大学英语精读全解

以下是几点英语学习方法的总结（希望可以帮到您）一、读每天都应坚持读。1、朗读：一般文章读2~3遍，带着理解去读，而不只是为读而读。2、背诵：好的文章应背熟，以记住好词好句，同时培养自己的语感。3、速读：文章第一遍用最快的速度读完，以提高阅读速度和理解能力，并逐渐培养不翻译直接理解英文的能力。4、精读：文章第二遍应精读，以达到对文章的准确理解，并熟悉语法结构，加深单词记忆。也可选择部分文章速读，对于较好的文章精读。5、泛读：每天看1小时左右的英文报纸，在有兴趣的基础上阅读能力会有很大提高。遇到不会的单词在不影响文章理解的情况下可以略过去，从而提高自己的阅读速度。如果想记忆单词，则可查词典，多次查阅记忆便能记住单词。（坚持一两个月就会有明显效果）二、听1、从最初级的听力入手，听懂每个单词、每句话、每段话及每篇文章。逐步增加难度。每天至少半小时。2、跟读英语，一方面加强听力，一方面训练口语，同时还能培养语感。注意发音的准确性。三、写1、每两天写一篇英文日记或作文。2、用英语写信或E-mail。3、注意语法的应用和词汇的记忆。四、语法1、从基础到高级，掌握每一个语法点，并作详细笔记。笔记所记的都是自己所会的，直到把所有语法细节都掌握。2、对于不熟悉的语法知识点应反复复习运用，直到掌握为止。五、词汇1、每天记忆100~150新单词，并复习前一天的旧单词。对于生疏的旧单词，可记录下来，安排适当时间记忆。2、所有单词记忆完一遍之后紧接着再记一遍，三四遍并不为多。重复是记忆单词的最好方法，也是很多记忆的根本方法。3、结合例句记忆单词，效果最佳。记忆单词应注意力集中，六、练习1、大量的练习可以巩固所学知识。2、通过练习可以提高阅读理解能力，增加词汇量，加强对语法的掌握。

你是英语专业的学生吗？是的话，那么最重要的就是课前预习了，因为生词量和整体理解难度都提升很多。最好有本辅导书，上外或大连海事的。paraphrase和句子翻译，最好找来老师的课件来看。这两本书接近专八难度，好好学

导语：地球是一个不规则的球体，但是很多人误以为地球就是圆的，下面是一篇“为什么我们相信地球是圆的”的英语课文，欢迎大家学习。

Can you prove that the earth is round? Go ahead and try! Will you rely on your senses or will you have to draw on the opinions of experts?

WHY DO WE BELIEVE

THAT THE EARTH IS ROUND?

George Orwell

Somewhere or other — I think it is in the preface to saint Joan — Bernard Shaw remarks that we are more gullible and superstitious today than we were in the Middle Ages, and as an example of modern credulity he cites the widespread belief that the earth is round. The average man, says Shaw, can advance not a single reason for thinking that the earth is round. He merely swallows this theory because there is something about it that appeals to the twentieth-century mentality.

Now, Shaw is exaggerating, but there is something in what he says, and the question is worth following up, for the sake of the light it throws on modern knowledge. Just why do we believe that the earth is round? I am not speaking of the few thousand astronomers, geographers and so forth who could give ocular proof, or have a theoretical knowledge of the proof, but of the ordinary newspaper-reading citizen, such as you or me.

As for the Flat Earth theory, I believe I could refute it. If you stand by the seashore on a clear day, you can see the masts and funnels of invisible ships passing along the horizon. This phenomenon can only be explained by assuming that the earth's surface is curved. But it does not follow that the earth is spherical. Imagine another theory called the Oval Earth theory, which claims that the earth is shaped like an egg. What can I say against it?

Against the Oval Earth man, the first card I can play is the analogy of the sun and moon. The Oval Earth man promptly answers that I don't know, by my own observation, that those bodies are spherical. I only know that they are round, and they may perfectly well be flat discs. I have no answer to that one. Besides, he goes on, what reason have I for thinking that the earth must be the same shape as the sun and moon? I can't answer that one either.

My second card is the earth's shadow: When cast on the moon during eclipses, it appears to be the shadow of a round object. But how do I know, demands the Oval Earth man, that eclipses of the moon are caused by the shadow of the earth? The answer is that I don't know, but have taken this piece of information blindly from newspaper articles and science booklets.

Defeated in the minor exchanges, I now play my queen of trumps: the opinion of the experts. The Astronomer Royal, who ought to know, tells me that the earth is round. The Oval Earth man covers the queen with his king. Have I tested the Astronomer Royal's statement, and would I even know a way of testing it? Here I bring out my ace. Yes, I do know one test. The astronomers can foretell eclipses, and this suggests that their opinions about the solar system are pretty sound. I am, to my delight, justified in accepting their say-so about the shape of the earth.

If the Oval Earth man answers — what I believe is true — that the ancient Egyptians, who thought the sun goes round the earth, could also predict eclipses, then bang goes my ace. I have only one card left: navigation. People can sail ship round the world, and reach the places they aim at, by calculations which assume that the earth is spherical. I believe that finishes the Oval Earth man, though even then he may possibly have some kind of counter.

