Active Reading

Part One: Words and Expressions

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 material in general, to any type of reading matter—to newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, articles, tracts, even advertisements.

principally adv. 主要地；大部分

tract n. 束；大片土地，地带；小册子

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.

passive adj. 被动的，消极的；被动语态的

immobilized adj. 固定化的

exert vt. 运用，发挥；施以影响

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 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.

strictly adv. 严格地；完全地；确实地

undertakings n. 事业（undertaking的复数形式）；担保，保证；承诺

passive adj. 被动的，消极的；被动语态的      initiative [反]

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. 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.

pitching v. 使倾斜（pitch的ing形式）；投掷；用沥青涂；为…定调

initiate vt. 开始，创始；发起；使初步了解

batter n. 击球手；（用鸡蛋、牛奶、面粉等调成的）糊状物；墙面的倾斜

terminate vt. 使终止；使结束；解雇

inert adj. [化学] 惰性的；呆滞的；迟缓的；无效的

analogy n. 类比；类推；类似

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, change ups and knucklers. Similarly, the art of reading is the skill of catching every sort of communication as well as possible.

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.

noteworthy adj. 值得注意的；显著的

possession n. 拥有；财产；领地；自制；着迷

Admittedly,writers vary, just as pitchers do. Some writers have excellent “control”; they know 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.”

precisely adv. 精确地；恰恰

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.

execute vt. 实行；执行；处死

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 in a good reading. The person who can perform more of them is better able to read.

entail vt. 使需要，必需；承担；遗传给；蕴含

suffice vt. 使满足；足够…用；合格

Part 2 Thought

作者整篇文章都在比较接球和阅读之间的异同。毋庸置疑的是阅读和接球很像，作者写作给读者看，发球者将球扔给接球者。这两个活动整个过程中，只有文字和球是被动者，而我们可能认为的接球者和读者都不是被动接受的一方。不同的地方在于，接球者接不接得到球只有两种可能，即接的到和接不到，而读者在接受程度上就有各自的差别。读者花的精力越多就可能接收到更多作者想传达的信息。而作者的水平越高也越能似的读者容易获得信息。

阅读一定要积极去面对，不能把阅读看做一个被动的动作，而是积极去阅读去发掘作者的信息。越愿意花费精力和时间去阅读，收货也就越大。