[破题策略] 阅读牛津词典的感受 [复制链接]

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电梯直达

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发表于 2003-11-25 18:49:21 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

今年十月考托之前曾写过阅读牛津词典的感受. 在此愿与更多朋友们分享.

To See the Wood

Recently, the reading of Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD for short, 1989, 4th edition) is around the end. Yesterday I ran across an article written for the memory of succeeding in reciting all the lessons of New Concept English, IV. The article published on www.gter.net, in my view, may serve as an epoch in personal life.  However, the perseverance, pains and gains of the writer should be cherished as a guiding star for fellow learners. The road right or wrongly taken, success or failure is a big concern of all the learners of English, which is a world language nowadays.

I went to www.gter.net to collect the experiences of TOEFL takers. In exactly a month, it will be my go. In the preface of "My Spring Shared with You" by Feng Xiaogang, Liu Zhenyun says that the effort in vain for a successful film can not be divided from the whole course...when two solutions conflict, one of them should be discarded decisively, and so on.  The former saying impressed me so much that the saying worked like a serious warning by a Zen master.  So my effort to collect the experiences will turn out to be meaningless sooner or later. Nevertheless, my wish for extra gains remains strong regardless the fact that I have suffered no pains.

Such a wish still was wandering in my mind in the first months of reading OALD.  I suspended in despair and fatigue after 270 pages.  Candid with you, I have every reason for such a wish.  Here is a story.  Fred taught me English when I was a freshman. One of his students of the foreign language institute asked Fred for a suggestion because he was afraid that he may probably fail TEM4 (Test for English Major, Band 4) that was only two months ahead. Fred told him, "Calm down and carefully read OALD page by page. Pay attention to the examples and the nuance of meanings of each word. Try it. That may work out."  Well, where there is a will, there is a way.  Nobody expected good but finally he made it.  The score of TEM4 was above 80, excellent.  Greatly encouraged, he took TOEFL without much preparation. The score reached above 640, TWE, 4.  And soon GRE as well, above 2200.
When Fred put his vocabulary power to test, he found himself grasping more than 30,000 as recognizing vocabulary.  That's quite unexpected to everybody. In a word, his English became proficient.  In the year of sophomore, he was granted scholarship and flied to USA for a new beginning of undergraduate course.

After I took TEM8, in 2000, I called Fred and he told me the story on the line. I had no plan of going abroad.  Faced with graduation, I was rather confused with choices to make. I need talk to Fred. From time to time I wondered how that guy could achieve that.  Diligence, that's doubtless, and the pressure. A frog can jump out of a pool of boiling water at the first touch.  To man, the potential can be also amazing. I was enticed to start reading OALD, but did not go far.  Now I guess that that student of English must have been engrossed in the myriad of words and captured by the magic of English.
That's the reason for all the endeavors.

Mr. Wu asked me to share some experience when the reading is over.  I took the promise and would like to share it with some emphasis on the background.  In brief, the ability of expressing and understanding of English has improved, my vocabulary enriched, and sympathy expanded. I was delighted to know that all colors and races shared the same varieties of feelings in their own languages. I have seen the wood, together with the trees.
17 Sept 2003                                                 Weldon

又见森林
近日里，阅读《牛津高阶英汉双解辞典》四版 (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary ，1989，略作OALD)的工作已接近尾声。昨晚在“寄托天下”上看到一“牛人”背完了新概念第四册，写了篇文章作纪念。这样的文章，在我看来，对作者本人可有纪念的意义，对周围的同道中人却有些借鉴作用。前人走过的道路昭示着某种方向，或对或错，以学习一门世界性语言的功效而论，成败为许多人所关注。
上“寄托天下”本来是为了采集些前人考托的经验。再过一个月也该我上阵了。冯小刚著《我把青春献给你》中刘震云写的序中说过这样的意思：事后被认为是无用的努力在事前都是必需的．．．当两种方案出现排异时必须立马砍掉一个云云。我对前一句话印象深刻，这话有当头棒喝的作用。我这般采集经验，十之八九是徒劳无益的，至少，我还心存侥幸，想尽量缩短这在事前都是必需的无用的努力。
如果说在我阅读OALD的初始还心存侥幸的话，在读了二百七十多页便停滞下来的时候，有的却是无奈与困顿。这心存侥幸是有来由的。建议我阅读OALD的Fred曾给我讲了一个相当诱人的故事。我大二的时候，有才华口才佳的Fred换到英语系授精读课，过了一年半，Fred的一位学生正为TEM4（英语专业四级考试，英语专业学生大二时所必考；大四时则考八级）发愁，再过两个月就要考了，但平时的考试他是勉强及格的那种。Fred便让他平静下来，通读一遍OALD，细心体会，“虚心涵泳，切己体察”（似是朱熹的话，依我的理解所附加）。唉，那就死马且当活马医吧。大出旁人所料的是他TEM4考得优秀（过八十，过七十为良），于是信心大增，旋即做了几套托福练习题，奔赴考场，得六百四十余分，作文（TWE）四分，尚可，须知作文的提高绝非朝夕功夫，这样说来，也令人满意了。再过三个月，OALD读的差不多了，一气将GRE拿下，得两千两百余分。这样的效果也大出Fred的意料，Fred让他做《英汉大词典》附录中的词汇量测试，发现有三万认知词汇的水平。一句话，他英语的感觉来了，大二结束那年获全奖赴美读本科。
   大四考完TEM8之后没几天，我在电话里听Fred讲的这个故事，当时没有出国学习的念头，只是面临些选择的困惑，想与Fred沟通。之后的一段时间里时不时琢磨这效果怎么就那么好，有勤奋的因素，也有逼出来的原因，刚入开水的青蛙跳得高么，而在人身上，能知能行的潜能如此巨大。这故事诱我去做通读OALD的尝试，但功利心的驱使没使我走多远，我本当早些“放下”这功利的动机。猜想我这位英语系的同学一定读出了兴趣，这是语言本身的魅力所引发，这才是根本的原因。
   吴大哥让我在读完OALD时讲点感受，而我更乐意谈些因缘，与更多的朋友分享。若用一句话概括，我想说，阅读OALD增强了我英语的理解与表达能力，拓宽了词汇的边界，增长了同情心（随着阅读的深入，发现人类的喜怒哀乐是如此的相似），使我见得树木，又见森林。
九月十七日

"The mind has a thousand eyes; And the heart but one..."
Francis W. Bourdillon