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阅读技能训练
一般说来,快速阅读的理解率为70%,如果理解率在80%-100%之间,那么你应该继续提高读速,使理解降至70%;如果理解的正确率只有50%,那么就应该在保持原有速度的前提下,设法使理解正确率达到70%。虽然这个理解率不算高,但你的速度却超过了常人。如果在考试中稍稍降低一下速度,你的理解就会轻松地达到90%—100%的正确。对于初次练习快速阅读者,加快速度阅读很可能会导致理解率的降低,这是一个非常普遍的现象,初学者一般都会经历这个阶段,所以没有必要担心。出现这种情况时,不要急急忙忙去迁就理解而放弃已达到的高速,而应保持你已经达到的阅读速度,同时逐渐把注意力转向对文章内容的理解上。只要这样反复多练,速度和理解一定会有很大提高。
下面的技能可以帮助你尽快提高阅读速度:
一、避免出声阅读和哑声阅读
出声阅读和哑声阅读对于快速阅读来说是一个致命的弱点。它把阅读速度降低为讲话的速度。正常的语速约每分钟150个单词,而正常的读速几乎等于语速的两倍。出声阅读有时表现为只动嘴唇而不发音,有时表现为舌头和喉管运动。如果我们在阅读时把手指放在声带部位,不管我们是否发出声,都会感到声带的震动。这种发声现象称为“哑声阅读”。哑声阅读还有一种很难克服的表现,即在阅读时虽然没有任何身体的运动,但在意识中,读者是一个词一个词地发出声来,而且自己仿佛还听得到。实际上,获得文字所表达的意义并不一定要经过发音这个环节。快速阅读的做法是,直接从字形的认知中获取意义。
那么怎样克服阅读中的出声和哑声阅读现象呢?这里提出建议两点:
第一,阅读时在主观上应以弄清楚作者的思想为阅读目的,要不断地思考阅读材料:“这是什么意思?”“我不同意他的观点!”“这一点和另一点有什么联系?”读者应该积极地与作者交流,而不是简单地
重复作者说过的话。
第二,应该极力快读,使阅读的速度超过出声阅读的速度,尽量不给后者留下任何时间。
下面5个句子每个只出现5秒钟,你需要在5秒钟内读完并回答后面的问题。
(1)
We communicate through symbols, both audible and visible, that stand for something we have experienced. (15 words)
1: What are the two kinds of symbols we communicate through?
2: What do the symbols stand for?
(2)
The difference between libel and slander is that libel is printed while slander is spoken. (15 words)
3: What are the two things that the sentence talks about?
4: What's the difference between them?
(3)
The knee is the joint where the thigh bone meets the large bone of the lower leg..(17 words)
5: Which part of the body does the sentence talk about?
6: Where is it on a body?
(4)
The chief foods eaten in any country depend largely on what grows best in its climate and soil. (18 words)
7: What does the sentence talk about?
8: On what do the foods eaten in any country depend largely?
(5)
In the eastern part of New Jersey lies the city of Elizabeth, a major shipping and manufacturing center. (18 words)
9: What is Elizabeth in this sentence?
10: Where is she located?
练习六将出现15秒,快速阅读并回答后面的问题。
The silicon chips are, of course, microprocessors, minute but highly sophisticated electronic circuits suited to an almost infinite variety of applications, from the humble pocket calculator to the control of entire automated factories and warehouses. (35 words)
