从考试角度考虑，阅读理解的关键要抓两点：一是准确无误，二是答题迅速。因此工程硕士阅读需要解决的一个根本问题就是如何在有限的时间内高效率地完成阅读题。换言之，怎样才能做的又好又快——这就少不了快速阅读的方法技巧。常见的快读方法有计时阅读(Timed Reading)、略读(Skimming)、寻读(Scanning)、意群阅读(Sense Group Reading) 等。我们在此向大家一一介绍这些方法技巧。

　　1. 计时阅读

　　计时阅读是提高阅读速度最有效的方法之一。其具体的方法是：先记下起读时间(starting time)，阅读完毕记，读完时间(finishing time)，即可计算出本次阅读速度。以下面一道工程硕士阅读样题为例：

　　Elephants who paint aren’t new. Paintings by Ruby, an Asian elephant who lived at the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona, sold for up to $5,000 in the late 1980s, said Dick George, a consultant with the zoo.

　　"Ruby was about seven months old when she first came to the zoo," said George. "She lived with a goat and some chickens, but she didn’t have an elephant companion for a number of years. She spent a lot of time drawing in the dirt with a stick to make her days more stimulating. Her keeper bought her some art supplies. ” George said, “Ruby was excited about painting right from the beginning. ”

　　The elephants at the art academies in the Southeast Asia are taught to hold a paintbrush with the tip of their trunks. Initially, the keeper guides the elephant' s trunk over the canvas (画布) and offers rewards for good performance.

　　"It only takes a few hours to a day to teach them," said Mia Fineman, an art historian whose book When Elephants Paint is an illustrated history of the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project. 188

　　11. Ruby was an Asian elephant_____.

　　A. who was sold for a price as high as $ 5,000

　　B. ho was famous for being the first painting elephant

　　C. hose paintings sold for as high as $5,000

　　D. ho started painting in the late 1980s.

　　12. Why did Ruby start painting according to Dick George?

　　A. Because she was seven years old.

　　B. Because she was the first to come to the zoo.

　　C. Because she learned a lot from the goat and the chickens.

　　D. Because she had no elephant partners to play with.

　　13. How did Ruby paint at the very beginning?

　　A. She used a stick to draw in the dirt.

　　B. She spent much time in the dirt.

　　C. She stimulated herself every day.

　　D. She painted with her keeper' s art supplies.

　　14. To encourage the elephants to paint well, the keeper_____.

　　A. bought them a lot of art supplies

　　B. made them excited at the beginning

　　C. taught them to hold a paintbrush with their trunks

　　D. reinforced the desired behaviors with rewards

　　15. When Elephants Paint is a book_____.

　　A. on the history of arts

　　B. about the painting elephants in Asia

　　C. explaining how to teach elephants to paint

　　D. chiefly theorizing about elephant art

　　全文正文为188个词，5个问题209个词，总共397词。按每分钟70个词的速度，限时在5分半钟内完成阅读，再加上3分钟选择答案的时间，总共8分钟完成此题。

　　要是限时不能完成怎么办？不要延长时间。无论如何，需要养成快速阅读的习惯。可考虑适当降低阅读材料的难度，从四级阅读题开始训练，以后逐渐加大阅读的难度。这样坚持一段时间，速度也就随之上去了。

　　由于快速阅读时精力高度集中，因此阅读时间不宜太长，一次半小时就行了。因为时间一长容易产生疲劳，精力分散，起不到强化训练的作用。每次练习后应及时总结，发现问题随手记下。这样长期坚持下去，必能收到明显的效果。

　　2. 略读法

　　略读又称浏览或掠读，就是迅速地阅读，以求抓住文章的梗概。略读的目的是为获得大意或者总体印象而进行阅读。略读作为一种快速阅读技巧对我们来说并不陌生。这就像我们看报纸时，几版、十几版的页面不可能一字不漏地往下看，只能用最快的速度找出主题，略掉一些无关紧要的细节或与主题不甚相干的部分，知道其中的大概内容即可。这种方法要求我们不要把眼睛盯在具体的每个单词上，而是要看篇章中的主题句或者是从篇章的结构着手，利用自己的推理能力，对文章的信息进行分析，从而归纳总结出主题。善于略读的人会有选择地阅读，跳过一些无关的句子、段落甚至是整页的内容，只看自己感兴趣的东西。训练有素的略读者的阅读速度可以达到每分钟1000个词以上。略读的关键在于一个“略”字，注意力应该集中在大意，而不是细节上。试以下文为例：

　　Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me here and there.

