如何選擇適合自己的英語原版書?提高英語水平的法寶!

閱讀:53564 來源:轉(zhuǎn)載 作者:jingyi
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今天的這篇文章首先想要解答很多人對于原版書的恐懼,以及選擇方面的問題。閱讀英文原著,無疑是我心目中提高英語水平的不二法門。

測試基礎(chǔ)詞匯量

不管是說自己英語水平多差的人,經(jīng)過了從小學(xué)到大學(xué)長達(dá)十多年的英語學(xué)習(xí),最基礎(chǔ)的詞匯量一定是有的。測試自己的基礎(chǔ)詞匯量,指的就是閱讀詞匯量,簡單來說,就是“我認(rèn)識”“我大概知道它的意思”的單詞。

這一步推薦隨便百度一些測量單詞量的網(wǎng)站(扇貝、滬江英語等等都有,不過它們的上限基本都不會超過三萬= =),不要欺騙自己!(我只都有些小伙伴為了發(fā)朋友圈之類的還百度某些單詞假裝自己認(rèn)識。。。)

測試結(jié)果3000以上的,開始閱讀一些原版書就問題不大了?;旧峡梢苑譃椋?/p>

  • 3000-8000 高中,四級水平
  • 8000-12000 六級、考研水平
  • 12000-18000 雅思,托福水平
  • 18000+ 英專,GRE水平

這個分類只是最簡單粗暴的一個分法。那么很多人就問了,測出來的單詞量明明也達(dá)到了10000+,怎么就還是看不懂雅思閱讀呢?這就需要第二步啦~

閱讀水平衡量

這個步驟其實是很多人無視的一步,當(dāng)你想當(dāng)然地以為自己過了六級,或者雅思閱讀也考了8之類,看個原版書就沒有問題了。然后你興沖沖地從亞馬遜上買了大幾百塊的原版,最后卻都淪為書架上的擺設(shè)。

其實我們只需要簡單地進(jìn)行一下閱讀水平衡量,因為詞匯量、語感、對于結(jié)構(gòu)的理解和掌握對于閱讀原版而言都是十分重要的:

Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids(空襲). They were sent to the house of an old Professor who lived in the heart of the country, ten miles from the nearest railway station and two miles from the nearest post office. He had no wife and he lived in a very large house with a housekeeper called Mrs Macready and three servants. ( Their names were Ivy, Margaret and Betty, but they do not come into the story much. ) He himself was a very old man with shaggy white hair which grew over most of his face as well as on his head, and they liked him almost at once; but on the first evening when he came out to meet them at the front door he was so odd-looking that Lucy( who was the youngest) was a little afraid of him, and Edmund( who was the next youngest) wanted to laugh and had to keep on pretending he was blowing his nose(搓鼻子) to hide it.

As soon as they had said goodnight to the Professor and gone upstairs on the first night, the boys came into the girls'room and they all talked it over.

"We've fallen on our feet and no mistake," said Peter. "This is going to be perfectly splendid. That old chap will let us do anything we like."

"I think he's an old dear," said Susan.

"Oh, come off it!" said Edmund, who was tired and pretending not to be tired, which always made him bad-tempered. "Don't go on talking like that.

上面這一頁選自《納尼亞傳奇:獅子,女巫和魔衣柜》。除了我標(biāo)注出中文的兩個詞之外,如果能生詞不超過三個,能夠比較順利地讀完并理解意思,就達(dá)到了高中、四級這個閱讀水平。接下來一起看看下面這一段:


Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes. With the ring of light from his lantern dancing from side to side, he lurched across the yard, kicked off his boots at the back door, drew himself a last glass of beer from the barrel in the scullery(碗碟儲藏室), and made his way up to bed, where Mrs. Jones was already snoring.

As soon as the light in the bedroom went out there was a stirring and a fluttering all through the farm buildings. Word had gone round during the day that old Major, the prize Middle White boar(公豬), had had a strange dream on the previous night and wished to communicate it to the other animals. It had been agreed that they should all meet in the big barn as soon as Mr. Jones was safely out of the way. Old Major (so he was always called, though the name under which he had been exhibited was Willingdon Beauty) was so highly regarded on the farm that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour’s sleep in order to hear what he had to say.

