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在我们的阅读量不断加大加深的同时,同学们可能经常感到拿到文章时无从下手,抓不到主题,尤其是遇到生词,细节也无从了解。因此老师将所总结的几点阅读基本技巧告诉大家,这是从宏观上理解一篇文章的很实用的几种方法。
阅读的基本技巧(Basic reading skills)
1.先看标题(heading),如果有副标题(sub-heading),尤其是每个小段落前面的小标题都要看,通过它们可以预测文章的主题和内容。大家可以试着读一些英文报纸,去看那些为了吸引你的注意力而变换了颜色或字体的标题,通常我们决定去看哪一篇文章是通过标题的内容判断的,因为你的大脑自然会去预测文章的内容,并告诉自己是否对它感兴趣。
2.看插图,图表,照片(diagrams or pictures)等诸如此类。它们可以对文章内容做进一步解释,比如报纸上的照片和说明文中的图例或表格,图片的下面通常附有简短的文字,也要仔细看。
3.如果是较长的文章,第一段和最后一段可以先读,而且要读懂。因为通常它们是有总结概括性的,从中可以得出文章梗概(outline)。
4.同样的道理,对于一段文章,通常它的第一句和最后一句也一定要看懂。它们被叫做主题句(topic sentences),而其它扩充解释主题的句子叫做support sentences。
我们可以看一下这篇文章:
Modern ideas are beginning to influence the Eskimos, but not enough to make much difference to their way of life. They still spend the winter in igloos, the round huts that are built of snow frozen hard. They still travel on sleds that are pulled by dogs. The winter is too cold for hunting, so during that season they live on the stores of seal meat that they have killed in the summer. But seal meat is not the only kind of food that they eat. In summer they hunt bears and reindeer, a type of deer with long branching horns that is used for its milk, meat and skin. They also fish all the year round. The Eskimos who are hunters in summer are fishermen in winter. In winter they make holes in the ice and catch their fish through the holes that they have made. The Eskimos are adaptable. That is why they are able to live in Arctic regions.
文章首句是讲现代思想正在开始影响爱司基摩人,但爱司基摩人的生活方式并没有因此有多大改变。段中开始讲述他们具体是怎样生活的,包括住所,交通方式,食物及其来源。段尾总结:爱司基摩人耐力很强,这就是他们能够生活在北极地区的原因。首尾句是典型的topic sentences, 段中的句子是support sentences, 文章结构一目了然。
5. 我们继续看这篇文章。结构清楚了,但大家会发现有一些十分生僻的单词还会影响我们的理解,这时我们还有一种方法叫做inference,这就是通过上下文来判断这个单词的含义。先看igloo这个单词,它的后面就是解释the round huts that are built of snow frozen hard用冻实的雪建成的圆形小屋,结合我们的背景知识,可以判断igloo为爱司基摩人住的雪屋。还有reindeer这个词,也可以通过同样的办法,它后面a type of deer with long branching horns that is used for its milk, meat and skin 一种鹿,长着长长的分叉的角,从它们身上得到奶,肉和皮毛。这就是驯鹿。大家试一试,判断一下文中sled这个词的意思。
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