　　I have sought love, first because it brings ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what at last I have found.

　　With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux.

　　Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberated in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

　　This has been my life, I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

　　使用略读法，我们的目光只去捕捉以下关键的字眼：

　　第一段：Three passions,. . . , have governed my life: (l)the longing for love, (2)the search for knowledge, (3) unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind;

　　第二段：I have sought love because (l) it brings ecstasy… ; (2) it relieves loneliness…; (3) I have seen…. the vision of the heaven;

　　第三段：With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to (l) understand …; (2) to know why the stars shine…. And I have tried to apprehend ….

　　第四段：Love and knowledge…led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. …I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

　　第五段：This has been my life, …and would gladly live it again.

　　这样一来，大大减轻了阅读的负担，一篇近300词的文章，阅读其中的100个词就能概括全部的内容。略读归纳起来也就两句话：去粗取精，不失要点。

　　3. 寻读法

　　所谓“寻读”，就是通过目光扫视，以最快的速度从一篇文章中披沙拣金，迅速寻找出你所期望得到的某一具体情况、数据等。以日常生活为例。假如你要买一台价格适中、性能良好的计算机，你可浏览有关计算机广告。各种广告林林总总，品牌不同、功能各异、价格不等。你便可先从价格上考虑，通过寻读，找出几个你准备买的型号，然后从性能、信誉上进行比较，最选中你想买的那一台。同理，寻读法也常见于阅读考试的细节题中。这种方法的特点是有的放矢，为我所用。譬如根据提问查找某一人名、地名，某一件事发生的年月或其他类似的情况。工程硕士阅读理解的细节题寻读技巧利要是用得当，往往会省时省事，答案迅速而准确。以2003年的阅读试卷中的第4篇为例，这是一篇

　　Questions 26-30 are based on the following weather forecast:

　　Weather Forecast

　　The following forecast shows for the listed cities the projected weather conditions and the expected range of temperatures from the afternoon high to the evening low.

