Even if you wrote on a scratch pad, and threw the paper away when you had finished writing, your grasp of the book would be surer. But you don’t have to throw the paper away. The margins (top and bottom, as welt as side), the end-papers the wary space between the lines are all available. They aren’ t sacred. And, best of all, your marks and notes become an integral part of the book and stay there forever. You can pick up the book the following week of year, and there are all your points of agreement, disagreement, doubt, and inquiry. It’s like resuming an interrupted conversation with the advantage of being able to pick up where you left off.
And that is exactly what reading a book should be: a conversation between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than you do; naturally, you’ll have the proper humility as you approach him. But don’t let anybody tell you that a reader is supposed to be solely on the receiving end. Understanding is a two-way operation; learning doesn’t consist in being an empty receptacle. The learner has to question himself and question the teacher. He even has to argue with the teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying. And marking a book is literally an expression of your differences, or agreements of opinion, with the author.
众所周知,在读书时,只有参透文章的字字句句,才能获得最大的收获。此外,我还想建议大家,在阅读时,在书上写批注也是同等重要的。如果不这样做,你就不可能实现最高效的阅读。
我要作一个相当坦率的声辩,在书上写批注是对书的爱护,而不是对书的损毁。
人们可以通过两种方式拥有一本书。第一种是通过出钱购买而获得书的所有权,就像购买衣服和家具一样。可是,购买只是拥有书的第一步。只有当你把书变成自己的一部分时,你才完全拥有了它,而在书上写批注是使书成为自己的一部分的最好办法。为了把这个问题讲得更透彻,我们来打一个比方。比如你买了一块牛排,这只是说你把它从肉铺的冰箱转移到了自己的冰箱里,从严格意义上来讲,你并没有拥有它,只有当你把牛排吃掉并吸收到自己的血液中,你才真正拥有了它。通过这个例子,我想说明,只有当你把书吸收到自己的血液中去,它才会对你产生益处。
书的主人可以分为三种。第一种拥有各种各样的精装书和畅销书,却从未读过,甚至碰都没有碰过(这种错误地理解拥有书的人,拥有的仅仅是纸浆和油墨)。第二种人拥有许多书,只是细读了几本,然而大部分书只是浏览了一下,所有的书都像刚刚买回来时那样干净和光亮。这种人很可能想要拥有书,然而却因对书的外表的错误尊重所限制。第三种人或许有几本书,也可能有许多书,他在书中从头到尾都作了标注,由于频繁地使用,每本书都有卷角和破损,书页也已经松动,这种人才是真正拥有书的人。
对于阅读,为什么说写批注是必不可少的呢?首先,写批注能够使你保持清醒。我这里说的清醒不仅仅是指有意识,而是思维非常清晰。其次,积极的阅读就是思考,而思考能够产生口头或书面语言的表达形式。最后,写批注有助于记住自己曾经的想法或作家所表达的想法。
如果你想通过阅读有所收获,而不是消遣时间,你的阅读就应该是积极的。对于你所阅读的内容,你不可能看一遍就能够理解。如果只是为了娱乐,你可以轻松地阅读一本书,这不会造成什么损失。然而,一本思想丰富、内容优美的书,一本试图提出问题并解决基本问题的书,是要求你尽力去积极阅读的。当你读完一本书后,如果书上写满了批注,你就知道自己曾积极地阅读过这本书。
然而,你也许要问,写批注是必要的吗?其实,亲自写下单词和句子能够让你把它们记得更清楚。在阅读时,把对自己重要的单词和句子的感觉以及疑问记录下来,这样能够使你记住那些感觉,并使那些疑问在大脑中的印象变得更加深刻。
即使你写在便条上之后又丢弃了,你仍然能够更加牢固地掌握这本书的内容。然而,你不一定非要把纸扔掉,书页边的空白(书页的上边、下边和两侧)、书后的空白页以及行与行之间的空隙并非神圣不可碰触,你可以利用这些地方写批注。这样做最大的好处就是:你所作的标注就会成为书的一部分,并永远地留在上面。即使一年之后拿出来,书页上仍然可以看见你写下的赞同、异议、疑问以及需要进一步深究的问题。这就像能够接着上次的话题重新开始被中断的对话。
读书就应该如此,它应该是你与作者的一场交流。对于书中谈论的话题,作者所了解的应该比你要多,因此,在接触作者的时候,你自然要做到适当的谦虚。有些人说,读者只是处于接收的地位,切勿听信这种观点。理解是一个互动的过程,学习并不是把能找到的东西都装进空瓶子,学习者必须向自己和老师发问。一旦他理解了老师所讲的内容,他甚至会与老师进行辩论。在书上写批注,实际上就是对作者的观点提出不同的观点或表示赞同。
1. Full ownership_________only when you have made it a_________of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing _________it. An illustration may make the_________clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it _________the butcher’s icebox to your own.
2. But you _________ ask, why is writing necessary? Well, the physical _________ of writing, with your own hand, brings_________, and sentences more sharply before your_________ and protrayes them better in your memory.
1. 人们可以通过两种方式拥有一本书。
2. 如果你想通过阅读有所收获,而不是消遣时间,你的阅读就应该是积极的。
3. 即使你写在便条上之后又丢弃了,你仍然能够更加牢固地掌握这本书的内容。
1. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading.
persuade sb. to do sth.:劝说;说服某人干某事
2. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher’ s icebox to your own.
transfer from:从……调动