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 and practiced, develop such skill can be applied also to printed materialin general, to any type of reading matter—to newspapers, magazines, pamphlets,articles, tracts, even advertisements.

词：principally. adv. 主要地. equals to  mainly.    

principal. adj.主要的；最重要的。仅用于名词前

pamphlet. 小册子   brochure（宣传册） tracts（宗教题材的小册子）

段：开头提出这本书的目的在于发展阅读技巧及其适用范围。

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 attention to 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 another in 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.

词：contrast .使形成对比 （show different）;compare 比较 （similar or different）

call attention to  请（某人）注意；引起（某人）注意

in proportion 成比例的

exert v. 运用权力，施加影响；努力

段：提出要主动阅读普遍存在于阅读中，阅读越主动收获越大。

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 out some effort, but no work need be done by the reader or listener.Reading and listening are thought of as receiving communication from someonewho 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 judgmentfrom the court. On the contrary, the reader or listener is much more like the catcher in a game of baseball.

词：undertaking n.任务

段：指出常见误区即阅读不像写作那样主动这一观点，并通过棒球的例子进行反驳。

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 theball. 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. It is the inert thing that is put in motion or stopped, whereas the players are active, moving to pitch, hit, or catch. The analogy with writing and reading is almost perfect. The thing that is written and read, like the ball, is the passive object common to the two activities that begin and terminate the process.

词：inert n.不动的；无行动能力的

段：将棒球的发球接球比喻写和读。

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 communicationas well as possible.

词：changeup 慢速球； knuckler 慢速变化球

段：继续拿棒球比喻，指出阅读也像棒球的接球一样是有各种技巧的。

It is noteworthy that the pitcher and catcher are successful only to the extent that they cooperate. The relation of writer and reader is similar. The writer isn’t trying not to be caught, although it sometimes seems so. Successful communication occurs in any case where what the writer wanted to have received finds its way into the reader’s possession. The writer’s skill and the reader’s skill converge upon a common end.

词： noteworthy  n.值得注意的；显著的   

find its way into  到达

converge v.汇聚

段： 成功的交流是作者和读者的共鸣，这需要双方的共同努力就像棒球的投球手和接球手的配合一样。（阅读，是作者和读者的一场合谋！）

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

词：admittedly  诚然，确实地

段：作者变化无常，因此需要读者掌握高超的阅读技巧。

There is one respect in which the analogy breaks down. The ball is a simple unit. It is either completely caught or not. A piece of writing, however, is a complex object. It can be received more or less completely, all the way from very little 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 the process, as well as upon the skill with which he executes the different mental acts involved.

段：棒球的接球只有成败与否，而阅读在于理解的程度深浅。

What does active reading entail? We will return to this question many times in this book. For the moment, it suffices to say that, given the same thing to read,one person reads it better than another, first, by reading it 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 writing is. It consists of a large number of separate acts, all of which must be performed ina good reading. The person who can perform more of them is better able to read.

词：entail v.需要

suffice vi.足够 vt.使满足 （数量或质量）

段：主动阅读需要什么？态度和技巧。