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Reading
Activity
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Skill:
Reading Attack Skill I
---Using Context Clues for Word Meanings (Part I )
When you read a comprehension text, you will inevitably
find some words you don't know. Sometimes you take time out
to look up a new word in the dictionary, but doing that too
many times slows down your reading. In fact, you can often figure
out(推测) meanings for new words or expressions―the sentence that
the word or expression is in and the sentences that come before
or after. It is usually possible to find hints(提示) or clues
about its definition from the context.
Context Clue 1: Definition
Sometimes a writer knows that a word is unfamiliar or strange
to many readers. To makethe word easier to understand, the writer
may include a definition of the word in a sentence.This context
clue is the easiest one to spot(认出). Look at the following examples:
a. All other birthdays are called
sing il (born day). The sixty-first birthday is called huan
gup (beginning of new life).
b. The harbor (港口) is protected
by a jetty ? a wall built out into the water.
c. Jane is indecisive, that is,
she can't make up her mind.
Context Clue 2: Restatement
More often, you may find a restatement, which tells you
almost as much as a definition. Look at these examples:
a. He had a wan look. He was so
pale and weak that we thought he was ill.
b. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a noxious
gas which can cause death.
c. I am a resolute man. Once I
set up a goal, I won't give it up easily.
Context Clue 3:General knowledge
Sometimes you can make an intelligent guess of the meaning
of some new words or expressions if you put together related
information from the surrounding text. Just look at the following
examples:
a. "She went to school for
12 years and she can't write a sentence?" Timken said.
" They made an illiterate out of my daughter!"
b. Timken was now angry… Once again
he flew into a rage.
c. Just before the exam Carl's
hands shook and sweated so much that he could not hold a pen.
His heart beat fast and his stomach ached, even though he knew
the subject well. He really had a strange phobia about taking
a test. |
| First
Reading Carefully read the following text at your
normal speed. After the first reading do Exercise A. |
| lucky a. 幸运的 |
actor n. 演员 |
| argument n. 争辩；理由 |
living room n. 起居室 |
| violence n. 暴力 |
disagree vi. 不同意；有分歧 |
| argue vi. 争论 |
deny vt. 否认 |
| influence n. 影响 |
concern vt. 使关心；使挂念 |
| coast n. 海滨 |
handful n. 一把；少数 |
| spoil vt. 损坏；毁掉 |
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A NEW TOY
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See
translation |
I was eight years
old when our neighbors across
the hall got a television. It was very small and very expensive,
but that didn't matter. IT
WAS WONDERFUL. Everyone in the building came up to the
fifth floor to see this latest wonder
of the modern world. Some people, the lucky ones, stayed
for a while and got to watch a whole program. That was in 1948.
Soon a lot of people got new television, but not us. My parents
didn't like television. They didn't
think it was good for children. Being a good, docile
son, I didn't argue with them. But I did secretly watch television-
at my friend's homes.
By 1955 televisions weren't too expensive and they were much
larger. My parents still thought television wasn't good for
us, but my sister insisted.
They said we were the only people in the neighborhood who didn't
have one. All their friends talked about certain programs and
actors, but my sister couldn't. Their friends laughed at them,
and my sisters felted wretched, very unhappy.
One day, my youngest sister came from school and started to
cry. (1) She said she was never going back to school and
that life without a television wasn't worth living. She
cried and sobbed. My parents' usual
arguments only made her more inconsolable. Nothing they
said made her feel any better. Well, what could they do?
The next morning, without telling us, my parents went out
and got a new TV. That afternoon an antenna was put on the roof.
Suzanne came home from school and ran into the house.
"Where is it? Where is it?" she cried. " I
know it's here." She was breathless, and her
eyes were shiny with excitement.
"It's in the living room," my mother said as my
sister ran off to look at, to admire, this beautiful thing called
a television.
Later I asked her, "How did you know the TV was here?"
"That antenna. Now our house looks like everyone else's."
She had a wonderful smile on her face.
When we were young our parents allowed us to watch TV two
hours a night. Oh, yes. And we couldn't watch until our homework
was finished. But after a year or two, TV wasn't exciting or
new anymore. It became just another
part of our lives, like shoes or soap. My parents still
had fears about TV. We were going to forget how to read, they
said. And we were not going to read books because watching
TV was easier, they said. And
TV was going to fill our minds with violence, they
said. They said lots of things like that- one a day at
least. I disagreed with them. I thought they were old-fashioned,
thinking too much of old days and ideas.