上面這一頁選自《動物農(nóng)場》,同樣的評判標(biāo)準(zhǔn),大概是六級、考研這個閱讀水平。


Back into speech again it passed, and with beating heart he was following the adventures of a dozen seaports, the fights, the escapes, the rallies, the comradeships, the gallant undertakings; or he searched islands for treasure, fished in still lagoons and dozed day-long on warm white sand. Of deep-sea fishings he heard tell, and mighty silver gatherings of the mile-long net; of sudden perils, noise of breakers on a moonless night, or the tall bows of the great liner taking shape overhead through the fog; of the merry home-coming, the headland rounded, the harbour lights opened out; the groups seen dimly on the quay, the cheery hail, the splash of the hawser; the trudge up the steep little street towards the comforting glow of red-curtained windows.

以上節(jié)選自《柳林風(fēng)聲》。本來選了與前面兩段相當(dāng)長度的選段,但因為這本書偏散文偏描寫一些,很明顯地能夠看出詞匯量的增加以及句型的復(fù)雜化,所以為了大家不要太糾結(jié)就選了一小段,這段能夠很好地理解意思,雅思托福水平的原版閱讀就基本無障礙了。


He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men. Most of the confidences were unsought — frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon; for the intimate revelations of young men, or at least the terms in which they express them, are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions. Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.

以上節(jié)選自《了不起的蓋茨比》。這本書很好的體現(xiàn)了以英語為母語寫作的較高水準(zhǔn),用詞不算過于華麗,勝在語言的多變性,算是原版閱讀的最高水平了。


原版書籍推薦

在經(jīng)過了前兩個部分的自測后,這個部分我為每個閱讀水平的朋友們推薦幾本不同類型的書籍,為了方便大家尋找我就寫了中文。當(dāng)然,由于個人閱讀深度廣度還是有一定局限性,不足之處還請海涵。

高中、四級水平:

【童話類】

納尼亞傳奇、彼得潘、彼得兔和他的朋友們、愛麗絲夢游仙境、綠野仙蹤(奧茲國系列)、夏洛特的網(wǎng)、小王子 (這幾本書大家都太熟悉了我就不多做介紹了。我從小就是看彼得兔和維尼熊繪本長大的,所以真的是愛得深沉。小王子最然不是英文原版,不過英文版本挺不錯的,有空可以翻看一下。)

【小說類】

綠山墻的安妮(很適合一個人安安靜靜看的書,小女孩的成長會讓你深陷其中無法放下。)

芒果街上的小屋(拉丁裔女孩美國的生活童話,樂觀美好正能量,短章節(jié)的分割也很適合在地鐵上一點一點看。)

怦然心動(糾結(jié)了一下還是把這本言情小說也寫下來了。很美好很干凈的感情,兩個人的視角,小孩子的口吻,很適合初讀原版的你)

星運里的錯(很抱歉這又是一本言情小說。。。這個難度的原版其實很多都是言情啊暢銷書這類的。不過真的不要瞧不起言情小說,畢竟在這個階段讀原版最重要的是能讀懂讀進(jìn)去。作家John Green的一整套書我都有,可以說他塑造了我最初可憐的詞匯量。)

【哲學(xué)社科類】

誰動了我的奶酪?(這個難度的哲學(xué)社科類書籍我實在是沒讀過太多。值得推薦的可能只有這本,設(shè)計得很漂亮,文字也是真的很簡單。)

六級、考研水平:

【童話類】

圣誕頌歌(如果你還懼怕于狄更斯厚重的雙城記,霧都孤兒,大衛(wèi)科波菲爾,那么這本書無疑是顛覆你對狄更斯認(rèn)知的時候了。人們從這本書開始說Merry Christmas,每個歐美國家的人兒時一定會看的小書~)

圣誕憶舊集(我最喜歡的美國作家卡波蒂的溫暖小書,一共三篇關(guān)于節(jié)日的小文章,一邊閱讀文字學(xué)習(xí)英語,一邊體會一下美國鄉(xiāng)村節(jié)日風(fēng)俗。作為送給朋友的圣誕節(jié)禮物書也是極好的。)

【小說類】

喜福會(不厚的一本小書,四對母女,兩種文化,沖突最終消融為和諧。對于理解美國華裔,以及中美教育差異有著很好的借鑒作用。)

小婦人(姐妹情深,家庭、愛情、友情,關(guān)于成長的故事看了太多,卻依然感動于這四個姐妹的一步步成熟。)

動物農(nóng)場(每個人都該讀讀奧威爾,而動物農(nóng)場無疑是最好上手的一本小書了。語言簡單,內(nèi)涵深刻,適合用一個下午好好思量。)

