梅仁毅教授

　　梅仁毅，北京外国语大学教授，博士生导师，美国研究中心主任。1957年毕业于北京外国语学院(北京外国语大学前身)后，开始留校任教至今。1958年至1960年，攻读北京外国语学院英语系研究生，获硕士学位。

　　How to read effectively

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　　Part I:唐锦兰副教授致贺词(点击下载)

　　Part II: part2 outline and the importance of reading(点击下载)

　　Part III: part3 two types of reading---intensive reading(1) (点击下载)

　　Part IV: part4 two types of reading---intensive reading(2)(点击下载)

　　Part V: part4 two types of reading---intensive reading(3)(点击下载)

　　Part VI part4 two types of reading---extensive reading and review(点击下载)

　　Part VII part4 questions(点击下载)

　　讲义

　　I.The importance of reading

　　For a foreign language learner, input is very important. Without input, there will be no output.

　　What is input? Input here means taking in language material through listening and reading. Common sense tells us that if you have never come across a phrase or a pattern, you will not be able to use it. So, the more you are exposed to the language, the better you are in communication. In terms of input, reading is very important. Why?

　　1.Reading is the best way to improve your understanding of the language. And understanding is the first step to grasping the language.

　　e.g.

　　You will be graded on these matters.

　　He read anger in her eyes.

　　The progress of the evacuation was watched with anxious eyes and growing hope.

　　2.Reading is the main source of language material.

　　Printed material is before you. You can read with ease. You can look up dictionary and think. You can go back to the material and reread it. This is the advantage of reading.

　　3.Reading will open windows to the world—enrich your knowledge of the world, of cultures in other countries and in history.

　　4.Reading can acquaint you with the subtlety and beauty of the language.

　　e.g.

　　It paled into insignificance.

　　They went out into the glaring white sunlight.

　　II.Two types of reading

　　A.Intensive reading

　　1.Typically Chinese, useful.

　　To concentrate effort on a short piece in order to learn the basic skills of the language.

　　The piece is used as an example to show you what are the things you should pay attention to and why. Then it will become a tool for you to be used in reading other things by yourself.

　　2.Goals of intensive reading

　　(1) To introduce you to the different features of the English language:

　　grammar: tenses

　　vocabulary:

　　wind up

　　When I wind up my watch, I start it.

　　When I wind up my essay, I end it.

　　foot

　　to foot the bill (to pay costs, expenses)

　　(2) To improve your reading comprehension

　　(3) To arouse your interest in the texts (in articles written in English by native speakers)

　　(4) To help you develop your ability in working independently.

　　3.Which is more important in intensive reading –preview or review?

　　My view is preview is more important, why?

　　(1) It helps you improve your ability in solving problems independently.

　　(2) It makes it possible for you to come to class with some preparation and clear purpose.

　　I know.

　　I think I know.

　　I don’t know.

　　After class, you need only to concentrate on “I don’t know” and “I think I know” and make a careful analysis of the problem. This will help you improve your comprehension and ability in working independently.

　　e.g. The progress of the evacuation was watched with anxious eyes and growing hope.

　　人们以关注的眼光注视着撤退的进展情况。随着撤退的发展，人们感到成功的希望在增长。

　　4.The steps taken for studying a text.

　　(Enrichment Reading Band 2 强化阅读英语2 P.3-4)

　　　Before class

　　(1)Surveying a text to get an overview of what it is about is very useful. This should be the first step. In doing survey, you are not expected to look up words or expressions in dictionaries.

　　Key ideas: classroom interaction

　　Role of the teacher

　　Students’ role

　　Pure lectures few

　　Memorizing vs inquiring mind

　　Title of the piece: the undergraduate classroom

　　Questions raised: what is the environment?

　　What is expected of the teacher?

　　What is expected of the student?

　　What is the concept underlying the approach?

　　(2)Reread the text, paragraph by paragraph, trying to understand as much as you can.

　　From language to ideas:

　　e.g. … the faculty member aims to exchange ideas with students, rather than simply tell them what they should know. (Para.1, p.3)

　　The input is not that American have the “right” approach to learning, but that the interactive classroom is a strong feature of US education. You will need to adjust to it.—and in time, take advantage of it. (Para. 2. P.3)

　　Nevertheless, the course in which a professor lectures steadily to hundreds of silent students is relatively rare in the United States. (Para.4. P.3)

　　If you do not understand a concept, you are expected to ask for clarification. (Para. 5. P. 4)

　　… you will be graded on such matters as your attendance, your promptness in arriving in class, your ability to get assignments in on time, and your interest in the course as shown by your questions and by the answers you give to instructors’ questions. (Para. 5. P. 4)

　　In class

　　Listen to the teachers’ explanation carefully. Compare notes.