11. What does the passage talk about?
A. silicon chips
B. silver chips
C. electronic devices
D. none of the above.
12. What is not referred to in the passage?
A. the humble pocket calculator
B. the control of entire automated factories and warehouses
C. the microprocessors
D. the silicon valley
二、避免返读现象
返读现象是指在阅读过程中重新阅读刚刚读过的单词或句子来进一步确定读过的内容。返读是阅读能力低的一种表现。一般来说,任何读者都会有返读现象,但有时返读是因为读者遇到了生词或较难理解的句子,他希望通过返读来研究生词和难句,并加深记忆,这种情况自然无可非议:但低劣的读者把返读变成一种习惯,返读的次数远远超过了正常的阅读需要。如果在阅读中经常有返读现象,就会限制阅读速度,干扰注意力,并且影响对文章的理解。因此要想达到快速阅读,必须尽可能地减少返读的次数。那么如何避免返渎现象呢?首先选取生词较少、内容浅易的材料,进行大量的简单、轻松的阅读练习;其次在阅读时注意提醒自己不要往回看,把注意力集中在思考文章内容上面。久而久之,返读的次数必然会减少。
下面的练习是专为克服返读现象而设计的,快速阅读这些文章,提醒自己直往前看,同时思考文章内容。
练习一只出现25秒,快速读完并回答后面的问题。
One morning my teen-age daughters encountered a stray dog in our neighborhood park. When they left, he followed. Concerned for his safety,
they noted the owner's address on his license tag and took him to his home. Nobody answered the door, so they rang a neighbor's bell and asked when the dog's owners would return. \"I'm not sure, but probably soon the neighbor replied. \"They just went to the park.\" (71 words)
1. Where did the girls find the dog?
2. Where did they take the dog?
3. Where did the dog's owners go?
练习二只出现30秒,快速读完并回答后面的问题
Not long ago my actor brother had a small part as a mailman in a movie being filmed on a New York City street. Since the area had not been roped off, passers-by were free to roam through until the cameras started rolling. While my brother was waiting, a woman walked by and stopped to ask him directions to a certain street. He told her that he was not familiar with the area. As she walked away, he could hear her mutter, \"No wonder we never get our mail.\"
(89 words)
4. What is the author's brother?
A. A mailman
B. A passer-by
C. A film maker
D. An actor
5. Why did the woman say, \"No wonder we never get our mail\"?
A. Because the mailman was not familiar with the area.
B. Because the mailman didn't tell her the way.
C. Because she thought the author's brother was a real mailman.
D. None of the above.
从上面的两篇练习你可以看出这是发生在生活中的一些小幽默。它们的语言简单易懂。而且饶有趣味,在你读它们的时候,是否还需要不时地回头看呢?接着读下面一篇感人的短文,用最短的时间结束阅读,相信你一定会急于看到结尾而顾不上总是往回看了。
练习三只出现5分钟,快速读完并回答后面的问题:
My Forever Valentine
The traditional holidays in our house when I was a child were spent timing elaborate meals around football games. My father tried to make pleasant chitchat and eat as much as he could during halftime. At Christmas he found time to have a cup or two of holiday cheer and don his holly-shaped bow tie. But he didn't truly shine until Valentine's Day.
I don't know whether it was because work at the office slowed during February or because the football season was over. But Valentine's Day was the time my father chose to show his love for the special people in his life. Over the years I fondly thought of him as my \"Valentine Man.\"
My first recollection of the magic he could bring to Valentine's Day came when I was six. For several days I had been cutting out valentines for my classmates. Each of us was to decorate a \"mailbox\" and put it on our desk for others to give us cards. That box and its contents ushered in a succession of bittersweet memories of my entrance into a world of popularity contests marked by the number of cards received, the teasing about boyfriends/girlfriends and the tender care I gave to the card from the cutest boy in class.
That morning at the breakfast table I found a card and a gift--wrapped package at my chair. The card was signed \"Love, Dad,\" and the gift was a ring with a small piece of red glass to represent my birthstone, a ruby. There is little difference between red glass and rubies to a child of six, and I remember wearing that ring with a pride that all the cards in the world could not surpass.
As I grew older, the gifts gave way to heart-shaped boxes filled with my favorite chocolates and always included a special card signed \"Love, Dad.\" In those years my thank-yous became more of a perfunctory response. The cards seemed less important, and I took for granted the valentine that would always be there. Long past the days of having a \"mailbox\" on my desk, I had placed my hopes and dreams in receiving cards and gifts from \" significant others \", and \"Love, Dad\" just didn't
seem quite enough.