　　Atlanta : Mostly fair. 88-70 TMinneapolis : Mostly cloudy. 68-50 T

　　Boston : Partly cloudy. 78-61 TNew Orleans: Mostly fair. 92-73 T

　　Chicago : Thunderstorm likely. 82-67 °FPhiladelphia ; Hazy and warm. 90-68 T

　　Cleveland : Mostly cloudy. 84-68 TPhoenix : Sunny and warm. 99-66 T

　　Dallas; Thunderstorms likely. 91-75 TPittsburg : Partly cloudy. 81-64 °F

　　Denver : Rain likely. 63-43 TSt. Louis : Thunderstorms likely. 86-70 T

　　Houston : Partly cloudy. 90-78 TSan Francisco; Mostly fair. 73-60 T

　　Kansas City: Thunderstorms likely. 73-63 °FSeattle : Mostly fair. 74-50 T

　　Las Vegas :Sunny and warm. 93-56 TToronto ; Rain likely. 83-68 T

　　Los Angeles : Mostly sunny. 88-60 °FWashington D. C. Partly cloudy. 88-72 T

　　Miami; Partly cloudy. 88-79 T

　　26. According to the forecast, _____.

　　A. Kansas City will be warmer than Toronto

　　B. temperatures will be the lowest in Seattle and Minneapolis

　　C. the weather will be fine in most of the listed cities

　　D. more than half of the listed cities are cloudy or rain likely

　　27. Among the following four cities, the difference between the afternoon high and the evening low is smallest in _____.

　　A. Kansas City

　　B. Miami

　　C. Atlanta

　　D. Seattle

　　28. Which of the following cities is closest to Miami in weather conditions?

　　A. Boston B. Atlanta C. Washington D. C. D. Houston

　　29. The difference between the afternoon high and the evening low is greatest in _____.

　　A. Seattle B. Los Angeles C. Las Vegas D. Phoenix

　　30. The differences between the afternoon high and the evening low are the same in _____.

　　A. Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, and St. Louis

　　B. Atlanta, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Seattle

　　C. Cleveland, Dallas, St. Louis, and Washington D. C.

　　D. Pittsburg, Miami, Houston, and Boston

　　通过寻读，我们很快就可以把目光定在全文最后一段的最后一句上：“Straitfold, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice”。题干问的是Straitfold以什么最感到自豪，“independent voice” 也即是“独立的声音”。将几个选项进行对比，稍加思索我们就不难找到正确答案：nonconformist image (不随大众的形象)，所以选项B是正确答案。

　　4. 意群阅读法

　　所谓“意群”也即是有意义的语法结构(英语称作sense groups)，通常为词组、短语。顾名思义，“意群阅读法”也就是按词组、短语在文中的组合意义整体阅读，而不是单个的词汇阅读。我们知道，词是语句的基本组成单位，意群是语句的基本构成单元。单个词并无多大意义，只有组合起来，在上下文关系中形成特殊的意群，才能获得特殊的、确定的意义。以前面“寻读”中的一句为例：Straitfold, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice，我们要是按9个单词汇一个个地读作Straitfold, says, Friedman, takes, pride, in, its, independent, voice，不但速度慢，而且形不成一个完整的意思。与此相反，要是我们将其分为4个意群来读：Straitfold, / says Friedman,/ takes pride in /its independent voice/，阅读效率就高多了。

　　由此可见，意群阅读是提高阅读效率、把握文章整体的关键。因此，我们在阅读文章的时候，目光不应当停留在每个单词上，而应当放在中心词上，把目光集中在意群的中心，从一个意群中心词到另一个意群中心词，这样的意群整体扫描是提高阅读速度的行之有效之法。

　　汉语常常用“一目十行”来形容某人读书速度快。英语的阅读训练有素者同样能达到这一境界。但对于一般的普通读者来说，能做到“一目数词”也相当不错了——这大大超出了大纲所规定的每分钟60个词的阅读速度。我们发现，阅读速度慢的人的阅读模式类似小学低年级学生读课本，看一个字读一个字，然后再想这个字的意思。这样的阅读方法眼睛再快也跟不上国家对工程硕士要求的速度。因此，要提高阅读速度，就得根除逐字阅读的坏习惯。而按意群阅读，既能提高目光的效率，又有利于整体思维，连词成句。

　　下面读者不妨自己做这样一个比较，先按逐字阅读的习惯方法阅读以下段落，看看要用多少时间。

　　Many small cultural groups live in places far away from modern cities. Some of these tribes have never had any communication outside of their small geographical areas. When they do contact the outside world, their lives usually change. Learning how to change without losing the best of their own cultures is a problem for them. How can primitive cultures learn to live in a technological world？How can they do this without becoming lost？ (75词)

　　然后再用意群阅读法阅读下面同一段落，看看共花多少时间。为了便于阅读，我们用分隔号“／”把句中的一个个意群隔开。

　　Many small cultural groups／live in places／far away from modern cities. ／Some of these tribes have never had／any communication／outside of their small geographical areas. ／When they do contact／the outside world,／their lives usually change. ／Learning how to change／without losing the best／of their own cultures／is a problem for them. ／How can primitive cultures／learn to live／in a technological world？／How can they do this／without becoming lost？ (18个意群)

　　显而易见，采用“意群阅读法”能一眼同时看到三个词或五个词，甚至更多的词。这样就大大节省了阅读的时间，起到事半功倍的作用。

　　5. 识别信号词

　　所谓“信号词”(Signal Words) 是指一些在阅读中起着信号提示的词语。这些词语预示着将要读到的内容与上下文存在什么样的关系，或具有什么样的逻辑意思。因为我们知道，文章的句子不是无序地排列，而是按照一定关系，有目的、有规律地组织起来的。注意信号词能使我们了解作者的思路，理顺该句与上下文之间的逻辑关系，从而提高阅读理解的效率和准确率。请看下面这一段落：

