1、如何在阅读中抛掉中文的概念？
I don’t understand English articles unless I translate them into Chinese first. Please tell me how to abandon our Chinese conception during reading English books.
如果不先把英语文章翻译成中文，我就看不懂。请告诉我在阅读英语书时如何抛掉中文的概念
What you are saying, I think, is that you are not reading in English. What I mean by this is that your thought processes are not confined to English during the act of reading. You are constantly trying to transfer the meaning to Chinese. Why are you doing this? Probably because you’re not confident of your ability to read and think in English. And why aren’t you confident? Probably because you are reading texts which are too advanced for your present level. You can only read comfortably in a foreign language, without having to translate into your mother tongue, if the texts you are reading are at least one level below your present classroom level. This means you should always be reading books which look and are fairly easy for you. If you do this, you will read and think in English without having to translate into Chinese and you will build up your confidence to a point where you can proceed to a higher level. Publishers’ catalogues provide lists of readers at different levels. Choose a level which at first seems easy for you (e.g. from the Longman Structural Readers, or Longman Originals) and develop your reading skills.
我想，你所说的问题是，你读英语时不是用英语思维。我这么说的意思是在阅读过程中你不是完全用英语思维。你不断地在把意思转化成中文。你为什么会这样做呢可能是因为你对自己用英语阅读和思维的能力没有信心。为什么你不自信呢可能是因为你所读的文章超出了你目前的水平。如果你要自在地阅读外语，且无须翻译成自己的母语，那么你所读的文章的水平应该比你目前的课程水平至少低一级。这就是说，你应该读那些对你来说比较容易的书。如果你照这样做，你就可以用英语阅读和思考，不用翻译成中文，而且可以建立起自信，从而提高自己的水平。出版社的阅读书目是根据难度排列的。开始先选一个你觉得容易的级别(如从“朗文分级读本”或“朗文原著”中选)，来提高自己的阅读技巧。
2、When reading, I’m always confused with idioms, slang and colloquial words. Please tell me how to distinguish them.
在阅读中，我总是弄不清惯用语、俚语和口语词汇。请告诉我如何区分它们。
An idiom is a fixed phrase the meaning of which bears no relation to the meanings of the individual words that make up the phrase. Phrasal verbs can often have literal or idiomatic meanings:
The teacher told me to sit up. (= sit upright: non-idiomatic)
We’re going to sit up all night during the general election.
(= not go to bed: idiomatic)
Apart from phrasal verbs, there are numerous expressions which are idiomatic. For example:
—fixed phrases:
John imagines he’ll be a millionaire before he’s 25, but that’s just pie in the sky. (= wishful thinking which is impossible to achieve)
－proverbs:
Deal with the problem now. Remember, a stitch in time saves nine. (=When something goes wrong, deal with it immediately before it gets worse.)
Colloquial language is the informal language of everyday speech; slang is colloquial language which is so informal, and often vulgar, that it is not normally used in serious speech or writing:
I’m wiped out. (colloquial style)
I’m dead tired. (informal style)
I’m exhausted. (neutral/formal style)
I’m knackered. (slang = extremely tired, exhausted)
惯用语(idiom)是一种固定的短语，它的意思与组成这个短语的单词的意思没有关系。短语动词经常有字面上或惯用的意思：
The teacher told me to sit up.(=坐直：非惯用语)
We’re going to sit up all night during the general election.(=不睡觉：惯用语)
除短语动词外，还有很多词组是惯用语。例如：
——固定短语：
John imagines he’ll be a millionaire before he’s 25, but that’s just pie in the sky. (=不可能实现的妄想)
——谚语：
Deal with the problem now. Remember, a stitch in time saves nine.(=出了问题要立即补救，以免恶化。)
口语(colloquial)是日常生活中使用的非正式语言；俚语(slang)比口语更随意，往往有些低俗，在正式的说话或写作中一般是不用的：
I’m wiped out.(口语体)
I’m dead tired.(非正式体)
I’m exhausted.(一般/正式体)
I’m knackered.(俚语=极端疲劳，精疲力竭)
3、阅读时应该读出声吗？
When I am reading, I always read aloud. It’s a bad habit because I can’t grasp the meaning after I read it. How can I improve my reading ability? Is it a good way not to read aloud?
