所谓语境，就是指文章的上下文。高考完形填空试题中，语境题是考查同学们感知语言材料时所具备的基础知识、阅读能力和思维判断能力的综合性试题，要求同学们在解答试题时，以语篇为根本，根据试题所处的语言环境来作出正确的判断与选择。该类题型着重考查考生根据上下文提供的信息进行分析、推理、判断的能力。
在高考完形填空试题中，语境题所占比例最大，约在50%以上。考查对具体语境的理解是近几年全国各省市高考完形填空的最大特点，充分体现了高考“突出语境、淡化语法”的改革思路和命题精神。语境题具体有三种考查方式：
[ 根据上文语境考查下文语境]
1. A. straighter B. louder
C. harder D. further
2. A. sands B. invitations
C. feelings D. messages
3. A. hope B. receive
C. discover D. mean
4. A. immediate B. misleading
C. important D. difficult
解析 1. B。根据上文Body language is the quiet，secret and most powerful language of all可知。
2. D。根据上文It speaks 1 than words. 及下文In fact，nonverbal communication takes up about 50% of what we really 3 可知。
4. C。根据上文noverbal communication takes up about 50% of what we really mean（非语言交际大约占据了我们所要表达意思的50%）可知这里说的是非语言交际（body languadge）的重要作用，and body languadge...后面的内容是对前文的递进，对body languadge的“重要作用”作进一步的阐述。所以应选important。
例2 Around twenty years ago I was living in York. Though I had a lot of experience and a Master’s degree，I could not find satisfying work.
I was driving a school bus to make ends meet and living with a friend of mine，for I had lost my flat. I had attended five interviews with a company and one day between bus runs they called to say I did not get the job. “Why has my life become so ？”I thought painfully.
A. hard B. busy
C. serious D. short
解析 A。根据上文I could not find satisfying work...to make ends meet and living with a friend of mine，for I had lost my flat. I had attended five interviews with company and... they called to say I did not get the job.可知，生活艰难（hard）。 [ 利用下文语境考查上文语境]
例3 I wasn’t the only one “new” at the game，so I decided to on learning the game，do my best at each practice session，and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t know “just yet”.
A. focus B. act
C. rely D. try
解析 A。根据下文do my best at each practice session可知作者下定决心学好篮球，把精力都集中在学习篮球上，故选A。focus on“把精力集中到……上”;act on“按照……而行动”;rely on“依赖”;try on“试穿”。四个选项中只有focus on才能和learning the game连用。
1. A. trade B. distance
C. connections D. greetings
2. A. eye B. verbal
C. bodily D. telephone
3. A. disturbing B. helping
C. guiding D. following
4. A. closer B. faster
C. in D. away
2. C。根据下文People from Latin American countries on the other hand，touch each other quite a lot可知这里是指身体的（bodily）接触。
3. D。根据下文The Latino，trying to express friendship...which the Latino will in return regard as coldness可推知。句意：因此，在谈话时，就有可能看起来好像一个Latino跟着（following）一个Norwegian在屋里团团转。
4. A。根据下文The Norwegian，very probably seeing this as pushiness（步步紧逼）可知应选closer，表示拉丁美洲人跟在北欧人后面，越逼越紧。
[ 考查对上下文语境的综合理解]
例5 Alfred Nobel became a millionaire and changed the ways of mining，construction，and warfare as the inventor of dynamite（炸药）. The article read，“Dr. Alfred Nobel，who became by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before，died yesterday.”... Nobel arranged in his will to give the largest part of his money to...
A. famous B. sick
C. rich D. popular
解析 C。由首句became a millionaire和后文give the largest part of his money可知应选C。
例6 The degree of similarity between the potential helper and the person in need is also important. For example，people are more likely to help a stranger who is from the same country rather than a foreigner.
In one study，shoppers on a busy street in Scotland were more likely to help a person wearing a（n） T-shirt than a person wearing a T-shirt printed with offensive words.
A. expensive B. plain
C. cheap D. strange
解析 B。根据上文 The degree of similarity between the potential helper and the person in need is also important.及下文than a person wearing a T-shirt printed with offensive words可知，应选与offensive words相对的plain（素色的，无装饰的，朴素的）。