Skill-related Reading
Reading Skill（VI）：Making Inferences from Context
1．What is making inferences from context？
Making inferences from context is a reading strategy one applies when coming across unfamiliar words．This strategy helps one draw on clues about the meanings of new words．Making inferences while reading is a purposeful and useful strategy．
Sometimes one can’t understand every word in a reading passage．One thing you can do to figure out the meaning of a new word is to use context clues．The contex trefers to the words，sentences，and ideas that come before and after a word or phrase．This can help the reader guess the meanings of these words without looking them up in a dictionary．It ensures that reading goes smoothly．
2．How can the readers make inferences from context？
When you read a passage，circle any new words that you don’t understand．Then，look in the context to find clues—words or phrases that hint at what the new word means．Remember，you don’t have to understand every word in the process of reading！Circle only the new words that are the key to understanding the passage．
There are several types of context clues，including direct definition clues，synonym or antonym clues，and inferential clues．While direct definition clues provide an actual definition within the text，inferential clues require that the reader use information from the text and his or her own background knowledge to make sense of the unknown word．Synonym and antonym clues can be helpful only if the clue word is familiar to the student．Often，punctuation is used within a sentence to signal a definition，or examples are listed after signal words like“such as”．
There are five easy steps to become an expert at using context clues：
（1）Circle the word or phrase you don’t understand．
（2）Underline key phrases and ideas in the sentence．Look for words and expressions that function as synonyms，antonyms，examples，etc．
（3）Give the main idea of the paragraph the new word is in．
（4）Say the sentence in your own words．
（5）Guess what the new word means．Use what you underlined to prove your guess is right．
To sum up，one can use common types of context clues：synonyms，antonyms，definitions，descriptions，and examples．
＼Reading Practice＼
I．Directions：Infer the meaning of each underlined words from the following paragraphs and choose the correct answers．
Picture yourself driving down a city street．You go around a curve，and suddenly see something in the middle of the road ahead．What should you do？
Of course，the answer depends on what that“something”is．A torn paper bag，a lost shoe，or a tumbleweed？You can drive right over it without a second thought，but you’ll definitely swerve around a pile of broken glass．You’ll probably stop for a dog standing in the road but move straight into a flock of pigeons，knowing that the birds will fly out of the way．You might plough right through a pile of snow，but veer around a carefully constructed snowman．In short，you’ll quickly determine the actions that best fit the situation—what humans call having“common sense”．
Human drivers aren’t the only ones who need common sense；its lack in artificial intelligence（AI）systems will likely be the major obstacle to the wide deployment of fully autonomous cars．Even the best of today’s self-driving cars are challenged by the object-inthe-road problem．Perceiving“obstacles”that no human would ever stop for，these vehicles are liable to slam on the brakes unexpectedly，catching other motorists off-guard．Rear-ending by human drivers is the most common accident involving self-driving cars．
1．You can drive right over it without a second thought，but you’ll definitely swerve around a pile of broken glass．
A．to crash into sth．
B．to make a promise
C．to change direction suddenly
D．to move from side to side
2．You might plough right through a pile of snow，but veer around a carefully constructed snowman．
A．to go violently through sth．out of control(https://www.daowen.com)
B．to force a way through sth．
C．to make slow progress through sth．difficult or boring
D．to continue doing sth．that is difficult or boring
3．You might plough right through a pile of snow，but veer around a carefully constructed snowman．
A．to change the idea suddenly
B．to enjoy sth．
C．to create sth．
D．to change direction suddenly
4．Perceiving“obstacles”that no human would ever stop for，these vehicles are liable to slam on the brakes unexpectedly，catching other motorists off-guard．
A．to shut sth．with a lot of force
B．to put or push sth．with a lot of force
C．to throw sth．with a lot of force
D．to crash into sth．with a lot of force
5．Rear-ending by human drivers is the most common accident involving self-driving cars．
A．A car accident involoing killing passengers
B．A car accident with injured passengers
C．Stopping another vehicle
D．Driving into the back of another vehicle
Ⅱ．Directions：Select the best word or phrase from each pair to replace the underlined words in Text B“Robot Management”．
1．Hollywood turned them into superheroes and supervillains．（Paragraph 2） （good characters，bad characters）
2．Robots have been doing auxiliary jobs on production lines since the 1960s．（Paragraph 3）（giving help or support，difficult）
3．Their ability to see things is getting ever closer to that of humans，as is their capacity to ingest information and act on it．（Paragraph 4）（absorb，give）
4．And instead of being imprisoned in cages to stop them from colliding with people，they will be free to wander．（Paragraph 4）（to disagree strongly，to fight strongly）
5．So，companies will need to work hard to persuade workers that robots are productivityenhancers，not just job-eating aliens．（Paragraph 10）（a foreigner，a creature from another world）
6．They are keen to avoid duplication between robots and their human handlers．（Paragraph 11）（the same in every detail，complicated effect）