在学习英语的过程中,大量的阅读是必不可少的。尤其是当你在较短的时间内有了一定的单词积累和语法基础之后,通过大量的英文阅读来进一步拓展词汇、熟悉英语表达方式,便是更长时间、需慢磨磨的功夫了。

接下来的广读、泛读或是精读中,你或许遇到过这样的情形:一段英文里的单词都认识,但是整个句子或段落联起来之后,就不明白说的是啥了;或者,因为对某个单词或短语理解的不到位、不透彻,影响了对整个句子的理解,总有种说不清、道不明的模糊感。

这种情形,很可能是因为句子里有大量的抽象词或抽象短语。什么是抽象词呢?比如 notion, concept, object, vision, element,emotion. 这些词的特点是你很难具化它,也很难在脑海里形成一个明确的形象。不像apple, banana, fire, hand, run,walk,看到这些词,如banana,脑海里很容易就出现香蕉的样子:黄的、弯弯的,像月亮一样的水果,可以剥皮,香甜好吃。但是看到抽象词,比如concept,你很难在脑海里形成具体的形象,所以理解起来也比较费力。除了抽象词,有些短语因为不怎么常用或者意思比较多,也会成为我们理解句子含义过程中的障碍。这些抽象词或短语,就算你查到了它的中文意思,但代到句子里面,总还是觉得不顺畅,理解得不透彻。

最后看一个夹杂多个抽象词及生僻词的例子。

(3)I reflected on my attraction to Weil’s thought, and on my habit of putting her books into the hands of my students and friends saying: ‘Read this.’ There are six reasons I return to Weil and want to share her: 1) the total absence of irony in most of her philosophical writings; 2) her sustained campaign against a self-interested, narcissistic citizenry; 3) the ethical urgency with which she approached the problem of education; 4) her emphasis on first-hand knowledge (of the assembly-line worker’s plight, for example, or the farmhand’s daily exertions); 5) her belief that technology’s distancing effects would lead to total alienation; and 6) the congruity of her preaching and her practice.

这个句子的结构非常简单,但因其使用了很多抽象词和生僻词,导致句义十分晦涩,接下来,我们就逐个地分析一下。

第一个单词,reflect,这个比较简单,它常用的有两层含义:to show,反射、反映;to thinkly deeply,深思。结合上下文,这里我们替换成think deeply。

第二个单词,irony,它的意思是sharply mocking in which the intended meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning,也就是反讽、讽刺的意思,我们可以换成 mocking。

第三个单词,citizenry,the people of a place regarded collectively. 我们直接换成people。

第四个单词,urgency,an earnest and insistent necessity,我们可以换成necessity。

第五个单词,plight, a plight is a situation that's hard to get out of, 所以我们可以换成hardness。

第六个单词,exertion, use of physical or mental energy; hard work,我们直接用hard work替换。

第七个单词,alienation,which describes the feeling that you're not part of a group,我们用separation替换。

第八个单词,congruity, agreement between things, harmony,所以,我们可用harmony替换。

第九个单词,preach, speak, plead, or argue in favor of,我们用speak代替。

最后,整个段落变为:I think deeply on my attraction to Weil’s thought, and on my habit of putting her books into the hands of my students and friends saying: ‘Read this.’ There are six reasons I return to Weil and want to share her: 1) the total absence of mocking in most of her philosophical writings; 2) her sustained campaign against a self-interested, narcissistic people; 3) the ethical necessity with which she approached the problem of education; 4) her emphasis on first-hand knowledge (of the assembly-line worker’s hardness, for example, or the farmhand’s daily hard work); 5) her belief that technology’s distancing effects would lead to total separation; and 6) the harmony of her speaking and her practice.

中文释义:我深入思考了weil的思想为何如此吸引我,以及向我的学生和朋友们推荐其作品的习惯。我重新阅读weil并愿意分享的原因有六:一是她的哲学作品里没有丝豪的尖酸嘲讽;二是她持之以恒地反对专门利已且自恋的人;三是她从道德迫切性的角度来处理教育问题;四是她重视第一手知识,如流水线作业工人的艰辛以农场工人的日夜辛劳;五是她相信科技所产生的距离效应会导致完全的隔离;六是她言行合一。

所以整个段落的逻辑就是:

常考英语抽象名词归纳(英语学习感悟抽象词)(1)

所以,当我们遇到生僻词、抽象词或短语的时候,不要再去查它的中文意思,找个英英词典,看看它的英文释义,总结一个简单的、自己熟悉的同义词去记它。记得多了,记得熟了,在以后的文章中再次碰到时,脑海里就会自动完成替换,理解起来也就不会那么费劲了。


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