It will be seen that my reasons for thinking that the earth is round are rather precarious ones. Yet this is an exceptionally elementary piece of information. On most other questions I should have to fall back on the expert much earlier, and would be less able to test his pronouncements. And much the greater part of our knowledge is at this level. It does not rest on reasoning or on experiment, but on authority. And how can it be otherwise, when the range of knowledge is so vast that the expert himself is an ignoramus as soon as he strays away from his own specialty? Most people, if asked to prove that the earth is round, would not even bother to produce the rather weak arguments I have outlined above. They would start off by saying that "everyone knows" the earth to be round, and if pressed further, would become angry. In a way Shaw is right. This is a credulous age, and the burden of knowledge which we now have to carry is partly responsible.

preface

n. an introduction to a book or speech 前言,序

gullible

a. easily deceived or cheated esp. into a false belief; credulous 易受骗的;轻信的

superstitious

a. full of superstition; believing in superstitions 迷信的

credulity

n. a tendency to believe to readily 轻信

cite

vt. mention as an example; quote (a passage, book, etc.) 举出;引出

widespread

a. found or distributed over a large area 分布广的;普遍的

advance

vt. put or bring forward; offer 提出

appeal

vi. please, attract or interest 投合所好;有感染力;有吸引力

mentality

n. way of thinking, outlook; mental power or capacity 心理,思想;脑力

exaggerate

vt. think, speak or write of as greater than is really so; overstate 夸张;夸大

sake

n. end, purpose 缘故

geographer

n. a specialist in geography

ocular

a. of, for, by the eyes; based on what has been seen 眼睛的;凭视觉的

theoretical

a. of or based on theory

citizen

n. 公民;市民

refute

vt. prove (a statement) to be untrue; prove (a person) to be mistaken 驳斥

mast

n. a long upright pole of wood or metal for carrying flags or sails on a ship 桅杆

funnel

n. a metal chimney for letting out smoke from a steam engine or steamship (蒸汽机,轮船等的)烟囱

invisible

a. that can not be seen

horizon

n. the line where the sky seems to meet the earth or sea 地平线

phenomenon (pl. phenomena)

n. 现象

curve

vt. bend so as to form a line that has no straight part 使成曲线

n. a continuously bending line without angles 曲线

follow

vi. result or occur as a consequence, effect, or inference 结果产生;得出

spherical

a. shaped like a ball 球形的

oval

n.& a. (anything which is) egg-shaped 卵形的(东西), 椭圆的(东西)

card

n. 纸牌

analogy

n. comparison of things that have a certain likeness; similarity 类比; 相似

promptly

ad. quickly and willingly 敏捷地;迅速地

prompt a.

body

n. =celestial body 天体

disc

n. 圆盘

cast

vt. throw or drop; cause (light or shadow) to appear (on) 扔,投; 投射

eclipse

n. the total or partial hiding of one celestial body by another (天文学)食

booklet

n. a small book, usu. with a paper cover 小册子

exchange

vt. give and receive (one thing in return for another) 交换

trump

n. 王牌

royal

a. for, belonging to, or connected with a king or queen 皇家的; 王室的

statement

n. expression in words; a written or spoken declaration, esp. of a formal kind 陈述;声明

ace

n. (纸牌中的')"A"牌,爱司

foretell

vt. tell beforehand; predict 预言

solar

a. of the sun

the solar system

the sun and the planets which revolve round it

justify

vt. give a good reason for; show to be just, right or reasonable 证明……是正当的;为…辩护

say-so

n. an authoritative pronouncement; one's unsupported assertion 权威性声明;无证据的断言

Egyptian

n.,a. (native) of Egypt 埃及人;埃及的

predict

vt. announce or tell beforehand; forecast 预言

bang

ad. with a sudden loud noise; with a sudden impact 砰地

navigation

n. the act or process of navigating 航海

calculation

n. the act of adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing to find a result 计算

calculate vt.

calculator n. 计算器

counter

n. sth. of value in bargaining; a return attack, such as a blow in boxing 讨价还价的本钱;回击，反击

precarious

a. insecure; depending upon mere assumption 不安全的;根据不足的，靠不住的

exceptionally

ad. unusually

authority

n. power to influence; power to give orders and make others obey 权威;权力

ignoramus

n. an ignorant person 无知的人

stray

vi. wander away; (of thoughts or conversation) move away from the subject 走离;离题

specialty

n. a special field of work or study 专业

outline

vt. indicate the main ideas or facts of

n. a systematic listing of the important points of a subject 提纲

press

vt. demand or ask for continuously 催促，逼迫

credulous

a. tending to believe sth. on little evidence, arising from credulity 轻信的

burden

n. sth. difficult to bear; load 重负;负荷

follow up

pursue or investigate closely; take further action after (sth.) 深入研究或调查;采取进一步行动

for the sake of

for the good or advantage of; for the purpose of 为了…的利益;为了

throw/shed light on

make clear; explain 使明白，使明朗;解释

and so forth

and so on

as for

with regard to, concerning 至于

may well (not)

be very likely (not) to 完全(不)可能

bring out

show; offer to the public 拿出;使显出;推出(新产品等)

aim at

have as one's target, objective, etc.

fall back on

turn to for support 求助于

rest on

depend on, rely on

stray away from

wander from; move from 偏离

start off

begin; depart

in a way

to a certain extent; a little; somewhat 在某种程度上

Saint Joan

圣女贞德

Bernard Shaw

萧伯纳

听说读写译综合能力建立在词汇基础之上，语法掌握熟练，单词的常用意义要全面掌握，多种方式和语境接触，猜词能力很重要