Reading Skills
IGCSE English Topic 1 7:55 English narration · English + 中文 subtitles burned in
Chapters
Transcript
Open the reading paper.
翻开阅读试卷。
You see a long text — six hundred words, maybe more — and a full page of questions.
你看到一篇很长的文章——也许六百个词，甚至更多——还有满满一页问题。
The clock says forty-five minutes.
时钟显示四十五分钟。
Many students begin at word one and read slowly to the end. Then the time is gone, and half the questions are empty.
很多同学从第一个词开始慢慢读到最后，结果时间用完了， 一半的题还空着。
<slow>Good readers do something else.</slow> They change speed to fit the job.
优秀的读者不这样做：他们根据任务改变速度。
Today we build that skill.
今天我们就来练这个本领。
This is Reading Skills, the first topic of your English as a Second Language course.
这是《阅读技能》，你们英语作为第二语言课程的第一个专题。
Four jobs, in order: find facts fast, follow how ideas connect, take notes and write a summary, and read between the lines.
四项任务，按顺序来：快速找信息、理清观点之间的联系、做笔记和写概括、 以及读出言外之意。
Let's start with speed.
先从速度开始。
There are two reading speeds, and they do different jobs.
阅读有两种速度，用途不同。
Skimming is one fast sweep over the whole text: your eyes pass over every line, but never stop.
略读是把整篇文章快速扫一遍：眼睛掠过每一行，但从不停下。
You want only the gist — the general idea.
你只要抓住大意——总体的意思。
Read the title, the first line of each paragraph, and the pictures.
看标题、看每段的第一句、看配图。
Scanning is the opposite. You already know what you want, so your eyes jump down the page and stop only when they see it.
扫读正好相反：你已经知道要找什么，眼睛顺着页面往下跳，只在看见目标时才停。
Skim first. Then scan.
先略读，再扫读。
Let's scan one together.
我们一起扫读一次。
Here is a museum notice, and the question: what time does the museum close on Sunday?
这是一张博物馆告示，问题是：博物馆星期天几点关门？
First, choose your target word.
第一步，选定你的目标词。
The question says Sunday — so Sunday is what your eyes hunt for.
问题里说的是 Sunday，所以你的眼睛就去找这个词。
Now move down the page. Skip the welcome line. Skip the ticket prices.
接着往下扫：跳过开头的欢迎语，跳过门票价格，只找那一个词。
Look for that one word only.
看，就在这里。
<slow>There it is.</slow> Now read only that line, carefully. Sunday: ten to four.
现在只把这一行仔细读一遍：Sunday，十点到四点。
The answer is four p.m.
答案是下午四点。
— in seconds, without reading the whole notice.
几秒钟就找到了，而且你根本没有读完整张告示。
Now write it down.
接下来是写答案。
Here you write one word or a short phrase — never a full sentence.
这一部分只写一个词或一个短语，绝不要写整句。
Watch three students answer the same question.
看三位同学怎样回答同一个问题。
The first student writes: four p.m.
第一位写：四点。
Exact, short, correct. One mark.
准确、简短、正确，得一分。
The second writes a whole sentence, and adds that the gift shop closes earlier.
第二位写了一整句，还加上礼品店更早关门。
That extra part is wrong, and wrong extra information cancels the mark.
这句多余的话是错的， 而错误的多余信息会把这一分抵消掉。
The third writes: about four.
第三位写：大约四点。
That word was not in the text, and it changes the meaning.
原文里没有"大约"这个词，它改变了意思，不得分。
No mark. Copy the exact detail, then stop.
照抄原文的准确信息，然后就停笔。
One habit makes scanning much faster: predict.
有一个习惯能让扫读快得多：预测。
Before you read, look at the question and decide what shape the answer has.
在读文章之前，先看题目，判断答案会是什么样子。
"When did the club open?"
"这家俱乐部什么时候开的？
wants a year or a date — hunt for numbers.
