Active Reading

As we said at the beginning, we will be principally concerned in these pages with the development of skill in reading books; but the rules of reading that, if followed andpracticed, develop such skill can be applied also to printed material ingeneral, to any type of reading matter—to newspapers, magazines,pamphlets, articles,tracts,even advertisements.

pamphlet

noun,a very thin book with a papercover, containing information about a particular

subject小册子；手册【SYN】leaflet

tract                                                                                                                                                   noun, (sometimes disapproving) a short piece of writing, especially on a religious, moral or political subject, that is intended to influence people's ideas (尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的)短文,传单,小册

Since reading of any sort is an activity, all reading must to some degree be active. Completely passive reading is impossible; we cannot read with our eyes immobilized and our minds asleep. Hence when we contrast active with passive reading, our purpose is, first, to call attentionto the fact that reading can be more or less active, and second, to point out that the more active the reading the better. One reader is better than anotherin proportion as he is capable of a greater range of activity in reading and exerts more effort. He is better if he demands more of himself and of the text before him.

immobilize

verb[VN]

•toprevent sth from moving or from working normally使不动；使不能正常运作:

»a device to immobilize the car engine in caseof theft遇到有人盗车时使汽车引擎发动不了的装置

»Always immobilize a broken leg immediately.腿断了应立即避免挪动。

Though, strictly speaking, there can be no absolutely passive reading, many people think that,as compared with writing and speaking, which are obviously active undertakings,reading and listening are entirely passive. The writer or speaker must put outsome effort, but no work need be done by the reader or listener. Reading andlistening are thought of as receiving communication from someone who is actively engaged in giving or sending it. The mistake here is to suppose that receiving communication is like receiving a blow or a legacy or a judgment from the court. On the contrary, the reader or listener is much more like the catcher in a game of baseball.

Catching the ball is just as much an activity as pitching or hitting it. The pitcher or batter is the sender in the sense that his activity initiates the motion of the ball. The catcher or fielder is the receiver in the sense that his activity terminates it. Both are active,though the activities are different. If anything is passive, it is the ball. Itis the inert thing that is put in motion or stopped, whereas the players areactive, moving to pitch, hit, or catch. The analogy with 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.

pitcher

noun(in baseball棒球) theplayer who throws the ball to the batter投球手

batter

[C] (NAmE) (in baseball棒球) the player who is hitting the ball正在击球的球员；击球员

initiate

verb (formal) to make sth begin开始；发起；创始

»Thegovernment has initiated a programme of economic reform.政府已开始实施经济改革方案。

terminate                                                                                                                                     verb(formal)

1.to end;to make sth end (使)停止,结束,终止:

»Yourcontract of employment terminates in December.你的聘约十二月份到期。

2. [V](of a bus or train公共汽车或火车) to end a journey / trip到达终点站:

»This train terminates at London Victoria.这趟列车的终点站是伦敦维多利亚火车站。

We can take this analogy a step further. The art of catching is the skill of catching every kind of pitch—fast balls and curves, changeups and knucklers. Similarly,the art of reading is the skill of catching every sort of communication as well as possible.

Curve: (also 'curve ball) (NAmE) (in baseball棒球) a ball that moves in a curve when it is thrown to the batter(投向击球员的)曲线球:(figurative)

»One of the journalists threw the senator acurve (= surprised him by asking a difficult question).一名记者向那位参议员提出了一个出乎意料的难题。

Changeup:

a slow pitch in baseball thrown with the same motion as a fastball in order to deceive the batter n.投手为使打击手打空而投的缓慢球

Knucklers(=knuckle ball):a slow baseball pitch that moves erratically and unpredictably and that is thrown with little spin by gripping the ball with the knuckles or the tips of the fingers pressed against the top 慢速变化球

It isnoteworthythat the pitcher and catcher are successfulonly to the extent that they cooperate. The relation of writer and reader issimilar. The writer isn’t trying not to be caught, although it sometimes seemsso. Successful communication occurs in any case where what the writer wanted tohave received finds its way into the reader’s possession. The writer’s skilland the reader’s skill converge upon a common end.

Noteworthy=significant

convergeverb [V]

1. ~ (on...) (of people or vehicles人或车辆) to move towards a place from different directions and meet汇集；聚集；集中:

»Thousands of supporters converged on Londonfor the rally.成千上万的支持者从四面八方汇聚伦敦举行集会。

2. (of ten or more lines, paths, etc.多条线、小路等) to move towards each other and meet at a point(向某一点)相交,会合:

»There was a signpost where the ten pathsconverged两条小路的相交处有一路标。

3. if ideas, policies, aims, etc. converge, they become very similar or the same (思想、政策、目标等)十分相似,相同 【OPP】diverge

Admittedly,writers vary, just as pitchers do. Some writers have excellent “control”; theyknow exactly what they want to convey, and they convey it precisely andaccurately. Other things being equal, they are easier to “catch” than a “wild”writer without “control.”

There is onerespect in which the analogy breaks down. The ball is a simple unit. It iseither completely caught or not. A piece of writing, however, is a complexobject. It can be received more or less completely, all the way from verylittle of what the writer intended to the whole of it. The amount the reader“catches” will usually depend on the amount of activity he puts into theprocess, as well as upon the skill with which heexecutesthe different mental acts involved.

Execute verb [VN]

1. [usually passive] ~ sb (for sth) to kill sb, especially as a legal punishment (尤指依法)处决,处死:

»He was executed for treason.他因叛国罪被处死。

2. (formal) to do a piece of work, perform a duty, put a plan into action, etc.实行；执行；实施:

»They drew up and executed a plan to reducefuel consumption.他们制订并实施了一项降低燃料消耗的计划。

3. (formal) to successfully perform a skilful action or movement成功地完成(技巧或动作):

»The pilot executed a perfect landing.飞行员完成了一个非常嫺熟的着陆动作。

What does activereading entail? We will return to this question many times in this book. Forthe moment, itsufficesto 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

/verb •(formal) (not used in the progressive

tenses不用于进行时) to be enough for sb / sth足够；足以:

»One example willsuffice to illustrate the point.举一个例子就足以说明这一点。

suffice (it) to say (that).. .•used to suggest that although you could say more, what you do say will be enough to explain what you mean无须多说；只需说…就够了

这篇文章主要是讲积极阅读。首先作者将积极阅读与棒球类比，他们之间有几点相似：1，参与活动pitcher（writer）和receiver（reader）都是主动的，只有baseball（book）是被动的；2，两个活动的目的一致，都是为了接到球（从书中获得交流与知识）；3，活动的参与者之间（pitcher和receiver， writer和reader）都需要相互配合以互利。但是他们有一点不同，棒球是一个整体，结果也只能是接住球或者没有，而从书中获得的知识则是可以根据人的投入状况来决定的。