　　In that mill, I learned the process of making paper. First, the logs are put in the shredder. Then, they are cut into small chips and mixed with water and acid. Next, they are heated and crushed to a heavy pulp to be cleaned. It is also chemically bleached to whiten it. After this, it is passed through rollers to flatten it. Then, sheets of wet paper are produced. Finally, the water is removed from the sheets which are pressed, dried and refined until the finished paper is produced.

　　作者通过表示先后顺序的信号词first, then, next, after this, then 和finally, 有条不紊地描述出造纸工艺的整个过程。

　　信号词的类别

　　信号词可以归纳为下面几种：

　　l)表示递进的信号词：

　　after all, also, again, and then, as well as, further more, additionally, in addition, in other words, moreover, to repeat等；

　　2)预示有相同或类似内容的信号词：

　　and, also, moreover, further, likewise, in addition, besides, similarly, as well as, the same as等；

　　3)预示有不同或相反内容出现的信号词：

　　but, however, while, whereas, on the other hand, on the contrary, as apposed to, to the opposite, otherwise等；

　　4)表示因果关系的信号词：

　　as, for, since, because, as a result, consequently, thus, so, therefore, for this reason, so that, thereby等；

　　5)表示条件性的信号词：

　　if, in case, assuming that, on condition that, on the supposition that, provided that等；

　　6) 表示总结性内容的信号词：

　　in short, in a word, in brief, briefly, in conclusion, as a result, in sum, to sum up, by and large, to conclude等；

　　7) 表示先后关系顺序的信号词：

　　before, after, another, first, next, then, last, finally, afterwards, later on, since then, eventually, in the end, at last等；

　　8) 表示解释、举例说明关系的信号词：

　　for example, for instance, such as, to illustrate, evidently, obviously, in other words, that is to say, the same as等；

　　9) 表示目的的信号词：

　　in order to, in order that, so that, so as to, for the purpose that等。

　　下面一例考试的一段文字录音稿就有带有各类不同功能的信号词。

　　If you're in your 20s, you own your first car, your career is more or less launched, and you're starting to look forward to owning a home. But you’re worried, too. Perhaps you’ve got some debt. You probably don't have much in the way of savings. And with all your expenses, it doesn't look like you'll be able to improve that situation soon.

　　If you wonder how to cut corners, there's an obvious place to look—at your spending habits.

　　Do you buy a soda each weekend? Waste $1 a day for 40 years and, when you're set to retire, you'll find your account is short by $190,000. Grab a calculator and you' 11 discover that, over 40 years, going out to dinner twice a month at $40 each time amounts to half a million. Even a pack-a-day cigarette habit will lighten your retirement account by $330,000. And the same with cable TV and those cool earrings. They will probably amount to as much as one million.

　　So, the first clue to accumulating wealth is this: focus on your spending habits.

　　要是我们能把握住其中的黑体字信号词，那么将有助于全文的理解，提高做题的效率。

　　6. 猜测不认识的词语

　　在阅读文章的过程中，考生面临最大的问题是遇到不认识的单词或短语，或者认识的单词在文章中有了新的含义。如果这些词或短语不影响对文章主要内容的理解，考生便可以将它们略过，不中断阅读。如果这些词语的意思对正确理解文章很重要，就必须根据上下文的联系，根据构词法或其他方法对它们的意义进行猜测，使之不影响对整篇文章的理解。猜测词义通常可采用以下几种方法。

　　1) 利用上下文确定词义

　　通过上下文来猜测词意是阅读考试中最常用的重要手段之一，联系上下文可以帮助我们理解句子，确定词义。下面我们通过一些实例来简要说明如何通过上下文来确定词义。

　　例1：He is successful as a businessman because of his dynamic personality. He seems to have unlimited energy.