If my father knew then that he had been replaced, he never let it show. If he sensed any disappointment over valentines that didn't arrive for me, he just tried that much harder to create a positive atmosphere, giving me an extra hug and doing what he could to make my day a little brighter.
My mailbox eventually had a rural address, and the job of and-delivering candy and cards was relegated to the U.S. Postal Service. Never in ten years was my father's package late-nor was it on the Valentine's Day eight years ago when I reached into the mailbox to find a card addressed to me in my mother's handwriting.
It was the kind of card that comes in an inexpensive assortment box sold by a child going door-to-door to try to earn money for a school project. It was the kind of card you used to get from a grandmother or an aging aunt or, in this case, a dying father. It was the kind of card that put a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes because you knew the person no longer was able to go out and buy a real valentine. It was a card that signaled this would be the last you would receive from him.
The card had a photograph of tulips on the outside, and on the inside my mother had printed \"Happy Valentine's Day.\" Beneath it, scrawled in barely legible handwriting, was \"Love, Dad.\"
His final card remains on my bulletin board today. It's a reminder of how special fathers can be and how important it has been to me over the years to know that I had a father who continued a tradition of love with a generosity of spirit, simple acts of understanding and an ability to express happiness over the people in his life.
Those things never die, nor does the memory of a man who never stopped being my valentine. (700 words)
6. Why were the children to decorate a \"mailbox\" and put it on their desks on Valentine's Day?
A. To receive letters from their teacher.
B. To receive cards from their classmates.
C. To receive cards from their boyfriends.
D. To receive letters from their girlfriends.
7. What did the author's father do every year on Valentine's Day to show his love for his child?
A. He took her to travel abroad every year.
B. He only gave her a special card signed with \"Love, Dad\" every year.
C. He gave her various gifts with a card signed with \"Love, Dad\" every year.
D. He did nothing.
8. Why did the author know her father was dying at the sight of the card
he had sent her?
A. Because the card was the kind that one buys from the child going door-to-door selling cards, which means her father was too ill to go out and buy a card for her.
B. Because the card was not so good looking, which signaled that her father was not so good also.
C. Because the card was not signed with \"Love, Dad\" as usual.
D. Because the card was delivered late.
9. What does the passage want to tell us mainly?
A. It's good to give and receive cards on Valentine's Day.
B. The relationship between father and daughter became not so good as before when the author has grown up.
C. Fathers always love their children and children should cherish the fatherly love.
D. None of the above.
三、训练眼睛运动
在阅读过程中,眼睛的运动是跳跃式前进的,而不是像一般认为的那样扫过或略过字行。眼睛从一点移到另一点的时候,我们看不到任何东西。只有当眼睛固定或停顿时我们才能阅读。
据统计,普通大学生的眼睛每秒钟停顿四次。阅读水平较高者,每秒钟可达五次。对于普通读者而言,每一次停顿,其视幅(eye span)一般为1.1个单词,即每一次停顿可认出l.1个单词;优秀的读者,每次停顿的视幅约为2.7个单词。因此,理论上说普通读者的阅渎速度可达到每分钟264个单词,而优秀的读者可达到每分钟810个单词(此标准是对操本族语的读者而言的)。
但在实际的阅读中,由于各种因素如语言水平、文章难度、理解能力、词汇量等的影响,一般读者达不到理论上的水平。但普通读者的阅读速度是一定能够通过自己的努力和有意识的训练而提高的。这里关于眼睛运动提高阅读速度方面有三点建议:一,扩大视幅。在目光盯住一个单词时,要注意用眼睛的余光延及中心词两边的单词:二,缩短停顿的时间,增多停顿的次数。三,当眼睛到达一行的末尾时,快速移到下一行的开始部分,这样也可以节约时间.提高速度。
下面的文章用来帮助你提高眼睛移动的速度,如果你能在规定的时间内读完并回答后面的问题,那么说明你的阅读速度正在迅速提高。
练习一将出现15秒,它是根据短语划分的段落,刚来训练快速移动你的眼睛。试着在眼睛停止一次时看完一个短语。眼睛快速地从上往下逐行移动,每行只停顿一次。阅读后回答后面的问题。
(1)
There is opportunity to
no better way try out
to test the fishing boat
fishing boats under the most
than under adverse weather
actual fishing conditions and
conditions the most rapid
Actual conditions and unexpected
provide the passenger movements
(39 words)
1: Question: According to the short passage, which is the best way to test fishing boats?
练习二将出现20秒,要求同练习一
(2)
The purpose of life insurance
life insurance by simply
is to prevent asking yourself
financial difficulty if your death
for someone else would put someone
in the event else in a tough
of your death financial position
With that in mind, If the answer
you can determine is yes,
if you need you need insurance.
(55 words)
2: Question: According to the short passage, how to determine whether you need life insurance or not?
练习三将出现25秒,要求同练习一
(3)
Anytime ask your
you're told primary care physician
that you for a recommendation,
need surgery or call
and it's the nearest
not an emergency, teaching hospital
it's a good idea or an accredited
to get a second hospital for
opinion from a recommendation.
a qualified specialist You can
in the appropriate also consult
field, the Directory
To find of Medical Specialists.
this specialist
(61 words)
3: What does the short passage suggest you to do when you're told that you need surgery and it's not an emergency?
A. To ask a friend of yours for a second opinion.
B. To ask a doctor of any kind for a second opinion.,
C. To ask a qualified specialist in the appropriate field for a second field.
D. To ask a teacher for a second field.
4: Where can't you find a specialist, according to the above passage?
A. the nearest teaching hospital
B. the Directory of Medical Specialists
C. the medical school
D. an accredited hospital
练习四将出现30秒,要求同练习一
(4)
Actually, mild fever,
the common cold nasal congestion,
is not and coughing.
as simple Thus
as it seems, the thinking behind
It can \"combination\" products:
be caused they
by any of supposedly contain
200 different viruses, little something
and it can for the
bring misery different symptoms.
eight ways: One pill
sore throat, or capsule,
sneezing, the advertisers say+
runny nose, handles the
watery eyes, whole malady.
aches and pains A little like
one-stop shopping.
(75 words)
5: How many viruses can the common cold be caused?
A. 100 B. 200 C. 300 D. 400
6: Does the author agree with the advertisers that \"one pill or capsule
handles the whole malady\"?
练习五只出现3分钟,快速读完并回答后面的问题
(5)
Sometime when you take a common drug, you may have a side effect. That is, the drug may cause some effect other than its intended one. When these side effects occur, they are called adverse reactions. Whenever you have an adverse reaction, you should stop taking the drug right away. Ask your pharmacist whether he can suggest a drug that will relieve the symptoms but that will not cause the adverse reaction. If an adverse reaction to a drug is serious, consult your doctor for advice at once.
Drugs that are safe in the dosage stated on the label may be very dangerous in large doses. For example, aspirin is seldom thought of as dangerous, but there are many reports of accidental poisoning of young children who swallow too many for their young bodies to handle. In adults, excessive use of some pain-killing drugs may cause severe kidney damage. Some drugs for relief of stomach upsets, when taken in excess, can cause an upset in the body's secretion of enzymes, perhaps causing serious digestive problems. You should never use any over-the-counter drug on a regular, continued basis, or in large quantifies, except on your doctor's advice. You could be suffering from a serious illness that needs a doctor's care.
Each drug you take not only acts on the body but may also alter the effect of any other drug you are taking. Sometimes this can cause dangerous or even fatal reactions. For example, aspirin increases the blood-thinning effect of drugs given to patients with heart disease. Therefore, a patient who has been taking such a drug may risk hemorrhage if he uses aspirin whenever he gets a headache. Before using several drugs together you should ask your doctor and follow his advice. Your pharmacist can tell you whether certain drugs can safely be taken together.
Alcohol may increase the effect of a drug. Sleeping pills and
antihistamines are two types of drugs that combine with alcohol to produce drowsiness. When taking any drug, you should ask your doctor whether drinking alcohol could be dangerous in combination with the medicine.