Today, people still argue about the value of TV. Nobody can
deny the power of TV. It has
an enormous, very powerful, influence on our lives. On the average,
Americans spend 30 hours a week watching TV. Is this influence
good or bad? This is an unanswerable question indeed: It is
hard enough to measure influence; and it is even harder to decide
what is good and what isn't. (2) What is good, I suppose,
is that many people are concerned about TV's influence and that
we have the power to change what we don't like.
Recently I read an article in the newspaper about the people
of Monhegan Island, 18 kilometers off the coast of Maine. These
people don't have electricity, and they decided, once again,
that they liked it that way. Only
a handful of people live there during the long winter,
and they live without electricity- by
choice. (3) Electricity, they think, would make things
too easy and spoil their way of life. Maybe the young people
wouldn't want to go to town dances anymore. (4) Maybe
they would be more interested in staying home and watching television.
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Exercise
A
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Key
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1. docile: obedient 听话的
2. wretched: very unhappy 很不开心
3. inconsolable: not to be comforted
没法安慰的
4. antenna: a wire put up on the top
of a house to receive television broadcasts
天线
5. old-fashioned: thinking too much
of old ways or ideas 守旧的
6. enormous: very powerful; very, very
large 巨大的
7. unanswerable: that can not be answered
没法回答的
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The word underlined in each
of the following sentences might have a meaning you
don't know. Try to use context hints or clues in the
sentences in order to make up a definition. After you
write the underlined word in the first blank space,
write your definition either in English or in Chinese
in the second blank space. 
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1. Being a good, docile son, I
didn't argue with them. _______ ____________________
2. Their friends laughed at them, and my sisters
felted wretched, very unhappy. ___________________
3. My parents' usual arguments only made her more
inconsolable. Nothing they said made her feel any better___________________
4. my parents went out and got a new TV. That afternoon
an antenna was put on the roof. …Later I asked her, "How
did you know the TV was here?"" The antenna…"___________________
5. I thought they were old-fashioned, thinking
too much of old days and ideas_____________
6. It has an enormous, very powerful, influence
on our lives. ___________________
7.This is an unanswerable question indeed: It is
hard enough to measure influence; and it is even harder
to decide what is good and what isn't. ___________________ |
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| Second Reading
Now reread the text, concentrating on the details. Then
complete Exercises B &C. |
Exercise
B
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Key
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| 1. T 2. F 3. F 4. T 5. F
6. F 2. 7. T 8. T 9. F 10. T 11. T 12.
T |
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True or False? If you think
a statement is false, make necessary changes to make
it a true one.
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1. In the late 1940s TV was considered
a miracle of the times.
2．When his neighbors bought a TV set, the author wondered
why they spent so much money on such a small toy.
3. The author didn't argue with his parents because
he knew it was useless to do so.
4．By the mid-1950s TV had become very popular and
nearly all the people in the neighborhood had one in their
homes.
5. The author's parents bought a TV finally because
they didn't want their daughters to be laughed at.
6. On that unforgettable day, Suzanne, the youngest
daughter, was so exited that her eyes were shining with
tears.
7. To Suzanne, the most important thing was to
be like her friends.
8. The parents allowed their children to watch
TV only after they had done their homework.
9. Later on, TV wasn't exciting and new anymore,
and became a part of children's lives, so they lost interest
in it.
10. The author's parents never changed their minds
about TV.
11. In the author's opinion, it is meaningless
to say whether the influence of TV is good or bad since
we have the power to change what we don't like.
12. The author implies that the Monhegan islanders
don't want electricity-not even now- because they don't
want the influence of television to change their way of
life. |
Exercise
C
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Key
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1. 她说她决不再上学了，还说生活中没有电视机活着都不值得。
2．我认为好就好在很多人都很关心电视的影响，而且对我们不喜欢的东西也有能力加以改变。
3．他们认为电这玩意儿会使很多事情变得太容易，并会破坏他们的生活方式。
4．也许他们更乐意于守在家里看电视。 |
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Translate into Chinese the underlined sentences in the
passage. |
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