新编大学英语教程第四册Unit 04

 Writing Between the Lines

 

　　 You know you have to read "between the lines" to get the most out of anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading. I want to persuade you to "write between the lines." Unless you do, you are not likely to do the most efficient kind of reading.

 

I contend, quite bluntly, that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but love.

 

There are two ways in which you can own a book. The first is the property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes, and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude¹ to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it. An illustration may make the point clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher's icebox to your own. But you do not own the beefsteak in the most important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your bloodstream to do you any good. 

 

There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers—unread, untouched. The second has a great many books—a few of them read through, most Of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical appearance.) The third has a few books or many every one of them dogeared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled³ in from front to back.

 

Is it false respect, you may ask, to preserve intact and unblemished a beautifully printed book, an elegantly bound edition? Of course not. I'd no more scribble² all over a first edition of "Paradise Lost" than I'd give my baby a set of crayons and an original Rembrandt! I wouldn't mark up a painting or a statue. Its soul, so to speak, is inseparable from its body. And the beauty of a rare edition or of a richly manufactured volume is like that of a painting or a statue. 

 

　　 But the soul of a book can be separated from its body. A book is more like the score of a piece of music than it is like a painting. No great musician confuses a symphony with the printed sheet of music. If your respect for magnificent binding⁴ or typography gets in the way, buy yourself a cheap edition and pay your respects to the author. 

 

Why is marking up a book indispensable to reading? First, it keeps you awake. (And I don't mean merely conscious; I mean wide awake.) In the second place, reading, if it is active, is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself in words, spoken or written. That marked book is usually the thought-through book. Finally, writing helps you remember the thoughts you had, or the thoughts the author expressed. Let me develop these three points.

 

　　 If reading is to accomplish anything more than passing time, it must be active. You can't let your eyes glide⁵ across the lines of a book and come up with an understanding of what you have read. Now an ordinary piece of light fiction, like, say, Gone with the Wind, doesn't require the most active kind of reading. The books you read for pleasure can be read in a state of relaxation⁶, and nothing is lost. But a great book, rich in ideas and beauty, a book that raises and tries to answer great fundamental questions, demands the most active reading of which you are capable. If when you've finished reading a book,the pages are filled with your notes,you know that you have read actively⁷.

 

But,you may ask,why is writing necessary? Well,the physical act of writing,with your own hand,brings words and sentences more sharply before your mind and preserves them better in your memory.To set down your reaction to important words and sentences you have read, and the questions they have raised in your mind,is to preserve those reactions and sharpen those questions.

 

Even if you wrote on a scratch pad,and threw the paper away when you had finished writing,your grasp of the book would be surer.But you don't have to throw the paper away .The margins⁸ (top and bottom,as well as side), the end papers,the very space between the lines,are all available. They aren't sacred.And ,best of all,your marks and notes become an integral part of the book and stay there forever. You can pick up the book the following week or year,and there are all your points of agreement,disagreement, doubt,and inquiry⁹. It's like resuming an interrupted conversation with the advantage of being able to pick up where you left off.

 

And that is exactly what reading a book should be: a conversation between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than you do;naturaly,you'll have the proper humility¹⁰ as you approach him. But don't let anybody tell you that a reader is supposed to be solely¹¹ on the receiving end. Understanding is a two-way operation;learning doesn't consist in being an empty receptacle. The learner had to question himself and question the teacher.He even has to argue with the teacher,once he understands what the teacher is saying.And marking a book is literally¹² an expression of your differences or agreements of opinion,with the author.

 

By Mortimer J.Adler

1 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。

2 scribble   

v.潦草地书写，乱写，滥写；n.潦草的写法，潦草写成的东西，杂文

参考例句：

• She can't write yet,but she loves to scribble with a pencil.她现在还不会写字，但她喜欢用铅笔乱涂。
• I can't read this scribble.我看不懂这种潦草的字。

3 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

4 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

5 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

6 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

7 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

8 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

9 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

10 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

11 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。