"要的是年份或日期，那就找数字。
"How much is a family ticket?"
"家庭票多少钱？
wants money — hunt for a currency sign.
"要的是钱，那就找货币符号。
"Why did she stop swimming?"
"她为什么不再游泳了？
wants a reason — hunt for because, or so, or after.
"要的是原因， 那就找 because、so 或 after。
Know the shape of the answer, and your eyes find it much faster.
知道了答案的样子，眼睛就能快得多地找到它。
Some questions want a match, not a fact.
有些题目要的不是一个信息，而是一次配对。
You get several short texts and a list of statements, and for each statement you choose the text it belongs to.
题目给你几段短文和一串陈述， 每条陈述，你要选出它属于哪一段。
The statement is: this person found the course too easy.
看这条陈述：这个人觉得课程太简单。
Text A says the lessons were exciting.
A 段说课上得很有意思。
Text B says: I already knew most of it before we started.
B 段说：开始之前，大部分内容我就已经会了。
Text C says the teacher spoke too fast.
C 段说老师讲得太快。 答案是 B。
The answer is B. And notice — B never uses the word easy. It says the same idea in different words.
请注意：B 段从没出现"简单"这个词， 它是用不同的词说了同一个意思。
That is the whole secret of matching, and it has a name: paraphrase.
这就是配对题的全部秘密，它有个名字：改写。
A paraphrase says the same meaning with different words.
改写就是用不同的词说出同样的意思。
The exam writer does it on purpose — if the question copied the text's words, the task would be far too easy.
命题人是故意这样做的——如果题目照抄原文的词，题就太容易了。
So train your eyes on meaning, not on matching words.
所以要训练眼睛去找意思，而不是找相同的词。
Too expensive in the question can be I could not afford it in the text.
题目里的"太贵"， 在原文里可能是"我买不起"。
Enjoyed the food can be every meal was delicious.
"喜欢那里的食物"，可能是"每一餐都很美味"。
And when a text does use the question's exact word, be careful — that is often the trap.
而当某段文字真的用了题目里的原词时，要小心：那往往就是陷阱。
Ideas in a text do not sit alone; they connect.
文章里的观点不会孤零零地存在，它们互相连接。
Writers give you small words that show the connection — we call them signal words.
作者用一些小词来显示这种连接， 我们叫它信号词。
Watch the middle of the screen: two ideas, left and right, and one small word joining them.
看屏幕中间：左右各有一个观点，中间用一个小词把它们连起来。
However tells you the ideas clash: a contrast.
however 告诉你两个观点相冲突，这是转折。
Because tells you one idea is the reason for the other.
because 告诉你一个观点是另一个的原因。
Therefore tells you one is the result.
therefore 告诉你一个是另一个的结果。
Same two ideas — three meanings, carried by one little word.
同样两个观点，三种意思， 全靠中间那一个小词。
Signal words come in families, and three families do most of the work.
信号词分成几类，其中三类用得最多。
Addition words add one more idea of the same kind: also, in addition, as well as.
递进词再加一个同类的观点：also、in addition、 as well as。
Contrast words pull two ideas apart: but, however, although.
转折词把两个观点拉向相反的方向：but、however、although。
Cause and effect words tie a cause to its result: because, so, as a result.
因果词把原因和结果连在一起：because、so、as a result。
When you meet one of these words, slow down for a second. The writer is telling you what happens next.
遇到这些词时，请放慢一秒——作者正在告诉你接下来会发生什么。
Now the note-making task.
接下来是做笔记的题型。
The paper gives you headings; you fill in short notes under each one.
试卷给你几个小标题，你在每个标题下填写简短的笔记。
Two rules decide your mark.
两条规则决定你的分数。
First, notes are not sentences. A word or a short phrase is enough.
第一，笔记不是句子，一个词或一个短语就够了。
A student who writes full sentences spends twice the time and gains nothing.
写整句的同学花了两倍时间，却一分也不多得。
Second, only points that fit the heading score.
