第四道坎是词汇在具体语境中的应用，如今高考越来越重视词汇在具体语境或者具体使用场景中的应用，越来越不拘泥于以往仅仅从单词本身出发的较为死板的考法。词汇离开了具体的语境就会失去生命力，不知所云。正如语言学家吕叔湘先生所说：“词语嵌在上下文里头才有生命，才容易记住，才知道用法。”我们首先看一下单词“cover”这个词在几种不同语境中的用法：
Don’t cover your eyes with hands. ( vt. 覆盖，遮住)
He made up a story to cover the mistakes. (vt. 掩饰)
China covers a total area of 96,000,000 square kilometers. (vt. 占地)
The cover of the magazine is green. ( n. 封面)
His book covers a wild field. ( vt. 涉及)
They covered 100 miles a day. (vt. 走过)
The journalist was sent to cover the traffic accident. (vt. 采访)
由此可见，具体语境对于词汇学习的作用不容小觑，接下来再看一下高考题对具体语境的考查：
17.—If you like I can do some shopping for you.
---That’s a very kind _______.(06年浙江省高考)
A. offer B. service C. point D. suggestion
26．It’s quite _______me why such things have been allowed to happen. (06年安徽省高考)
A．for B．behind
C．against D．beyond
23.-My family usually goes skating for vacation. I like skating, but I want to try something different this year. (05年重庆高考)
-__________
A. Let's go. B. Cheer up. C. Like what? D. Take care.
34.-Why didn't you buy the camera you had longed for?
-I had planned to, but I was $50________.(05年福建省高考)
A. fewer B. less C. cheap D. short
答案：ADCD
