托福阅读词汇题目考点讲解（一）

Spartina is an exceedingly competitive plant. It spreads primarily by underground stems; colonies form when pieces of the root system or whole plants float into an area and take root or when seeds float into a suitable area and germinate. Spartina establishes itself on substrates ranging from sand and silt to gravel and cobble and is tolerant of salinities ranging from that of near freshwater (0.05 percent) to that of salt water (3.5 percent). Because they lack oxygen, marsh sediments are high in sulfides that are toxic to most plants. Spartina has the ability to take up sulfides and convert them to sulfate, a form of sulfur that the plant can use; this ability makes it easier for the grass to colonize marsh environments. Another adaptive advantage is Spartina’s ability to use carbon dioxide more efficiently than most other plants.
　　The word "exceedingly" in the passage is closest in meaning to
　　O unusually
　　O dangerously
　　O surprisingly
　　O highly
　　解析：托福阅读词汇题出题的目的是检验学生的词汇量，而不是考查做题技巧。但是也不能全盘否定托福阅读词汇题是毫无方法可循的。比如上面一题，假如认识该词汇，当然答案是一目了然的。但假如从未见过此词，我们可以通过分析，来猜测出此词的意思。ex-是英语里面常见的前缀之一，表示“外面”或“超过”的意思，因此英语里有很多词汇的意思都跟此前缀的意思相关，比如：external(外面的), exterior（外面的）, export（出口）, exit（出口）, excellent （卓越的）。本题里面的exceedingly 也跟“外面” 或者 “超过”有关系。而下面的单词唯有highly 是跟“超过”有关系的。因此答案就是第四个了。 通过查阅字典，我们也会知道exceed 是“超过”的意思，而“exceedingly” 是 “极其，非常”，与highly 是近义词。 这种做题方法就是我们常见的“词缀”分析法。