【英语趣味课堂】阅读策略-Reading Strategy

Todd: So, Alexandra, you're going to be a lawyer.

 

Alexandra: Yes, I am.

 

Todd: Very impressive¹ and you're in law school and you were saying that in law school the reading load is very difficult.

 

Alexandra: Yes, for each class you have to read a few thousand pages over the course of three months, a semester², and it can be very difficult because you have five classes or more depending on your schedule so you end up reading from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep and try not to fall sleep in your book, so that can be difficult, so I try to read for awhile, maybe 50 minutes and take a ten minute break, stand up, walk around the room, and then get back to it or else it's too much information. It won't go in my head.

 

Todd: Yeah, how do you retain³ everything?

 

Alexandra: You just go back. You take notes for every 50 minute block. You stand up at the 10 minute block and stretch, come back and try write down what you read and try to, you know, do small little bullet⁴ points of what you read and that sort of keeps it in your mind.

 

Todd: That's a good strategy⁵. Wow. Do you do anything to actually increase your reading speed?

 

Alexandra: No, you can't. With law you have to read each word, because each word has a particular definition⁶. It could be a procedure⁷ in a courtroom which has particular steps, so if you omit⁸ words, or skip things you might miss the whole point of the case, so you can't speed read as it were. That's why you need to do it, you read for a long time. You just have to be careful and try to take enough breaks to give yourself a rest.

 

 

学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

reading load

 

In law school the reading load is very difficult.

 

The "reading load" that you have is the amount of information that you have to read and understand.  We also use the phrase⁹ "work load" describe the amount of work that needs to be completed.  Notice the following:

 

His reading load in school was so heavy that he had almost no free time.

Does that class have a heavy reading load?

over the course

 

Read a few thousand pages over the course of three months.

 

'Over the course' is a phrase that we use to talk about something that started and continued for a long period of time.  It can be replaced with the word "during."  Notice the following:

 

Over the course of the next three years we lived in 7 different houses.

Over the course of the next few hours the line was never shorter than 10 people.

get back to it

 

Take a ten minute break, then get back to it.

 

To 'get back to something' is to return to it or start working on it again.  Notice the following:

 

I have to get back to my house right away after work.

Thank you very much for lunch, now I need to get back to work.

bullet points

 

Do small bullet points of what you read.

 

A 'bullet point' is a note of important information.  Notice the following:

 

She read the bullet points slowly.

There was a list of bullet points describing the positives of the new products.

procedure

 

It could be a procedure in a courtroom.

 

The 'procedure' for doing something is the actions that you must do and the correct order for doing them.  Notice the following:

 

The operation procedure will take less than two hours.

What is the general procedure for asking for vacation days?

1 impressive   

adj.给人深刻印象的，感人的

参考例句：

• This cinema is so impressive that we can't help crying.这影片如此感人以至我们禁不住流下泪来。
• The suit made him look especially impressive.他穿上这套衣服真精神。

2 semester   

n.一学期，半学年，六个月的时间

参考例句：

• A student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.每个学生一学期可能要修四五门课程。
• I had an especially rough time during my first semester.我第一个学期的日子难受极了。

3 retain   

vt.保持，保留；记住

参考例句：

• We shall retain our rights.我们将保留我们的权利。
• China dishes retain heat longer than metal pans.瓷器盘子比金属盘子保温时间长。

4 bullet   

n.枪弹，子弹

参考例句：

• The bullet wound in his shoulder was opened up for treatment.切开他肩上的枪伤进行治疗。
• The bullet missed me by a hair's s breadth.那颗子弹差一点就打中了我。

5 strategy   

n.方法，策略，战略

参考例句：

• The only way to take the enemy position is by strategy,not by forceful attack.只可智取，不可强攻。
• Tactics differs from strategy.战术有别于战略。

6 definition   

n.定义；限定，确定；清晰度

参考例句：

• The book attempts a definition of his role in world politics.该书要阐明的是他在世界政局中的作用。
• I made a definition for this word.我给这个字下了定义。

7 procedure   

n.程序，手续，步骤；常规的做法

参考例句：

• The results show clearly that this procedure is correct.事实充分说明这种做法是正确的。
• It has passed through an interesting procedure of evolution.它经过了一个有趣的进化过程。

8 omit   

v.略去，省去，遗漏；疏忽，忘记做某事

参考例句：

• Don't omit this paragraph when you write your report.写报告时不要删去这一节。
• Tell us everything that occurred.Don't omit any detail.告诉我们所发生的一切。不要漏掉任何细节。

9 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。