苗淑华选译

Is reading English hard？ Did you read anything in English this week？ How much of it did you understand？ “Reading comprehension2” means3 how much you understand of what you read. Even if you read an English book every week， it doesnt help your learning much if you dont know what the words on the pages are saying. So you may be wondering4 how to improve English reading. Here are some easy steps for you.

阅读英语难吗？这星期你读了英文书吗？你读懂了多少？“阅读理解”是指你对所读内容的理解程度。即使你每周都读一本英语书，如果你不知道书页上的单词在说什么，对你的学习也没有多大帮助。所以你可能想知道如何提高英语阅读能力，以下给你介绍几个简单步骤。

◆Always Make Special Time to Read

◇一定要抽出特定的时间读书

If youre reading to improve your comprehension， you need to focus5 on study. This means you need to make a special time for reading. It should be quiet， and you should read by yourself. You should try to spend at least 30 minutes every day on reading. The more you read， the more youll improve.

如果你阅读是为了提高理解能力，你需要集中精力学习。这意味着你需要安排一个特定的时间来阅读。在这段时间你要独立安静地阅读，每天应该至少花30分钟看书。读得越多，你的進步就越大。

◆Read the Right Books

◇读合适的书

When youre finding books to read， you should read things that you enjoy. You should also read books that are at an English level6 just above the one youre most comfortable with.

在找书阅读时，你应该读喜欢的内容。你也应该读一些英语水平略高于最适合你水平的书。

◆Ask Yourself Questions in Reading and After Reading

◇在阅读中和阅读后向自己提问

Learning how to read English books is about more than just reading the words！There are a few things you can do before， in and after reading to help you better understand the text. Before you read， go through the text. That means you should look over the text quickly without actually7 reading every word. Take some time after you read too， to go through it again and make sure you have remembered something. Try to quickly say or write a few sentences that describe what the text was about. Thinking about what you read will show you how much of it you really understood. It will help you find out if you still have questions.

学习如何阅读英语书不仅仅是阅读单词！在阅读之前、阅读中和阅读后，你可以做一些事情来帮助你更好地理解课文。在你读之前，先把课文通读一遍。这意味着应该快速阅读课文，而不是逐字逐句地读。在你读过之后，也要花些时间来复习一遍，确定你所记住的内容。试着快速地说或写几个句子来描述这篇文章的内容。思考你读到的东西会让你知道自己真正理解了多少。这将帮助你找出你是否还有疑问。

◆Improve Fluency8 First

◇先提高流利程度

Do you notice how you stopped every time you saw the period9？ Now read a book like this， stopping after every word. It would be difficult to understand. Its hard to make an understanding of what youre reading when you read word-by-word instead of10 in full sentences. So to improve your understanding， its important to improve your fluency first.

你注意到每次看到句号时你是怎么停下来的吗？现在这样读一本书，每一个字都要停下来。当你逐字阅读而不是读完整的句子时，很难形成对所读内容的理解。所以要提高你的理解力，首先要提高你的流利程度。

If you follow those steps to learn English reading， you might suddenly discover that youre reading better and understanding more even in your own native language.

如果你按照这些步骤来学习英语阅读，你可能会突然发现，即使是用自己的母语，你的阅读能力和理解力都在提高。

（英语原文选自：fluentu.com）

Notes

1. improve [           ] vt. 改善，增进

2. comprehension [                  ] n. 理解

3. mean [] v. 用意;意味着，意思是……

4. wonder [          ] v. 想知道;（用于询问时）不知道;感到疑惑

5. focus [] vt. 使集中

6. level [     ] n. 水平;标准

7. actually [           ] adv. 实际上;事实上

8. fluency [          ] n. （语言、文章）流利;（技能）娴熟 n. 流畅度（写作演讲等）

9. period [] n. 句点，句号

10. instead of代替;而不是……