人教全日制普通高中英语（必修）高三UNIT8-3

On the subject of reading, Francis Bacon¹, who lived at about the same time as Shakespeare², wrote these words: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed⁴ and digested⁶." This good advice shows how it is possible to read different types of books in different ways. For example, you might pick up a travel book and read a few pages before going to sleep. It is enough to dip into it and read bits here and there. In a word, this is "tasting".
 
      Some stories are for "swallowing". Imagine that you have found a good story, and what is even more important, the time to enjoy it. You might be on holiday, or on a long train journey, ff it is a good book, you might say, "It's so good that I can't put it down." But not all stories belong to this class. Reviewers sometimes describe books as "hard-to-put-down" or "hard-to-pick-up-again".
 
      Other books are for reading slowly and carefully. If it is a book on a subject that you are interested in, you will want to "chew³ and digest⁵ it". That does not mean reading it too slowly. When you pick up a book for the first time, check that it is not too difficult. Do not start a book unless you can see from the first few pages that it is one that you can easily read and understand.
 
      Next, if it is not a story, get an idea of the organisation⁷ of the book. Read the back cover and the introduction⁸. Look at the pictures and the short texts below them. Turn to the front of the book and look at the contents. This way you can decide whether the book is likely to interest you, and if so, then you can decide which parts of the book will be most useful and interesting.
 
      Here are some more reading tips. First, read a chapter quickly to get a general idea. Then, if you wish, you can read it once again more slowly, using a dictionary when necessary. Second, do not stop every time you come to a word or a phrase⁹ you do not know. Quite often you will find the unknown word appears again, perhaps several times, and by the end of the chapter you will have guessed its meaning. That is how we learn the meaning of words in our own language. Imagine that you come across this sentence in a book: "The house was beginning to get cold, so Daisy pulled her red, woollen¹⁰ cardigan out of her bag and put it on." If you do not know the word "cardigan", you can guess from the situation that it is made of wool and is put on to keep warm, and is therefore likely to be an article of clothing.
 
      By making guesses about the information and organisation of a text, you will be better prepared to understand the meaning of the whole article as well as new words. For example, if the title of the article you are going to read is "The Generation Gap¹¹", you can start by thinking what you already know about the topic. You probably know that the generation gap refers to differences in opinions, thinking, and lifestyles between people of different generations. You can guess that the article will describe some common differences and perhaps explain why they exist and what problems there might be. If your guess is correct, the article will probably have paragraphs¹² that compare and contrast¹³ the thinking of two or more different groups of people. There will probably also be paragraphs that discuss causes and effects. Since you know from your writing class that most articles have three main parts --an introduction, a body and a conclusion--you can guess what each part will talk about. In this case, the introduction will probably define¹⁴ the generation gap, provide some background information, and point out some of the important questions. The body will contain the comparison¹⁵ and cause and effect paragraphs. In the conclusion, the writer will probably summarise¹⁶ the situation and try to answer some of the questions mentioned in the introduction.
 
      With a bit of practice, you can become quite good at predicting¹⁸ the content and organisation of an article. You may also learn to predict¹⁷ what words will be used and what questions will be answer6d. The more guesses you make, the better you will understand the reading. If your guess is right, you will of course understand the article and it will be easy to remember the main ideas -- because you already knew them. It doesn't matter if your guesses are wrong. They will still help you to understand and remember the ideas better. When you read the article and come across something you didn't know or expect, you will pay more attention to it. Finally, since you have prepared well, you can spend more time on the difficult and confusing¹⁹ parts. Without this preparation, you would have to deal with everything at once.
 
      Finally, decide what to read. Start by making a list of all the types of books you enjoy reading in Chinese. If you hate science stories, you are unlikely²⁰ to enjoy reading them in English. If you enjoy reading short stories in Chinese, look for collections of English ones. Are there any hobbies or sports you particularly like? If so, look out for books, articles or magazines about them. You can enlarge²¹ your knowledge and learn some English at the same time.

