2021考研英语阅读：词汇题解题技巧详解

22.The phrase， “to sign on” (Line 3， Para. 2) most probably means________.

[A]to check on the availability of jobs at the jobcentre.

[B]to accept the government‘s restrictions on the allowance.

[C]to register for an allowance from the government.

[D]to attend a governmental job-training program.

(Para.2) More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker‘s allowance. “Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on.” he claimed. “We’re doing these things because we know they help people stay off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster.” Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor， trying to change lives for the better， complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work， and subsidises laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”— protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.

首先，看到这道题时，大家心里一定心中窃喜：“这个词我认识!，签字嘛!”。但是一看选项没有表示签字意思的选项。这是因为我们的词义句意题考察的往往都是超纲词或者熟词生义，从字面上不能推出答案。所以大家就陷入了一个解题的dilemma(僵局)当中了。

那么，面对这种熟词生义的题，我们怎么入手呢?我们可以考虑句子内容和句子间的语义逻辑关系，简而言之就是和上下文的联系，去解这道词义句意题。首先，我们看划线词所在的句子：

“Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on.” he claimed.

大家有没有看出来，这句话里面就有一个隐藏的解题线索： looking for work, not looking to sign on. 这个表达符合英语逻辑关系中的“A，not B”结构。在这个结构中A和not B意思是一致的，而A和B 的意思是相反的。举个例子来说：大家上课要注意听讲，不要打“王者荣耀”(We should listen carefully, not play game King of Honor during the class). 在这句话中，上课认真听讲和不打游戏都是值得肯定的，但是听讲和打游戏确实相反的。

那么，按照这个思路，我们再来看这个题。大家能推出什么呢? looking for work(找工作) 和looking to sign on是什么关系呢? 相反关系!很好，大家离我们的成功又近了一步，也就是说，looking to sign on 我们就可以理解为 “不找工作”。我们再看一下选项。