　　对于dynamic一词大家可能不熟悉，下文的He seems to have unlimited energy…(他似乎有用不完的劲)就是对 dynamic词义的解释。这样，我们便知道该词意为“有干劲的”。

　　例2：Sociology is the term used to describe the scientific study of human society。

　　假定sociology是一个不认识的词，系动词be后面就给出了明确的定义。这样，我们便知道该词意思为“社会学”。

　　例3：A first-year college or university student is commonly a 'freshman', and ‘sophomore’, 'junior’ and 'senior' designate the second—third—and fourth—year student.

　　要是对sophomore, junior 和senior几个术语不熟悉，通过后面的对应解释词语the second—third—and fourth—year student我们便不难知道它们分别是指二、三、四年级的大学生。

　　例4：The tired soldiers trudged through knee-deep mud for hours before they found a dry place to sleep.

　　通过后面的through knee-deep mud(没膝深的泥浆)，我们知道trudged一词的意思为与行走这一动作有关，在泥浆中行走，也就是“跋涉”。

　　例5：When it comes to manufactured goods there is actually more diversity in this country than Europe has ever known. The variety of goods carried by our stores is the first thing that impresses any visitor from abroad。

　　第二句中的variety与第一句中的diversity 同义，这样，我们便不难知道diversity的大意是“种类”或“品种”。

　　下面我们联系上下文，试确定以下各句中斜体字的含义。

　　1. The woman and the children were skilful in boats too, but there were usually several of them in a large boat called umiak.

　　2. The doctor said that if a person ate even one leaf of the hemlock plant, he would die, because the plant is a deadly poison.

　　3. Although dogs and cats often have large families, rabbits are famous for the size of their litters, which sometimes number more than twelve bunnies at one time.

　　4. Mark became hysterical when his basketball team won, and he did not calm down for several days.

　　5. With mud from head to toe, flowers still clutched in his hand, John looked so ludicrous that we couldn’t help laughing.

　　6. A bee collects nectar not in its own stomach but in a kind of shopping bag (called the honey sac) similar to the one ants have.

　　7. Several generations ago, the world seemed to run in an orderly way. Now, however, everything is in a state of turmoil.

　　8. After the first time someone tried to rob him, the banker became flustered easily, and in his confusion he would make many careless errors.

　　9. Jane was intrigued by the behavior of animals; she could sit for hours observing a bird making a nest or an ant carrying a leaf.

　　10. Some chimps are very independent and appear to be the superior members of a group; others seem to be ruled by the leaders and are quite submissive.

　　通过上串下联，我们不难确定上述各句中斜体字的含义如下：

　　1. umiak n. 一种大船

　　2. hemlock n. 一种有毒植物(毒芹)

　　3. litter n. 一窝 bunnies小兔子

　　4. hysterical a. 歇斯底里，异常兴奋

　　5. ludicrous a. . 滑稽可笑的

　　6. nectar n. 花蜜 honey sac蜜胃

　　7. turmoil n. 混乱

　　8. flustered a. 慌乱的

　　9. intrigued a. 感兴趣

　　10. submissive a. 顺从的

　　2) 利用构词法确定词义

　　掌握英语构词法，是提高阅读速度的技巧之一。在很多情况下，通过构词分析，便能理解不认识生词的含义，不至于中断阅读。因此，考生应当有效地利用自己所熟悉的词缀(包括前缀和后缀)和词根，通过构词法来是确定生词的含义。

　　例1：Many cancers have been arrested with the use of chemotherapy.

　　Chemotherapy 是由chemo(意为chemical)和therapy (意为treatment)，整个单词意思就是“化学疗法”。

　　例2：They overestimate the interviewee’s ability and asked turn many difficult questions.

　　overestimate ＝over (过分、过度)＋estimate (估计)。因此overestimate的词义可猜测为“过高估计”。

　　例3：The murderer had developed a poison which could not be tasted or smelled when mixed with food. Because it was imperceptible, he was able to murder a number of people without being caught.

