6 Improving Your Vocabulary.docx

6 Improving Your Vocabulary.docx

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6ImprovingYourVocabulary

ImprovingYourVocabulary

Agoodreadingvocabularyisprobablythesinglemostimportantrequirementforgoodreading.Everyotherskill—comprehension,retention（保持力）,makinginferences,evaluating—dependsonyourknowledgeofwordsandtheirmeaningsinparticularsettings.Afterall,ifyoudon'tknowthemeaningofthewordsonthepage,youcanhardlyunderstandwhatthewriteristryingtosay.Sometimesitispossibleto"wingit,"meaningthatyoucangetthegist（要旨）ofthewriter'smainidea,evenifsomewordsremainunfamiliar.Mostoften,however,andespeciallywiththecarefulreadingyouwillbeaskedtodointhistext,youraccurateunderstandingofapassagemaydependsolelyonthemeaningofasingleword,asituationwhereguessingishazardous（危险的，冒险的）.

Todemonstratehowimperative（必要的）yourunderstandingofnewwordscanbe,considerthefollowingparagraphfromanarticleonthegreenhouseeffect.

1FromatopavolcanoontheislandofHawaii,theskystretcheslikeapurebluesheet,coveringahorizonofocean,orangelavabedsanddampforests.2AtthemountainsideMaunaLoaObservatory,sitting11,500feetabovethesea,asteadyalarmbellisjarringthispureimageofearthandair.3ThewarningcarriesanurgentmessagethattheEarth'satmosphereandclimateareheadedforsweeping,rapidchanges.4AttheHawaiianoutpostandscoresofotherscientificlisteningposts,theevidenceisaccumulating:

aninvisiblestreamofgases,risingfromtheworld'sexhaustpipes,farmsandfactoriesthatiswarmingtheEarthrapidlythroughthegreenhouseeffect.

5Since1958,theMaunaLoaObservatoryhasmeasuredthecontentofthetradewindscrossingthemiddleofthePacificOcean,farfrommajorindustrialcenters.6Eachyeartheamountofcarbondioxide—akeycontributortothegreenhouseeffect—hasrisen,beginningat315partspermillionandnowrunningat354.7"Mankindisinadvertentlyconductingagreatgeochemicalexperiment,"warnedscientistswhofirstnoticedthechangingatmosphereinthe1950s....8ThedirepredictionsarebasedonprojectionsthattheEarthisinforenormousclimacticchangesbasedonanewstewofgasesthatnowguardthesurfacefrommajorswingsintemperature.9Likeagiantgreenhousewithoutwalls,theatmospherekeepsthesurfacewarm,screensoutharmfulsunraysandletsexcessheatescapeintospace.

CharlesPetit,

"WhytheEarth'sClimateIsChangingDramatically,"SanFranciscoChronicle

Althoughthevocabularyinthisparagraphisfairlysimple,therearesomeexceptions.First,thepassagecontainstwometaphors:

thephrasealarmbellinsentence2andthewordstewinsentence8arefiguresofspeechandare,therefore,notmeanttobetakenliterally.

Further,insentence6,theadverbinadvertentlyisimportantbecauseittellsushowmankindhaschangedtheenvironment.Inadvertentlymeans"accidentally"or"unintentionally."Theworddoesnotconveyanyparticularnegativejudgmentontheauthor'spart,butitdoessuggestthatwehavepollutedourenvironmentwithoutthinkingabouttheconsequences.

Finally,insentence8,theadjectivedireinthephrasedirepredictionsisastronglynegativeword.Itmeans"havingdreadfulorterribleconsequences","calamitous".

Theseexamplessuggestthatyoucanonlyhaveapreciseunderstandingofapassageifyoucanaccuratelydefineallimportantwords.Ahazynotionoranill-consideredguessaboutaword'smeaningmightleadtoacompletemisinterpretation.Althoughthecontextmightsuggestthatdirehasanegativeconnotation（itsemotionalassociation）,youaremuchsaferconsultingadictionaryifyouareindoubt.Themessageis:

Whenindoubt,lookitup.

Sothetaskofimprovingyourvocabularyisinescapable;andwhile,atfirst,learningdozensofnewwordsmayappeartobeastaggeringtask,itispossible.Everyonehastostartsomewhere,andeveryone'svocabularycanbeimprovedsincethenumberofwordsintheEnglishlanguageissufficientlyvasttomakeeventhebestreaderreachforthedictionary,atleastoccasionally.（Modemunabridgeddictionariesgenerallyhaveabout600,000entries,butithasbeenestimatedthattheEnglishlanguagehaswellover1,000,000words.）

LEARNINGNEWWORDS

Anexhaustivetreatmentofvocabularyacquisitionisnotwithinthescopeofthisbook,andanynumberofexcellentvocabularyguidesareavailable.Therefore,whatfollowsaresimplysomesuggestionstoenableyoutostartonanactiveprogramtolearnthenewwordsthatyouencounterinyourreading.

