Day-1 Active Reading

ActiveReading

Aswe said at the beginning, we will beprincipallyconcerned in these pages with the development of skill in reading books; butthe rules of reading that, if followed and practiced, develop such skill can beapplied also to printed material in general, to any type of reading matter—tonewspapers, magazines, pamphlets, articles, tracts, even advertisements.

---

Principal

Adj.最重要的；主要的

n.负责人校长；本金资本

A principal problem was the flat(平直的干脆的) refusal of the President to confront his advisers directly on the central question.主要问题是总统根本拒绝让他的顾问们直接面对中心问题。

How much interest will there be on the principal of $5000?五千美元本金的利息是多少？

Principle

N.原理定律道德原则主义

Uphold the principle of Olympics秉承奥运会的宗旨

Pamphlet小册子（containing information about a particular subject）

Tract小册子（宗教或者政治团体所发）道（呼吸道消化道）

Sincereading of any sort is an activity, all reading must to some degree be active.Completely passive reading is impossible; we cannot read with our eyesimmobilizedand our minds asleep. Hencewhen we contrast active with passive reading, our purpose is, first, to callattention to the fact that reading can be more or less active, and second, topoint out that the more active the reading the better. One reader is betterthan anotherin proportionas he iscapable of a greater range of activity in reading andexerts more effort. He is better if he demands more of himself andof the text before him.

Immobilize

Vt使不动，或不能正常运作to keep sth./sb. from moving or fromworking normally

Proportion

n.比例部分份额，

Direct

proportion正比例inverse proportion反比例

Exert

vt运用施加产生exert influence upon施加影响力, exert pressure施加压力exert yourself努力竭力

Though,strictly speaking, there can be no absolutely passive reading, many peoplethink that, as compared with writing and speaking, which are obviously activeundertakings, reading and listening are entirely passive. The writer or speakermust put out some effort, but no work need be done by the reader or listener.Reading and listening are thought of as receiving communication from someonewho is actively engaged in giving or sending it. The mistake here is to supposethat receiving communication is like receiving a blow or alegacyor a judgment from the court. On the contrary, the reader orlistener is much more like the catcher in a game of baseball.

Undertakingn.事业任务，企业，保证

Undertakev.承担

legacyn.遗产，遗留问题后遗症

catchern.捕捉者接球员

battern.击球手

Catchingthe ball is just as much an activity aspitchingor hitting it. The pitcher or batter is the sender in the sense that hisactivityinitiatesthe motion of theball. The catcher or fielder is the receiver in the sense that his activityterminatesit. Both are active, thoughthe activities are different. If anything is passive, it is the ball. It is theinertthing that is put in motion orstopped, whereas the players are active, moving to pitch, hit, or catch. Theanalogywith writing and reading isalmost perfect. The thing that is written and read, like the ball, is thepassive object common to the two activities that begin and terminate theprocess.

Pitch

n.柏油沥青球场音高v.投抛

Initiate

v.开创发起发动

Terminate

v.终止的n. termination终止末端

Inert

a.惰性的不活泼的无活动能力的 (in art)

Analogy

n.类比类推

We can take this analogy a step

further.The art of catching is the skill of catching every kind of pitch—fast balls andcurves,changeups and knucklers.Similarly, the art of reading is the skill of catching every sort ofcommunication as well as possible.

Knuckler

Itis noteworthy that the pitcher and catcher are successful only to the extentthat they cooperate. The relation of writer and reader is similar. The writerisn’t trying not to be caught, although it sometimes seems so. Successfulcommunication occurs in any case where what the writer wanted to have receivedfinds its way into the reader’s possession. The writer’s skill and the reader’sskillconverge upon a common end.

converge

v.汇集趋同

diverge

v.偏离分离发散

Admittedly,writers vary, just aspitchers do. Some writers have excellent “control”; they know exactly what theywant to convey, and they convey it precisely

and accurately.Other things being equal, they are easier to “catch” than a“wild” writer without “control.”

admittedly

(多用于句首)诚然应当承认

certainly definitely indeed undeniably undoubtedly

There is one respect in which the

analogy breaks down.The ball is a simple unit. It is either completely caught ornot. A piece of writing, however, is a complex object. It can be received moreor less completely, all the way from very little of what the writer intended tothe whole of it. The amount the reader “catches” will usually depend on theamount of activity he puts into the process, as well as upon the skillwith which he executes the different mental acts involved.

execute a plan执行计划

Whatdoes active readingentail? We willreturn to this question many times in this book. For the moment,it suffices to say that, given thesame thing to read, one person reads it better than another, first, by readingit more actively, and second, by performing each of the acts involved more skillfully.These two things are related. Reading is a complex activity, just as writingis. It consists of a large number of separate acts, all of which must beperformed in a good reading. The person who can perform more of them is betterable to read.

suffice

v.足以足够

Suffice (it) to say (that) ,speed is one of his main attributes as a full-back.可以这么说，速度是他成为后卫的主要原因。

Suffice to ask: Have we shortchanged ourselves?我们只需要问，我们是否被蒙骗了？

I listened the video again and read earnestly the whole article, feeling shamed that I have forgotten so much knowledge.With thesis to be verified in the nearest future, I have to amend my thesis at the same time to surf recruiting information to find jobs. I have to make up the English that I forget because of laziness.