阅读时，我喜欢读出声。这是个坏习惯，因为读后我抓不住文章大意。我如何提高我的阅读能力不出声阅读是个良好的阅读习惯吗
Do you always read aloud when you are reading Chinese? I very much doubt it! So why do you do it in English? You can’t do two things at the same time. If you read aloud, you will concentrate on that and neglect the meaning of what you are reading. The only purpose of reading aloud is to practise the sounds of English. If you are reading for meaning, no reading aloud allowed!
我很怀疑你在读中文材料时，是否也是大声朗读我不相信你这样做。那么你在读英语材料时，为什么要如此呢一心不能二用。如果你把精力放在出声阅读上，你就自然会忽视你所阅读的内容的意思。出声阅读的惟一目的就是练习英语发音。如果你是为了了解内容而阅读，那么出声阅读是不可取的!
4、How to grasp the main idea rapidly and accurately when reading?
阅读时，如何才能迅速、准确地抓住文章的要旨
1) Make sure you understand what the general theme of the text is. (Look at the title, headline or headlines.)
2) Scan the whole text quickly. This means running your eyes down each page to get the general theme of each paragraph.
3) Skim-read the text paragraph by paragraph. This means looking hard at each paragraph in turn, concentrating mainly on verbs in order to get the topic of each paragraph. Skip examples which simply illustrate the theme. Only read selected sentences in detail. It’s up to you to make the best choice of sentence.
4) Make a quick note of what you think you have understood.
You need to train yourself to carry out these steps. Practise the steps over a period and test yourself by going back and re-reading the text carefully. Then see whether your notes are accurate until you have confidence in using speed-reading techniques.
1) 确信你理解文章的主题。(观看文章题目及大字标题。)
2) 快速浏览全文。就是说扫视每一页，了解每一段大意。
3) 逐段略读文章，集中注意力去理解几个关键的动词，以便抓住每段的主题。可以跳过仅是阐述主题的例子。你可以详细选读你认为重要的句子。当然，挑选什么句子由你自己做主。
4) 关于你所理解的内容，可以做笔记。
这些步骤的实施，你尚需训练。你可以花一些时间进行训练，并回顾或仔细重读原文来检验其效果。然后看看你做的笔记是否准确，直到你对你的快速阅读技巧有信心为止。
5、正确学习语法的方法？
My teachers, either in high school or in university, always emphasize the importance of grammar. I still analyze the article sentence by sentence even after I have graduated for more than 8 years. I am clear about the sentence structure, but I can make little progress. Would you show me the right way please?
不论我的中学老师，还是我的大学老师，都经常强调语法的重要性。毕业八年多了，我仍然是逐句分析文章。我其实对句子结构很清楚，但我却进步很小。您能给我讲授正确的方法吗
It’s totally pointless learning grammar for its own sake. Grammar is indispensable as a support system to communication because most of the questions we have about a foreign language have grammatical answers. For example when to use some or any, when to use a/an or the, and so on. If by ‘analyze the article sentence by sentence’ you mean ‘read word by word’, you are going about reading in the wrong way. In order to understand difficult English, we have to grasp the syntax of each sentence: that is, the way each sentence is put together. Here, for example, is a difficult sentence from an article on George Soros, which appeared recently in the Financial Times:
Even before arriving in England at the age of 17 to study under him at the London School of Economics, Soros had felt the influence of Sir Karl Popper, the Viennese philosopher of science whose Open Society and its Enemies denounced Plato, Hegel, Marx and all historical determinism.
To understand this sentence (apart from the difficult references), you have to observe that him refers to Karl Popper and not to Soros. You have to break the sentence down in your head into the following sequence of ideas:
—Soros went to England to study at the London School of Economics under Sir Karl Popper.
—Before that, Soros had been influenced by Karl Popper’s ideas.
—Karl Popper taught at the London School of Economics but originally came from Vienna.
—Popper was a philosopher of science who wrote a book called the Open Society and its Enemies.
—This book denounced Plato, Hegel, Marx and all historical determinism.