　　句中的imperceptible 一词由前缀im-(非，不)＋词根percept(感知、觉察)＋后缀 -ible(能……的)构成。几部分组合在一起，也就是“难以觉察的”之意。

　　例4：Social science is that branch of intellectual enquiry which seeks to study humans and their endeavors in the same reasoned, orderly, systematic, and dispassioned manner that natural scientists use for the study of natural phenomena. (2003工程硕士英语第62题)

　　其中的 dispassioned为超纲词，我们可根据构词法dis + passion + ed知其大概意思：除掉激情的，也即是“冷静的”。

　　3) 利用语法知识确定词义

　　在很多情况下，各种语法知识可以帮助我们来判断词性、词义。

　　例1：This set of books is for children. The first book of the sequence, which is one of the most popular series of children’s stories, is a group of stories about the inhabitants of a village.

　　假定我们不认识sequence，利用定语从句which is one of the most popular series of children’s stories, 其中series就与sequence 同义，也就是“丛书”的意思。

　　例2：For their fishing and hunting the men used a kayak, a small boat for one person.

　　利用同位语a small boat for one person我们知道kayak是一种单人小船。

　　例3：A solar eclipse—when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun—in an unusual and interesting phenomenon that occurs rarely.

　　通过破折号解释我们知道solar eclipse为“日食”。

　　例4：Ventilation, as we know, is a system or means of providing fresh air. It plays a very important part in the field of engineering.

　　通过后面的解释我们知道Ventilation为“通风，流通空气”之意。

　　例5：The modern age of medicine began with the stethoscope, an instrument for listening to a patient’s heartbeat and breathing.

　　Stethoscope一词大家都不熟悉，通过后面的同位语解释an instrument for listening to a patient’s heartbeat and breathing，我们便能理解stethoscope的确切词义，即“听诊器”或“听筒”的意思。

　　4) 根据同义、反义关系确定词义

　　阅读中，特别是要注意表示反意的信号词：in contrast, on the other hand, rather than, however, yet, although, while, unlike, but, whereas, as opposed to等，利用这些同义、反义关系，可以帮助我们确定词义。

　　例1：My sister Mane is an optimist, while her boyfriend is one who is always gloomy and expects the worst to happen.

　　从while的转折关系可知optimist意思是“one who expects the best”, 即“乐观的”。

　　例2：Mother was tall, fat, and middle aged. The principal of the school was an older woman, almost as plump as Mother, and much shorter.

　　根据Mother was tall, fat 以及后面as plump as的同义关系，我们知道plump为“丰满的”之意。

　　例3：Sally liked to concoct all sorts of stories, but her mother always knew when she was lying.

　　concoct一词大家不熟悉，根据but的转折关系我们知道在此句中与was lying的含义大体相同，由此可知concoct的大概意思是“编造谎话”。

　　例4：A gorilla always makes me think of the word aloof—not friendly, of distance from others.

　　假定我们不认识aloof一词，破折号后的反义关系：“不友好，冷漠” 就解释了aloof一词的含义。

　　5)利用逻辑推理和常识确定词义

　　有时候，逻辑推理和自身的生活经验及普通常识能帮助我们确定词义。

　　例1：Fishes live in water and have fins which help them to swim. Most fishes have slimy skins covered with scales, but in fishes such as eels the scales are very small and can hardly be seen.

　　凭常识我们不难猜出fins, slimy和scales的确切意思分别是“鳍”、“滑溜的”和“鳞”，对于eels一词，我们只需知道是fish的一种(鳝鱼类)就行了。

　　例2：Not wanting to disturb the sleeping kitten, I gingerly lifted her from the box and put her on a blanket near the heater.

　　根据前半句的Not wanting to disturb(不愿打扰)，我们便可大致推测出gingerly一词的含义：“小心翼翼地”。

　　例3：A mercury thermometer is made of a glass tube with a bulb at one end.

　　凭常识我们知道温度计下面的bulb是“水银球”。

　　例4：Most troubles can be avoided, but death and taxes are inevitable.

　　凭常识我们知道死亡和税收是不可避免的(inevitable)事情。