First,youshouldhavetwodictionaries—anabridged（shortened）paperbackeditionforclass,andanunabridgedorcompleteeditiontokeepathome.Thereareseveralexcellentdictionaries,bothabridgedandunabridged,onthemarket.Askyourinstructortorecommendone,orchooseanunabridgededitionfromthislistofsomeofthebestknown:

TheRandomHouseDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage

TheAmericanHeritageDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage

Webster'sNewWorldDictionary

MerriamWebster'sCollegiateDictionary

TheOxfordAmericanDictionary

However,sincelanguagechangesconstantly,besurethatyourdictionaryisacurrentedition.Youmaysavealittlemoneybyusingyourfather'soldschooldictionary,butthedefinitionswillnotreflectup-to-dateusage.Inthenextsection,youwillfindsomehelpfulsuggestionsforusingthedictionary.

Second,developaninterestinlanguage.Whenyoulookwordsupinanunabridgeddictionary,lookattheetymology,sincemanywordshaveunusualorigins.Inthedictionary,theetymologyofawordisgiveninbracketsfollowingthedefinitions;itexplainsandtracesthederivationofthewordandgivestheoriginalmeaning.Forinstance,thedictionarytracesthehistoryofthewordniceasfollows:

[MiddleEnglish,foolish,wanton,shy,fromOldFrench,silly,fromLatinnescius,ignorant,fromnescire,tobeignorant].Youcaneasilyseehowradicallythisordinary（andnownearlymeaningless）wordhaschangedoverthecenturies.Anotherexampleisthewordmaudlin,meaning"effusivelysentimental".ThiswordisacorruptionofthenameMaryMagdalene,theprostitutewhowaspresentatChrist'scrucifixion.AccordingtotheNewTestament,Christhadcuredherofevilspirits.MaryanointedChrist'sfeetasHecarriedthecross,andlaterbecameidentifiedwithtearfulrepentance.Notethattheword'sconnotationhaschanged,sothatitnowhasstronglynegativeovertones.Afinalexampleisthecommonworddenim,whichrepresentsanothercorruption,thistimefromtheFrenchphrasesergedeNîmes（"sergefromNîmes"）.Serge,akindofcloth,wasmanufacturedinNîmes,acityinsouthernFrance,butthefabriceventuallycametobecalled"deNîmes"（"denim"）.

Payingattentiontoaword'setymologywhenyoulookitupinthedictionarywillgiveyouasenseofthelanguage'scomplexity,andinthecaseofmaudlin,knowingtheword'setymologymayhelpyourememberthemeaningwhenyounextencounteritinyourreading.

Third,donotmemorizelonglistsofwordsinisolation.Thisisatempting,butinefficient,wayofproceeding;youwon'tremembermanywords,andyouwillhavenoideaofthesubtletiesintheirmeaningsorthewaysthewordsareusedincontext.Newwordsarebestlearned（andretained）whentheyoccuraspartofyourreading.

Next,deviseasystemforlearningimportantwordsyoulookup.Writenewwordsandtheirmeanings（andthecontext,ifnecessary）inasmallnotebookoronindexcards.Reviewingthesewordsperiodicallywillensureyourmasteryofthem.

Finally,trytothinkofwordsthatsharesimilarmeaningsandoriginsasbelongingtogroupsorfamilies.Theworddormant,forexample,whichmeans"inactive"（fromtheFrenchverbdormir,"tosleep"）mightalsosuggestdormitory（"aplacewhereonesleeps"）,ordormer（"awindowunderaslopingroof,usuallyinabedroom"）.Similarly,severalrelatedwordsderivefromtheLatinrootverbadhaerere（"tostickto"）:

adhere（"tostickfastortogether"）;adherent（"stickingorholdingfast"asanadjective,or"asupporter"asanoun）;adhesion（"attachmentordevotion,astoacauseorindividual"）;andadhesive（"tendingtoadhere,""sticky"—asinadhesivetape）.FromtheLatinrootfides,wederivefidelity（faithfulness）,itsnegativeforminfidelity（lackofreligiousfaith;alsoadultery）,andthestereotypednameforadog,Fido.AknowledgeofcommonLatinandGreekprefixes,roots,andsuffixesisagoodwaytobuildyourstockofvocabulary.

USINGTHEDICTIONARY

Youhavealreadyseenthatthedictionarycanprovidethecuriousreaderwithinformationaboutaword'shistory,thatis,howitcameintotheEnglishlanguage.Butmorecentralforyourpurposesaretheotherreasonsthatthedictionarycanquicklybecomethemostthumbed-throughbookonyourdesk.Thedictionaryismostoftenreferredtofor

（1）correctspelling;

（2）correctpronunciation;and（3）thebestdefinitionaccordingtothecontext,thatis,thewaythewordisusedinapassage.Ourconcernhereiswiththesecondandthirduses.

PRONUNCIATION

Note

Heretheauthoristalkingabouta"western"waytolabelthepronunciationtothewords.TheydonotusuallyusethekindofIPA（internationalphoneticalphabet）methodasweoftendoinourbooksordictionaries,butuseakindofveryspecialsymbols,which,usually,arelistedatthebottomofeachpageforreader'sreference.

—WEBMASTER

Everydictionarycontainsadetailedkeylistingthepronunciationsymbolsinitsfrontmatter—thepagesprecedingthefirstdefinitionontheApage.Ratherthanreferringtothefrontmattereverytimeyouneedtoseehowawordispronounced,however,itiseasiertolookatthebriefpronunciationkeypro