In other words, understanding what we read is a matter of constant analysis and synthesis of text and we have to do this at high speed. If you want to improve your skills, I strongly recommend my Longman Advanced English Gramma, which will train you to analyze and synthesize difficult texts in a way that will help you to understand them.
纯粹为学习语法而学习语法是毫无意义的。对交流来说，语法只是一种不可或缺的辅助系统，因为我们在学习外语中所遇到的大多问题可在语法中寻求答案。例如，什么时候用some或者any，什么时候用a/an或the，等等。如果你说的“逐句分析文章”是指逐词阅读的话，那么你的阅读方式则走上了一条歧途。要理解较难的句子，我们必须掌握每个句的句法：就是说，每个句子是怎么组成的。例如，最近在Financial Times刊登的关于乔治索罗斯的一篇文章，里面有这么一个难句：
Even before arriving in England at the age of 17 to study under him at the London School of Economics, Soros had felt the influence of Sir Karl Popper, the Viennese philosopher of science whose Open Society and its Enemies denounced Plato, Hegel, Marx and all historical determinism.
要更好地理解这个句子(除了引用上的难点)，你必须首先注意到him指的是Karl Popper,而不是Soros。你必须在脑海里把句子断成以下几个意思：
——Soros 去伦敦经济学院学习，拜师于Karl Popper。
——在此之前，Soros就受Karl Popper的理论影响。
——Karl Popper任教于伦敦经济学院，但他来自维也纳。
——Popper是一个哲学家，他写的著作是Open Society and its Enemies。
——这本书批判了柏拉图、黑格尔、马克思的思想和所有的历史宿命论观。
换句话说，理解我们所读的文章是一个不断对文章进行分析与综合的过程，我们必须快速完成。如果你想提高你的应用技巧，我热切地向你推荐由我编著的Longman Advanced English Grammar，它在分析和综合文章方面将助你一臂之力，这将有助于你对文章的理解
6、如何能在阅读后用英语而不是中文记忆文章内容？
After reading, why can’t I use English to sketch the content in anything but Chinese? Can you give me an idea on how I can remember it in English?
读完文章之后，我为什么不能用英语来概括文章大意而只能用中文您能告诉我该如何用英语记忆文章内容吗
You can train yourself systematically to recall a text in English by making notes. You need different notes for different styles of texts. For example, if you are reading a narrative, make notes on the sequence of events: before the event, the event, after the event. If you are reading a description, make notes on the people or things described and their main features. If you are reading an argument, make notes on the points ‘for’ and ‘against’. Once you have these notes, use them to give a little talk in English which attempts to recreate what you have just read. Alternatively, use the notes to ‘say the text to yourself’ as a mental exercise. You will soon get into the habit of not only reading in English, but thinking in English as well. Thinking in a foreign language is an indispensable requirement of fluency.
你可以通过做笔记的方式系统地训练自己用英语回忆文章的能力。不同题材的文章，你做的笔记也应相应地不同。比如，如果你读的是一篇记叙文，你可以按事件的顺序做笔记：事发之前，事情经过，事后结果。如果你读的是一篇描写性的文章，你可以就所描述的人和事做笔记，并记录其主要特点。如果你读的是一篇议论文，你可以记录下赞成观点与反对观点。如果你有了这些笔记作辅助，你就可以用英语交谈，复述你读到的内容。或者利用笔记“自述”，作为一种记忆性的训练。这样你就可以养成一种不但用英语阅读，而且用英语思维的习惯，用英语思维是可以流畅地说英语的一个必备要求。
7、怎样把单词记牢？
I often pick up some new words while reading. But I easily forget them. How can I remember them clearly?
阅读时我常学到一些生词，但很容易忘。我怎样才能把它们记牢
Remember, there are two kinds of vocabulary: receptive and productive. Receptive vocabulary refers to the words you can recognize and understand but can’t necessarily use. Productive vocabulary refers to the words you know and can use with confidence. Your receptive vocabulary is always far larger than your productive vocabulary. This refers to your command of your native language, as well as to English. So when you say you can’t remember new words easily, this doesn’t matter. They may have entered your receptive command. In other words, when you encounter them again you will recognize and understand them, but you might not know how to use them. This means you don’t have to try to remember every new word you encounter. One way words cross from our receptive vocabulary to our productive use is through sufficient exposure to the word in a wide variety of contexts. Reading as much as you can will help you to consolidate what you know and increase your vocabulary. But a new lexical item only becomes ‘entirely yours’ when you know how to use it. Using words in speech and in writing will enable you to develop your productive command of English.