Experts believe there is a relationship between adult abuse of legitimate medicines and the drug culture that has swept our country. You can do your share to reduce the chances that your children will become part of the drug culture by treating all medicines with respect. Always let your children know that medicines and drugs should not be used carelessly. (409 words)
7: The author advises parents
A. To avoid taking drugs in front of children.
B. To teach their children about drugs.
C. To throw away old medicines.
D. To use drugs without telling their children.
8: When aspirin is used with heart medication, it can
A. Clot blood.
B. Thin blood.
C. Thicken blood.
D. Raise the blood pressure.
9: The author implies that alcohol
A. Can intensify the effects of a drug.
B. Can make a drug useless.
C. Can cause a person to turn to drugs.
D. Can produce drowsiness.
四、阅读意群
阅读是寻找意义的过程.因此阅读应以表达一个完整意思的词组为基本单位进行。例如下面的句子.
When such stimuli are applied to animals their pupils dilate.
在这个句子中,最小的单位是字母,但我们显然不能从字母开始寻找意义,因为字母只表示一个发音符号,它本身不包含任何意义。
字母构成了单词,如t和o。构成了to,而to只是一个介词,表示一个方向,如果单独看这个单词,我们得不到任何具体的意义。而当它和apply合用为apply to时,我们就可以知道这个短语的意思是“作用于,应用于”。同样,当一个实词如stimuli被单独看待时,我们知道它的意思是“刺激”,但只能是一个抽象的不确定的意义。反之,如果我们把stimuli同such放在一起来看就会知道它们指上面提到过的刺激。因此,我们应该把“apply to”和“such stimuli”分别作为一个意群来看待。
调查表明阅读速度慢的人在阅读时每次摄取的文字单位非常小,甚至以单个的词为阅读单位;而优秀的读者快速扫过成行的内容,每一眼都获取一个完整的意义单位。
下面的练习是专门针对培养阅读意群的习惯而设计的,阅读时力争一眼获取一个意群,并快速移动眼睛。
练习一将出现15秒,它是根据短语划分的段落,用来训练培养阅读意群的习惯。试着在眼睛停止一次时看完一个短语。眼睛快速地从上往下逐行移动,每行只停顿一次。读后回答后面的问题。
(1)
When you or fixates
phrase read it should see
it should feel a meaningful phrase.
like this. Phrase reading
Your eye should will improve
move and stop, Your comprehension
move and stop. and help you
Each time read faster.
your eyes stops,
(42 words)
1. What kind of movement does your eye do when reading something?
2. What's the advantage of phrase reading?
A. It can help you read faster and comprehend more.
B. It tells you more things.
C. It makes the passages more interesting.
D. You can see more phrases by using it.
练习二将出现35秒,要求同练习一
(2)
As a when you
used car shopper, see one.
your first You can
task is also check
to decide the National
what kind Automobile Dealers
of car Association Used Car Guide
is going and the
to fill Kelly Blue Book
your needs, for prices
Then of used cars.
shop around They'll give
until you you prices
have a to work with,
good feel but they' re
for the market value only guides.
of that car. Condition and mileage
This way will adjust
you'll know the price up
a bargain or down.
(91 words)
3: What's the first task of a used car shopper?
A. To shop around and try to find a good car.
B. To know the general prices for a used car.
C. To ask other people for advice.
D. To determine what kind of car he needs.
4: Which one in the following does not affect the price of a used car?
A. Condition.
B. Mileage.
C. Market value.
D. How many people have used the car.
练习三将出现40秒,要求同练习一
(3)
The best exercise is beneficial.
is the endurance type The exercise should be
cardiovascular activities vigorous enough
that make you to produce
breathe deeply, a temporary feeling
elevate your pulse, of fatigue.