　　Your understanding is correct --a review.

　　Your questions--take down the explanation.

　　Your surprise -- those things you think you understand but it turns out that your understanding is not correct.

　　After class

　　(1)A careful analysis of the things you find difficult in preview and try to pinpoint where the problem lies.

　　(2)A study of the language used in the text.

　　From ideas to language: how will I express the idea? Why is this better?

　　e.g.

　　Rewards in the form of good grades will come if you have an inquiring mind and think for yourself.

　　You will be able to get good marks if you like to ask questions and show curiosity and do independent thinking.

　　How can you get good marks? You can get good marks if you often ask questions and have your own view.

　　5.Comprehension difficulties

　　Enrichment Reading Band 2 强化阅读英语2

　　(1)They were subjected to tough exercises in preparation for the weightlessness they would experience in space. Tereshova trained for 15 months prior to her landmark journey into space. (Para. 3. P. 80. Unit 7)

　　(2)On her return to earth, she received a hero’s welcome. She became a symbol of the new Russian feminism, and of expanding opportunities for women all over the world. (Para. 7. P.81. Unit 7)

　　(3)John Glenn woke yesterday for his first full day back in space to Louis Armstrong singing What a Wonderful World. (Para. 1. P. 83. Unit 7)

　　(4)Millions of people watched Senator Glenn rocket back into the history books with Discovery’s launch on Thursday. (Para. 5. P. 84. Unit 7)

　　(5)His voyage into space has little to do with his official duties, and everything to do with budget dollars and NASA’s dream of building a space station, industry analysts said yesterday. (Par. 1. P. 81. Unit 7)

　　(6)(…when the US was competing with the Soviet Union in space) since then, the adversary has become money. (Para. 5. P. 86. Unit 7)

　　(7)The timing of the senator’s flight could not have been better. (Para. 8. P. 86. Unit 7.)

　　(8)Business Week magazine, taking a cold look at NASA’s finances, declared that the hero’s place on the flight made sound public relations sense. (Para. 12. P. 87. Unit 7)

　　(9)That alone is reason enough to do it. (Par. 12. P. 87. Unit 7)

　　(10)New York is largely filled with people like us who were born somewhere else and came here willing to be lucky. (Para. 1. P. 104. Unit 9)

　　(11)…many people worry that the ethnic differences will make this the Disunited States. (Para. 5. P. 105. Unit 9)

　　(12)But the cosmopolitan influx refreshes (to revive or stimulate) the uniformity of American culture. (Para. 5. P. 105. Unit 9)

　　English in Current Affairs 高级时事英语

　　(1)…someone had tried to get away with building a sprinkler system on the cheap. (Para. 2. P. 121. Unit 2)

　　(2)As my friends and I run into brick walls working our way into adulthood, I am increasingly amazed at the sometimes brutal truth that my father has imparted in his seemingly offhand way. (Para. 3. P. 121. Unit 2)

　　(3)I wanted my father to call it a day and get on with the festivities. (Para. 4. P. 121. Unit 2)

　　(4)Claude doesn’t put a lot of stock in what he calls book leaning. … But he has financed about $100,000 worth of book learning –and endured its being thrown in his face until the thrower had to return, hat in mind, for me kind of aid or another. (Para. 20. P. 122. Unit 2)

　　(5)You can get by, but you can’t get away. (Para. 1. P. 121. Unit 2)

　　(6)You are ponny-wise and dollar-foolish. (Para. 3. P. 121. Unit 2)

　　(7)You got champagne taste, but a water pocket. (Para. 2. P. 121. Unit 2)

　　Other examples

　　(1) I could not feel better.

　　(2) You can’t be too careful.

　　(3) It’s anyone’s guess.

　　(4) We agree to disagree without being disagreeable.

　　(5) Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

　　B.Extensive reading

　　1.Goal

　　The goal is different from that of intensive reading. The emphasis is on speed and quantity. So you need to read easier things and to read more.

　　(1) To form the habit of reading faster and being able to get the gist. Break away from the habit of translating every sentence (in mind) into Chinese and then feeling you understand the thing.

　　(2) To expose yourself more to the language. Do not look up a word unless the word unless the word appears for the third time.

　　(3) To acquire more information through reading.

　　(4) To have more material for speaking and writing.

　　2.Materials:

　　Reading material should be easier than what you are having in intensive reading. Otherwise you cannot read quickly.

　　(1)Simplified books: read 40-50 books of which 20 or so should be read at least three times.

　　(2)Readers’ Digest or easy originals (Book of Knowledge).