1 bacon   

n.咸肉，熏肉

参考例句：

• He is frying the bacon.他在煎咸肉。
• This bacon is too salty for me.这块熏咸猪肉我觉得太咸了。

2 Shakespeare   

n.莎士比亚(16世纪英国剧作家、诗人)

参考例句：

• Shakespeare is a giant among writers.莎士比亚是作家中的巨擘.
• He read Shakespeare to help his English.他阅读莎士比亚的作品以提高自己的英语水平。

3 chew   

vt.咀嚼，嚼碎；vi.咀嚼，细想；n.咀嚼，咀嚼物

参考例句：

• This candy is so hard that no one can chew it.这种糖太硬，没人嚼得动。
• You should chew over this thing.你应当好好思量这件事。

4 chewed   

v.咀嚼，咬( chew的过去式和过去分词 )；（因为紧张等）咬住，不停地啃，（为尝味道）不停地咀嚼

参考例句：

• The rats have chewed away some of the woodwork. 老鼠啃坏了一些木制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The policeman chewed out the driver for reckless driving. 那位司机因为开车莽撞，被警察狠狠批评了一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 digest   

vt.消化；领会，领悟，融会贯通；整理，做…的摘要；vi.消化；n.摘要，文摘

参考例句：

• It often takes a long time to digest new ideas.吸收新思想往往需要很长一段时间。
• I read only this digest of the novel.我只读过该小说的摘要。

6 digested   

消化( digest的过去式和过去分词 )； 透彻了解

参考例句：

• He has finished the reading of the book,but he has not digested. 他已读完此书，但没有消化理解。
• With the teacher's help, he digested the long text. 在老师的帮助下，他弄懂了这篇长课文。

7 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

8 introduction   

n.(to)介绍；传入，引进；导言，导论，绪论

参考例句：

• The introduction tells you how to use the book.引言告诉你怎样使用这本书。
• A letter of introduction will ensure you an interview.凭一封介绍信准保会接待你。

9 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

10 woollen   

adj.羊毛制的；毛线的

参考例句：

• He wore a woollen vest beneath his shirt.他衬衫里面穿着一件羊毛背心。
• She wear a woollen scarf.她围着一条羊毛围巾。

11 gap   

n.缺口；间隔；差距；不足，缺陷

参考例句：

• We must see that there is no gap in our defence.我们必须确保我们的防御没有漏洞。
• There is a gap of five miles between towns.镇与镇之间相隔五英里。

12 paragraphs   

n.段落( paragraph的名词复数 )；短篇报道

参考例句：

• He transcribed two paragraphs from the book into his notebook. 他把书中的两段抄在笔记本上。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The text falls into three paragraphs. 这篇课文共分3段。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 contrast   

vt.使与…对比，使与…对照；vi. 与…形成对照；n.对比，对照，差异

参考例句：

• In contrast with her sister,she is very tall.与姐姐相比，她个子很高。
• Black hair is a sharp contrast to the white skin.黑发白肤形成鲜明的对照。

14 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

15 comparison   

n.比较，对照；比拟，比喻

参考例句：

• They make a comparison of New York to a beehive.他们把纽约比作一个蜂巢。
• This dress is really cheaper by comparison.比较起来，这件衣服确实便宜。

16 summarise   

vt.概括，总结

参考例句：

• I will summarise what I have done.我将概述我所做的事情。
• Of course,no one article can summarise the complexities of china today.当然，没有哪一篇文章能概括出中国今日的复杂性。

17 predict   

v.预知，预言，预报

参考例句：

• It's hard to predict how things will turn out.很难预测事情会变成怎么样。
• I cannot predict when to meet her again.我无法预测什么时候会再见到她。

18 predicting   

预言，预测，预示( predict的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a reliable method of predicting earthquakes 预报地震的可靠方法
• Political commentators are predicting that the minister will have to resign. 政治评论员预言这位部长将会辞职。

19 confusing   

adj.混乱的，令人困惑的

参考例句：

• The instructions on the box are very confusing.盒子上的使用说明含混不清。
• It's very confusing to learn a new language.学习一门新语言是很令人困惑的。

20 unlikely   

adj.未必的，多半不可能的；不大可能发生的

参考例句：

• It was very unlikely that he would do that.他不见得会做那种事。
• It is unlikely that she will come. 她不大可能来了。

21 enlarge   

vt.扩大，扩展，使增大

参考例句：

• This photograph is too small,please enlarge it for me.这张照片太小，请把它给我放大。
• This book is intended to enlarge vocabulary.这本书的目的是为了扩大词汇量。