And make you sweat, At this level
Dr. Kenneth Cooper, of intensity,
expert on fitness, it strengthens the heart
lists the following and other muscles
as the best activities and increases circulation.
for physical fitness: Strenuous activity
running, swimming, should be scheduled
cycling, walking or striding, at least two
stationary running, to three times
handball, basketball, squash, a week
Any activity that elevates for at least
the heart's rate a half hour each time.
(106 words)
5: Which is the effect that you do not feel when you do the best exercise?
A. You breathe deeply.
B. You feel light-hearted.
C. Your pulse is elevated.
D. You sweat all over.
6: Strenuous activity should be schedule at least times a week for at least
each time.
A. two to three; a half hour
B. one to two; an hour and a half
C. two to three; an hour and a half
D. one to two; a half hour
练习四将出现30秒,要求同练习一
(4)
Violin, the smallest of different thicknesses
and highest-pitched are stretched across
of one of the most a bridge
important families standing on the box
of stringed in such a way
musical instruments, that the tension of the strings
to which can be adjusted
it gives its name. by means of
It consists revolving pegs,
Essentially to which
of a resonant box they are
of peculiar form, severally attached
over which at one end.
four strings
(75 words)
7: What is not on a violin?
A. a resonant box
B. a bridge standing on the box
C. four strings of different thicknesses
D. a key board
8: How can we adjust the tension of the strings?
A. by shortening the length of the strings
B. by revolving the pegs on the violin
C. by make the strings longer
D. by removing the strings' position
五、避免使用词典
避免使用词典是指在阅读文章的过程中,即使遇到生词,也不要停下来查词典。如果一碰到生词就查词典就会大大减慢阅读速度,而且不利于思路的连贯。当遇到生僻词汇时,我们可以通过生词本身的构造或者上下文来推测它的意义。
利用生词本身的构造,即构词法来判断词义是一个基本的方法:英语中的许多词都由若干不同的部分构成:词根、前缀、后缀。如果了解一个词的词根,一般说就可以推断出该词的意义。例如,reprocess,如果认识词根process,知道re是前缀,有“再,又”的意思,那么,这个词就不难猗测,是“再加工,再处理”的意思。但是使用这种方法的
前提是读者必须预先知道词根和词缀的意义。因此,读者在平常阅读和学习当中,应该注意记忆一些词根和词缀。
另外一种方法就是利用生词和上下文的关系推测其意义。生词不是孤立的、封闭的,它所在的句子、段落都会提供出很多暗示和线索,其中最常见的有如下五种:
1.定义线索,即作者自己定义或解释一个生词,如:
A.Horology is the science of measuring time.
B.Folkways are informal customs regarding the correct way to behave.
从上面的例子可以看出,划线的单词都有比较清楚、直接的定义或解释。这是上下文中最为明显的线索类型。
2.同义词或复述线索,即作者在同一个句子中使用另外一•个词,该词与生词具有基本相同的意义;或者,作者使用几个词来复述生词的意义。如:
A. Children often try to emulate or copy the behavior that they see on television.
B. Mr.Kelada was incredibly cocksure.It was this excessive self-confidence that made you want to prove him wrong whenever he gave an opinion.
从上面的句子中我们可以很容易得出emulate的意思与copy是差不多的,而copy the behavior意思是“模仿行为”,因此emulate即“模仿”。同样,cocksure也就是excessive self-confidence的意思,即“过分自信的,独断的”。
3.例释线索,即作者举出一些例子来解释或进一步说明生词的意思。
如:
A.There was a kind of detachment about the old man's behavior.It appeared as if he didn't care what you were saying to him,as if what you were saying were of no interest to him.
B.Orthopterans,such as crickets,grasshoppers,and cockroaches,thrive in damp conditions.