要记住，有两种词汇：接受型词汇和表达型词汇。接受型词汇是指你能认识和理解但不一定会应用的词汇。表达型词汇是指那些你知道并能自如应用的词汇。你的接受型词汇比表达型词汇要大得多，母语如此，英语也如此。所以你说不能轻松地记住生词，这没有关系。这些生词可能已被你接受型地掌握了。也就是说，你再碰到它们的时候，能认识和理解，但你也许不知道如何使用。这说明你用不着去记你所见到的每一个生词。从接受型词汇向表达型词汇转化的一个途径是通过在不同的语境下的多次接触来实现的。尽量多地阅读能有助于你巩固已掌握的词汇，并能增加你的词汇量。但一个新的单词，你只有掌握了如何使用，才能算“完全是你的”。在讲话和写作中应用词汇将使你增进对英语的有效掌握。
8、生词多，又想正确理解文章。该怎么办
The more I read, the more unknown words I will find. I have almost lost patience to look them up in a dictionary one by one. But I want to understand the articles correctly. What shall I do?
阅读得越多，我发现的生词就越多。我已几乎无耐心去逐个查词典，但我又想正确理解文章。我该怎么办
I agree the sheer volume of new words that you will encounter in any piece of writing is very great indeed. I also fully understand how tedious it is to have to look up so many words. It just takes the fun out of reading. One thing you should ask yourself is whether you are trying to read English which is beyond your level. You may not actually be ‘ready’ for completely unsimplified English. But if you think you are and want to continue reading general articles in the press, etc., I suggest you train yourself in the following:
Scan (= quickly look through) the whole text before you begin reading it so that you get a general idea what it is about. Look particularly at the general title of an article and its section headings if it has any. Make sure you understand these by looking them up in a dictionary if necessary.
Scan each paragraph before you begin reading it to get the general meaning.
Read the paragraph sentence by sentence, trying to understand new words from context. Make intelligent guesses at the meanings of words and look up only those words which interfere with your understanding. You can’t, for example, read a text about pigeons if you don’t understand the word ‘pigeon’ because it’s essential to the understanding of a text as a whole.
This procedure will greatly reduce the number of times you consult the dictionary and will increase your pleasure in reading. However, it may be that your difficulty in understanding a text is not the result of vocabulary, but of syntax (= the way words are joined together to make sentences). If this is the case, you need practice in analysing and de-coding sentences. A practice book like my own Longman Advanced English Grammar is designed to train you in this skill.
我也认为你在阅读文章时所遇到的生词的绝对量的确是巨大的。我也完全理解要查这么多单词有多么乏味。它剥夺了阅读的乐趣。你首先应该问自己，你试图阅读的英语是否超过自己的实际水平了。事实上你可能还不适宜去读那些完全未经简写的英语。但如果你认为自己可以去读，而且想继续读书报上的文章，那么我建议你在以下方面加强训练：
浏览(快速通读)全文后再开始正式阅读，以便获得总体印象。要特别注意文章的题目和各章节的小标题(如果有的话)。若有必要应查词典弄清这些标题的意思。
在阅读一个段落前，应先浏览，以了解大概意思。
阅读各段落时，要逐句阅读，根据上下文去理解生词。可以猜测单词的意思，只有在这些单词干扰了正常阅读时再去查词典。例如，如果你不知道pigeon的意思就不能去阅读一篇关于鸽子的文章，因为理解这个词对于理解全文是必不可少的。
这种步骤将大大减少你查词典的次数，增加阅读的乐趣。但是，也有可能你在文本理解上的困难不是因为词汇量的原因，而是因为句法(即词汇组成句子的方式)的原因。如果是这个问题，那你需要练习剖析句子。类似我著的Longman Advanced English Grammar这样的练习书就是设计来训练这方面技巧的。
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