雅思閱讀考試的目的是考察考生通過學術話題文章的閱讀定位所需信息，理解、掌握并獲取知識的能力，而其中定位詞扮演著至關重要的角色。有很多考生抱怨說“題目特點和解題技巧都很清楚，定位詞也能找準，可就是定位不到題目在文章中對應內(nèi)容的位置?！逼鋵嵾@源于考生還是沒有真正了解雅思；雅思考試以4、6級詞匯為基礎，不存在難點，但其狡猾之處就在于它的詞匯會變形，孫悟空有72變，八戒36變，女大有18變,而雅思定位詞當然也會“36變”。考生若沒有抓住雅思閱讀考試的這一特點，便休想定位到題目在文章中對應內(nèi)容的位置。下面，將結合雅思真題來介紹一下雅思閱讀中定位詞是如何“36變”的。

雅思定位詞在文章中出現(xiàn)的第一種也是最常見的一種變身是“同義替換”，這包含同義詞或同義詞組。

劍6，Test4的Q9：Kim Schaefer’s marketing technique may be open to criticism on moral grounds。題目中定位詞為moral，在文章中定位，我們會在文章第三段中定位到“Selling pharmaceuticals is a daily exercise in ethical judgment”，而其中ethical即為moral的同義詞。

劍4，Test3的Q9：Any street child can set up their own small business if given enough support.此判斷題中定位詞實際上是詞組“set up their own small business ”，在文章中定位，我們會在文章中“Lessons learned” 的部分中定位到“Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, not for every street child”。此處，文章中“Being an entrepreneur”即為定位詞的同義詞組。

其他的同義詞/詞組變身如:

perceive →sense?????? evolve →develop???????? detect →find

mortal →people??????? unbiased → objective

limb → arm or leg????? waste→ unwanted material

resemble → look like?? dwelling → domestic building

雅思定位詞在文章中出現(xiàn)的第二種變身是“近義替換”，這包含近義詞或近義詞組。

劍7，Test1的Q8：However, even before this was understood, the principle had been applied in the design of instruments which calculated the ____ of the seabed。 此題為在原文中選詞填空的摘要題，定位詞為“calculate”和“seabed”， 在文章中我們會定位到“Before this was discovered, engineers had already built instruments to exploit the principle, for example to measure the depth of the sea under a ship”。此處“measure”即為“calculate”的近義詞，而“sea”即為“seabed”的上義詞。

其他的近義詞/詞組變身如：

salary → wage?????????????????? statement → comment

be gained from → derive from??? policy → initiative

valuable → important??????????? break down → subdivide

雅思定位詞在文章中出現(xiàn)的第三種變身是“派生詞”。

劍6，Test3的Q33：Monkeys were less likely to become diabetic。此題為分類題，定位詞為“diabetic”，在文章中定位，我們能定位到句子“…and they have more normal blood glucose levels(pointing to a reduced risk for diabetes, which is marked by usually high blood glucose levels)”。題目中定位詞“diabetic”為名詞，意為“糖尿病患者”，而文章中的“diabetes”也為名詞，但意為“糖尿病”，是“diabetic”的派生詞。

劍4，Test4的Q14：archaeology? involves creativity as well as careful investigative work。 此題為是非無判斷題，定位詞為“creativity”和“investigative”，在文章中我們能定位到“Archaeology is partly the discovery of the treasures of the past,…partly the exercise of the creative imagination…it is investigating the sewers of Roman Britain”。題目中定位詞“creativity”為名詞，在文章中對應形式“creative”（形容詞）為它的派生詞，；定位詞“investigative”為形容詞，在文章中對應形式“investigate”（動詞）為它的派生詞。