从上面句子可以看出,\"It appeared as if he didn't care what you were saying to him,as if what you were saying were of no interest to him.\"这句话是用来解释说明detachment的,因此我们不难得出detachment是
“超然、独立、分离”的意思。而orthopteran包括crickets,grasshoppers和cockroaches等带翅的昆虫,因此也可以大致得出orthopteran的意思,从而不妨碍对整个句子的理解。在带有例释的句子中,通常会有一些单词或短语来表示举例,如\"such as\", \"including\",“for example”,“to illustrate”,“for instance”等。
4.比较/对照线索,即有些句子中可能会包含与生词具有相反或近似意义的词,读者可以通过这些词来推测生词的意思。这种情况下,作者有时会使用像On the other hand,however,although,unlike,yet,but,like,while,despite和even though等词,来提醒读者语气的变化和与前面表达相反的意义。如:
A. Like bright David,Richard was very intelligent.
B. During the concert the audience was quiet,but afterward the crowd became boisterous.
从上面句子中可以看出,intelligent和bright是同义词,有“聪明
的”意思。而boisterous很明显与quiet“安静的”是反义词,因此
boisterous应该是“吵闹的,喧哗的”意思。
5.经验线索或情境线索,即有些生词可以根据它们出现的情境去理
解;也可以通过读者的经验或常识去推断生词的意思。如:
A.In spite Of the fact that the fisherman were wearing sou'westers,the storm was so heavy they were wet through.
B.AN east or north-east wind brings cold, dry weather to England,but a sou’wester usually brings rain.
从上面两个句子可以看出,sou'wester在英语中有两个意思:一是指—种防水的衣服,而且很可能又厚又重,因为渔民们在风暴里穿着这种衣服:二是,很明显,指一种从西南方向吹来的风。在推测第二种意思时,我们还需要知道,‘SOU'’指“南面的,南方的”。
尽管运用上下文线索推测生词的意思非常有用,但必须指出这种方法也有一定的局限。第一,用这种方法得到的生词意思通常都是比较模糊、一般性的,不是非常精确的含义。第二,用这种方法不—定每次都能得出生词的意思。有的时候,我们无法从上下文中得出生词意义,在这种情况下,读者需要运用其他的技巧来判断词的意思。
下面的练习是为训练你从上下文中推断词义的能力而设计的,阅
读短文并回答问题:
(l)
The Jews have a recorded history beginning over 4,000 years ago. This history, and some of the traditions and teachings which developed during this period, have had a profound effect upon modem civilization. The Jews gave the world the Old Testament and they were the first monotheistic people in the world. Biblical laws of moral and ethical conduct have become the basis of legal systems everywhere. It is interesting to note that the Jews are the only civilization which survived in its original form from ancient to modem times; all other civilizations of antiquity have long since disappeared.
1. What does the word \"monotheistic\" mean in the passage?
A. the practice of having more than one wife
B. quality or state of being cruel
C. belief in the Trinity
D. belief that there is only one deity
2. \"antiquity\" means
A. finished or refinished in antique style
B. relics of ancient times, great age
C. a chronological record of significant events
D. laws of moral and ethical conduct
(2)
I was amused with the desultory, haphazard kind of life we led: here today and gone tomorrow, sometimes reveling in ale-houses, sometimes feasting under hedges in green fields. When audiences were crowded and business profitable, we fared well; when otherwise, we fared scantily and consoled ourselves with anticipations of the next day's success.
3. What does the word \"desultory\" mean?
A. lacking in definite plan, regularity or purpose
B. improper; immodest
C. secret; private
D. mental disturbance marked by confusion and speech disorder
4: Which of the following best explains the word \"scantily\"?
A. in great comfort
B. astonishingly
C. without much food or necessities
D. frightened
下面短文将出现15秒,快速阅读并回答后面问题。
(3)
Although numbers of animals in a given region may fluctuate from year to year, the fluctuations are often temporary and, over long periods, trivial. Scientists have advanced three theories of population control to account for this relative constancy.
(38 words)
5. What does the word \"fluctuate\" mean?
A. move up and down
B. stay the same
C. reduce
D. increase
6. From year to year, the numbers of animals in a place
A. Do not change.
B. Change dramatically.
C. Have no significant change.
D. None of the above.
7. How many theories have the scientists proposed to account for this phenomenon?
A. 6 B. 3 C. 2 D. 4 |
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