1.一词多义以及词组搭配 先来看下面这几个句子: 1.They refused to foot the cost of the wedding. 2.Blue really becomes her. 3.Little is known about his early life, save that he had a brother. 4.Whether it is to be a 'working' visit or an 'official' visit is of little import. 5.He now addressed himself to the task of searching the room. 6.She was telling me about her exploits while travelling around Africa.
碰到上面的这种句子最有效的方法一定是:查词典。如果你在阅读过程中发现一个词理解起来很别扭,那么它多半会有某些意想不到的义项,不管这个词第一眼看起来是多么人畜无害。 比如上面那个"She was telling me about her exploits while travelling around Africa.",如果把"exploits"理解为“剥削”的话感觉会非常奇怪:她去非洲旅游和剥削有什么关系? 这时候你应该去翻一翻英英词典,看到这样的解释时才会有恍然大悟的感觉。
3.语法知识 如果对连词,代词,句子结构等语法知识掌握不好的话很容易出现句子读不懂的情况。举个最简单的例子,"Angry as he was, he couldn't help smiling."这句话是什么意思? 你会注意到"as"在这里用得很诡异,去翻一翻语法书看看?找到"as"的相关条目,其中有一条解释是 所以上面句子的意思应该是"Though he was angry, he couldn't help smiling." 上面算是比较简单的,但要是碰到这种呢? 单词应该都认识,但很多人读完后估计只有一个感受:这在说啥?