第二，只有符合该标题的要点才得分。
Under the heading "problems", write problems.
在"问题"这个标题下，就写问题。
A true detail in the wrong place earns zero.
放错位置的正确细节得零分。
Short, relevant, under the right heading.
简短、切题、放在正确的标题下。
Then comes the summary.
然后是概括题。
You take a long text and write its main points in about eighty words.
你要把一篇长文的要点用大约八十个词写出来。
Picture a funnel. Everything goes in at the top.
想象一个漏斗： 所有内容从上面倒进去。
Out at the sides go the examples, the repetition, the small details.
从两侧漏出去的，是例子、重复的说法、细枝末节。
What is left is the key points, in the order the text gave them.
留下来的就是要点，按原文的顺序排列。
Then one last step, and it is the one students forget: use your own words.
最后还有一步，也是同学们最容易忘的一步： 用你自己的话写。
A summary that copies whole sentences scores low.
整句照抄原文的概括，得分很低。
Change the words, keep the meaning — paraphrase again, working the other way round.
换掉词语，保住意思—— 这又是改写，只是反过来用。
The hardest part of the paper is reading between the lines.
全卷最难的部分是读出言外之意。
Some answers are not in the text at all — you work them out. This is called inference. Read this.
有些答案根本不在文章里，你必须推出来，这叫推断。
Sam looked at the empty seat beside him, and checked his phone for the fourth time.
读这句话：萨姆看了看身边那个空座位，第四次拿出手机查看。
The text never says Sam is waiting. It never says he is worried. But you know both.
文章从没说萨姆在等人，也没说他很着急，但你两件事都知道。
The empty seat tells you the first. The fourth check tells you the second.
空座位告诉你第一件，"第四次"告诉你第二件。
So when a question asks what the text suggests or implies, do not hunt for the words. Look at the detail the writer chose — and ask why. The same trick works on a word you have never seen.
同样的方法也适用于你没见过的词：不要停下，也不要乱猜，用语境——它周围的词——句子通常会告诉你它的意思。
Do not stop, and do not guess wildly: use the context, the words around it, and the sentence will usually tell you what it means.
所以当题目问文章暗示了什么时，不要去找原词， 要看作者挑选了哪个细节，然后问一句：为什么？
Inference also shows the writer's attitude — how they feel about the topic.
推断还能看出作者的态度——他对这个话题的感受。
The clue is always word choice.
线索永远是用词。
Three writers describe the same new shopping centre.
三位作者描写同一座新商场。
The first calls it a bright, welcoming space. That is positive.
第一位说它是"明亮、亲切的空间"，这是肯定的。
The second calls it yet another glass box. Yet another shows they are tired of it — negative.
第二位说它是"又一个玻璃盒子"，"又一个"说明他已经看腻了，这是否定的。
The third says it may work, if the shops arrive. That is unsure.
第三位说"如果商家进驻，它也许行得通"，这是不确定的。
Same building, three attitudes, and only the words changed.
同一座建筑，三种态度，改变的只有用词。
In a multiple-choice question, pick the option that fits the whole text, not one line.
做选择题时， 要选符合全文的那一项，而不是只符合某一行的那一项。
Before you go, three marks students lose every year.
结束之前，说三个每年都有人失掉的分。
First, read the question before the text — you cannot scan for a target you have not chosen.
第一，先读题再读文章—— 还没选定目标，就无法扫读。
Second, give exactly the number of answers asked for: give two reasons means two, and a wrong third can cancel a right one.
第二，题目要几个答案就写几个： "给出两个理由"就是两个，多写错的第三个可能把对的抵消掉。
Third, never leave a blank.
第三，绝不要留空。
A sensible guess can win a mark; an empty line never can.
合理的猜测有机会得分，空着的行永远不会。
Do these three, and Reading becomes your strongest paper.
做到这三点，阅读就会成为你最强的一张卷。