账户即可做一套完整练习测试并查看结果（练习测试在英文应用中进行）。
做完后你会看到按技能分列的结果。想看更多短文和讲解，请看维州精英中学（selective entry high school）阅读样题，或看看维州阅读诗歌题，那里的词也带着意象。
了解孩子目前的水平
练习测试1会批改每一道题，并按技能显示结果：孩子已经掌握的部分，以及接下来要练的三项技能。
