學術英語閱讀方法

AcademicReadingcomprehensionReading-comprehensionquestionscanbequitedeceptive.Ononehand,theanswertothequestionidsomewhereinthepassage.Ontheotherhand,answerscanbecraftedtoseemrightbuttheyare,infact,wrong.Thispassagewillteachyouthebestwaytoapproachthereadingpassagesonthetest.1.ReadingAthoughitmightseemlikereading-comprehensionquestionsshouldn'tbeveryhard,butthesequestionswouldbemadedifficultbyexploitingsomecommonassumptions.Thereadingskillyou'llneedtouseforreading-comprehensionquestionsarequitedifferentfromtheonesyouuseinyoureverydaylife.Thebiggestchallengewillprobablybethelimitedtimeyouhavetoanswerthequiestions.Foronthing,readingpassagesareintentionallychoosedtobecomplicatedandareconcernedwithunfamiliarand,insomecases,intimidatingtopics,hopingthatyou'llhaveatoughtimeabsorbingtheentiretyofpassageintheshortamountoftimetheygiveyou.inmanycases,thatisexactlywhathappens:testtakersspendtoomuchtimetryingtounderstandwhatthey'vreadandnotenoughtimeworkingontherquestions.Youwerealsohopedtobeoveranalyzingthetext.Thisleverofcriticalthinkingiswhollyapproporiateformosttypesofacademicreading,butitonlyleadstotrouble.Thewaytocrackthereadingportionistoreadlessintothepassages,notmore.Althoughitmaysoundcounterintuitive,insomewaysthepassageitselfistheleastimprotantpartofreading-comprehensionquestions.Thisisforsimplereason---youdon'tgetanypointsforreadingthepassage,andtheonlywaytodowellistoamassasmanypointsaspossible.Readingcomprehension:thebasicapprachAttackthepassage.Thisstepwillvaryslightlybasedonthelengthofthepassageyou'redealingwith,butineachcase,thegoalistoreadless,notmore.Sizeupthequestion.Reading-comprehensionquestioncanaskyoutodoavarietyofthings.Makesureyouknowwhatthequestion'saskingyoutodo.Findandparaphrasetheanswer.Thisisthekey.Alwaysreturntothepassagetofindyouranswers;neveransweritfrommemory!Useprocessofeliminationtoselecttherightanswer.ATTACKTHEPASSAGEYoushouldneverreadapassagejustforthesakeofreadingit;thatis,youshouldalwayshaveagoalinmindbeforeyoustartreading.Mostofthetimeyou'llbereadingwiththegoalofansweringaparticularquestion,butforyourintitialreading,you'reconcernedonlywithdiccoveringthefolloing:Themainidea/purpose.Whatistheauthorwritingaboutandwhy?Thestructure.Howisthepassageorganized”Thetone.Howdoesthewriterfeelaboutthetopic?Fortunately,youcanoftenfigurethesethingsoutwithjustacursoryinitialreading.Additionally,youcanalsoexpectthatyouwillseemanypassagedtypesthatarefairlysimilarintheirtoneandorganization.UnderstandingstructreinwritingWhilethereadingpassagesmaynotrepresentsomeofthemostengagingwritingyou'veencountered,itisimprotanttokeepinmindtheauthor'sbasicgoal.Nonfictionwriterswanttheirwritingtobeunderstood;ifyoucan'tfollowtheirargumentsortheirprogressionofideas,they'vefailedintheirjobsaswriters.Whenyou'rereadingorskimmingapassage,agoodgraspofthestructuralelementsinwritingwillaidyourunderstanding.First,payattentiontothestructureofeachparagraph.Themostimportantinformationisprobalygoingtobefoundatthebeginningandendoftheparagraph.If,whilereadingapassage,youeyesstarttoglazeover,restassuredyou'renottheonlyone.Goodauthorsknowthisandmakesuretoputkeypointswheretheyarelikelytostandout.So,focusonthebeginningandendofeachparagraph.Second,lookfortriggerwords.Writersusethesewordsassignpoststodirectyourreading.Whenyouseesamedirectionwordssuchasforexampel,inaddition,and,orfurthermore,youknowtheauthorisgoingtobesupportinganearlierstetement.Ifyoualreadyunderstandthepointoftheparagraph,feelfreetoskimthroughtheselines.However,oppositedirectionwordslikealthough,butyetandhowever,signifyanimportantshift.Writersusewordslikethistodirectthereader'sattentiontoanimportantchangeorrevelationintheprogressionofideas.Thesewordsthatpointsdirectiontoyoucalled“triggerwords”.Finally,theconclusionofthepieceofferstheauthoronelastchancetogethistoherpointacross.Alwaysreadthelastparagraph.Doesthepiecewrapthingsupnicelyoristheresomedoubt?Doestheauthorsuggestfurtheravenuesofinquiry?Thewaythepassageendscanhelpyoutounderstandwhattheauthor'smainpointorprimatypurposeinwritingthepassagewas.Payingattentiontostructuralcluesliketheonesmentionedherecanhelpyoubeamoreeffectivereader.Follwingtheseprinciplesinyourownwritingwouldn'thurteither.TpeseofPassagePassagescovertopicinthescience,socialsciences,andhumanities.Butregardlessofthetopic,thepassageitselfwillconformtothestandardsof“good”academicwriting---meaningthattheauthorswillgenerallywriteinastylethat'scharacterizedbyclearorganization,strongtopicsentencesantransitions,andsummaryinformationroconcludingthoughts.Youshouldexpecttoseethefollowingtypesofpassages:Expositiorypassages.Inthispassagetype,theauthor'spurposeistoinformorexplainsomething,whetheritbeanewfinding,aviewpoint,atrend,oranoccurrence.Inthistypeofpassage,thetoneisgenerallyneutral.Argumentativepassage.Heretheauthor'spurposeistoconvincethereaderofthevalidityofacertainbelieforperspective.Argumentativepassagesusuallyhavestrongertonesandarestructuredaroundprovidingsupportfortheauthor'sconclusion.Evaluatingpassages.Somepassageswillpresentanideaorperspective,thetonecanbestrongorneutral.Ofcourse,othertypesofpassagesmaycropup,butingeneralyoushouldexpectonesthatfitintothecategoriesabove.Nowlet'slookatsomepassagesandpracticefindingtheirmainidea,tone,andstructure.ApprochaingpassagesWhenyoucameacrossapassage,readthefirstlineofeachparagraphandthenskimtherestofit,payingparticularattentiontoany“triggerwords”(samedirectionwordsandespeciallydifferentdirectionwords).Whenyougettothelastparagraph,readthefirstline,skimtherest,andthenreadthelastlineoftheentirepassge.Drill:Scientistsresearchingtheagingprocessareincreasinglyinvestingatingtheroleoftelomeres,portionsofDNAontheendsofchromesomesfoundineverycell.Unliketherestofthechromosome,telomeresdonotcontaingenes,thestrandsofDNAthatcodeforparticularenzymesandproteins.Telomeresprimarilyserveaprotectiveroleincell,playingtwokeyrolesinmaintaininghealthycells.First,telomerespreventimportantgeneticmaterialfrombeinglostduringcellreplication,functioningasa“cap”ofsortsonetheendofeachchtomosome.Second,telomeresservesasabiologicalmarkertahtethechromosomeis“complete”;whitoutatelomeresisfairlywellunderstood,sceinteistsareinterestedinanotherfacetoftelomeres.TelomerescontainbetweenontotwothousandcopiesofaparticularDNAsequenceislooppedoff.Whentelomeresbecometooshort,thecellbecomesimpaired,inabletodivide,andpronetomalfunction.Cellswithcriticallyshorttelomereseventuallydie,leadingmanyresearcherstocomparetelomerestobiologicalclocksorfuses,countingdowntothedeathofacell.Althoughtheroleoftelomersincellularagingandmalfunctioniswelldocumented,newresearchisfocusedonsearchingforalinkbetweencellularagingandaginganddiseaseinhumans.Onestudyhasfoundthatsubjectswithshortertelomeresaremorelikelytodevelopcancersofthelungsandkidneysthanthosewithlongertelomereswereatahigherriskofdevelopingheartdiseaseandalsiappearedmorepronetoinfectiousdesease.Anotherstudypositedalinkbetweentelomerelinkandlifespan.Inthatstudy,patientswithshortertelomerelinkandlifespan.Inthatstudy,patientswithshortertelomeresdiedabout4or5yeearseaelierthanthosewithtelomeresofgreaterlength.Ofcourse,manyreseachersarehesitanttoconcludethatshortertelomeresareacausativefactorfromthisdata,particularybecausetelomeresaresusceptibletocorruptionfromanumberoffactorsbesidescelldivision.Forexample,scientistshavenotedthattelomeresareespeciallyvulnerabletothebyproductsofthebody'soxidationprocess,bywhichoxygenisconvertedtoenergy.Thebyproductsofthisprocess,calledfreeradicals,cannotonlyharmcellandDNA,butalsoartificiallyshortentelomeres.Futherresearchisnecessarytobetterestablishwhatlink,ifany,existsbetweentelomeresandaging.Onepromisingavenuetoconsideriswhetherlengtheningdamagedtelomereshastooppositeeffectonsubjects,makingthemhealthierandconferinggreaterlongivity.Andwhilesomescientistsoptimisticallybelievethatafullunderstandingoftelomereswilleventuallybestowdominionovertheveryagingprocessitsellf,suchascenarioisbothunlikelyandtechnologicallyfeasibleatthisjuncture.Whenfirstfinish.Askyourself:Mainidea/purose?Structure?Tone?Aquickreadingofthispassageshouldrevealthefollowing:first,fromthefirstsentenceofthefirstparagraph,welearnthatscenetistsareinterestedintheroletelomeresplayintheprocessesofagingandisease.Skimmingthroughtherestoftheparagraph,weseealotoftechnicaldetails,whichweofcoursedon'twanttocaoncernourselveswith.Wemightnotethataroundlinesfiveandsixtheauthortellsisthetwoprimaryfunctionsoftelomers.Aroundlinenine,wealsemightnotethetriggerwordwhile,whichshowsthatscientistsareinterestedinpropertiedotherthanthetwoprimaryoneswenotedearlier.Fromthesecondparagraph,weseehtatnewreasearchislookingforalinkbetweencellularagingandhumanaging.Aswequicklyskimthroughtherestoftheparagraphweseetriggerwordslikefurhermore,another,ofcourse.Thesewordsallindicatethattheauthorossimplyprovidingmoredetailsandexamples.There'snoneedtotrytounderstandexactlywhattheexamplesareatthispoint.Movingtothefinalsentence,weleatnthatwhiletelomereresearchhaspotential,theauthordoesn'tfeelthatitwillresultinacureforallofourills.Mainidea/purpose:toexplaintheroleofrelomeresintheagingprocessandtheresearchthescinetistsaredoingtobetterinderstandteloeres.Structure:thefirstparagraphprovidesbackgraoundinformationontelomeres;thesecondondetailsthereseachonthem.Tone:mostlyneutral,withsomecautionexpressedaboutthepotentialresultsofrelomerereseatch.Don'tgetcaughtupinthedetails!Focusonthebigpicture.2.QuestionWhileitmightseemliketherearetonsofdifferentreadingcomprehensiontasks,therearereallyonlytwomajortypesofquestions:”Fetch”questions.Somequestionssimplurequireyoutogotothepassageand“fetch”someinformation.Theinformationyouareaskedtofethmightbeafactfromthereading,themeaningofaword,theauthor'stone,orthemainideaofpassage.Reasoningquestions.Otherquestionsrequirealittlemoreworkthanjustreturningtothepassageandfiguringoutwhattheauthorsays.Reasoningquestionscanaskyouwhyanauthoruesdaparticularwordorsentence,whatinferencesyoucandrayfromthepassage,orwhotheauthor'sintendedaudiencemaybe.Reasoningquestionmayalsoaskcriticalreasoning-style“argument”questionsaboutconclusion,premises,andassumptions.Eachofthesequestiontypesmayshowupinanyofthequestionformatsabove.Let'slookatsomeofthesequestionsonmoredetail.FetchquestionsThesequestionsask,inoneformoranother,“whatdoedthepassagesay?”theyarethemoststraightforwardofreadingquestions,andsimplyrequireyoutoreturntothepassageandretriveinformation.Toansweraretrivealquestion,followthesesteps:Readthequestion.Whatkindofquestionareyoudealingwith?Makethequestionbackintoaquestion.Oftenthequestionsare'tquestionsatall;they'rereallyincompletesentences.Tofindananswer,youmustfirsthaveaquestion.Byputtingthequestionintoyourownword,youinteractqualitativelyandactivelywiththequestiontext.Thereisonpossibilityofyoureyesglazingoveroryourbraingoingonautopilot.Tomakethequestionintoaquestion,simplystartwithaquestionword.Nineoutoftentimeswhatorwhywillwork,sincemostquestionsaskeitherwhatwassaidinthepassageorwhyitwassaid.Findproof.Thisisthgoldenruleofreadingcomprehension.Youwillalwaysbeabletoprovethecorrectanswerwithsomethinginthepassage.Ifyoucannotputyourfingeronaspecificword,phrase,orsentencethatprovesyouranswerchoice,youcan'pickit.Tohelpfindanswersinthepassage,useonrorbothofthefolloingrechniques:Fourup/fourdown.Youcan'ttrustthecorrectanswerwouldbeputtedexactlywheretheysayitwillbe.Iftheyhighlightaportionofthepassage,startreadingfourlinesaboveandreaduntilfourlinesbelowthehighlithedpassage.Thisway,youarealwayslookingatthingsincontext.Leadword.Aleadwordisanywordinthequestionthatwillbeeasytoskimforinthepassage.Names,numbers,dates,largetechnicaltermsallmakegoodleadwords.Ofcourse,onceyoufindyourleadword,readfourlinesupandfourlinesdown.(foravocab-in-contextquestion,youneedtoreadonlytwolinesupandthreelinesdown).Answerthequestioninyourownwords.Theanswechoicearedesinedtomislieadyou.Ifyoukownhowexactlywhatyou'reloolingfor,youcanprotectyourselffromtheirfintsandtricks.Useprocessofelimination.a.Extremes.Nomatterwhatthepassagesays,correctanswercanbephraseinanyway.Corectanswersthataresupposetobedifficulttoarguewith.Thatmeanswhishy-washylanguage(often,many,usually).Extremelanguage(is,all,everyalways)istooeasytoprovewrong,soitalmostalwaysisincorrect.b.Scope.Ifyoucan'tputyourfingerontiinthepassage,youcannotpickit.Theyareverygoodatslippingthingsontoananswerchicethatwerenevermentionedinthepassage.Wathcoutforanswerchoicesthatexpandthescopeofthepassage.Halfrighr=allwrong.Answerchoicethatarehalfrightalsomeansthey'rehalf—andthusall—wrong.Thefirstpartoftheanswerchoicewillususallylookgood,butthesecondpartwillbeincorrect.Makesuretoreadtheentirechoicecarefully.Garbledinformation.Somewrongansweschoicesjusttakepartsofthepassageandgarblethem.Theseanswersusuallycontaininformationthat'stakendirectlyformpassageratherthanparaphrasingit.Choosethebestanswercorrespondingtothespecificsituation.CorrectanswersareparaphrasesofinformationstatedinthepassageReasoningquestionsReasoningquestionsaskustogoalittlebitbeyondwhatthepassage