【哲學(xué)社科類】

蘇菲的世界(我的哲學(xué)啟蒙書。一直覺得大多數(shù)懼怕哲學(xué)的人可能都是沒看過這本書,小女孩蘇菲與“哲學(xué)世界”的通信與探索,像是一場華麗的冒險,也是西方哲學(xué)簡史的最好入門。)

公正課(哈佛公正課大概也是每個英專學(xué)生的必看課程。Justice這本書也很不錯,不像很多哲學(xué)書籍那么厚重,卻條理地總結(jié)了課程中出現(xiàn)的所有重點難點,最后的參考書目也很有價值。)

雅思、托福水平:

【童話類】

柳林風(fēng)聲(從小到大看過最美好的一本書,之前也專門寫過書評。海鼠、鼴鼠、蟾蜍···小動物們單純美好的友情,一次次閱讀更能很好地學(xué)習(xí)其中散文詩一般的場景描寫。)

王爾德童話集(如果我有小孩子,我一定會給他念王爾德。夜鶯與玫瑰、快樂王子、自私的巨人···也許不夠完美,也許帶了些許成人世界的憂郁,但足夠美好,足夠讓人遐想一整個童年。)

【小說類】

這個水平能選擇的小說太多了我就隨便列舉幾個特別推薦給大家的

殺死一只知更鳥(據(jù)說這本書是以卡波蒂為原型的,看得時候我的代入感太強(qiáng)烈了。很多橋段都在流淚,它簡單卻深刻,反思了有關(guān)正義、敬畏、教育與教養(yǎng)等等美國社會中最最尖銳的問題,卻給出了一個關(guān)于成長的答案。去讀吧,收獲的一定不止是一本小說這么簡單。)

呼嘯山莊(剛上大學(xué)時迷戀勃朗特三姐妹和簡奧斯丁,讀多了會覺得有點太過單調(diào)。但呼嘯山莊無疑是其中最為頂尖的作品了。初讀可能感覺用詞略微生澀(可以嘗試先讀理智與情感作為鋪墊),略微憂郁的語言基調(diào),糾葛三代的感情,宏大的場景與故事架構(gòu),絕對與其他情感小說大不同!)

冷血(卡波蒂的代表作,犯罪紀(jì)實題材的作品。我一貫不喜歡小格局的東西,比如他的蒂凡尼的早餐、夏日的十字路口之類的,翻看就足夠了。但這本冷血構(gòu)思精妙,用詞如刀,鋒利機(jī)警,緊張到看時會忘記呼吸。)

永別了,武器(如果只讀一本海明威,我不會推薦老人與海。當(dāng)你翻開永別了,武器,那種沉痛厚重的筆觸一定會給你一個讀下去的理由。)

【哲學(xué)社科類】

制造共識(新聞傳播類很有用的一本書,用了不少美國歷史上“臭名昭著”的扭曲事實的案例,解讀出人們心中所謂“共識”,是怎樣通過大眾傳媒和政府機(jī)構(gòu)被制造出來的。喬姆斯基寫作結(jié)構(gòu)清晰,用詞也盡量簡單,很適合英語水平適中對傳媒有興趣的朋友們。)

新教資本主義與倫理道德(沒看過韋伯怎么好意思說自己喜歡社科。這本書是大一暑假必讀的一本書,當(dāng)時痛不欲生強(qiáng)迫自己一天讀十頁終于讀完。前些日子重讀輕松很多,所以還是建議有一定宗教倫理學(xué)基礎(chǔ),以及對韋伯有了一定了解的朋友們?nèi)肟?。讀完確實解決了不少長久以來的疑問。)

努爾人(人類學(xué)很適合入門的書,講了非洲努爾人部落不同尋常的時空觀、價值觀、生育觀等等細(xì)節(jié)。最開始冷冰冰的人類學(xué)開始變得鮮活有趣了。)

GRE 英專水平:

【小說類】

了不起的蓋茨比( 垮掉的一代最好的代表作……實在是太有名了,并且名副其實。)

莎士比亞戲劇全集( 個人非常喜歡莎士比亞,雖不曾看完他的全部戲劇,但二三十部還是有的。最推薦的有第十二夜,尤利西斯凱撒,哈姆雷特,仲夏夜之夢,暴風(fēng)雨,茲認(rèn)為已囊括莎翁全部精髓。)

織工馬南( 喬治伊利亞特的小說我本人非常欣賞,這本很薄上手更容易??赐旰笙嘈拍銜フ宜娜瘉砜吹?。)

少年派( 如詩如畫的描寫,比電影更激動人心。)

月亮和六便士( 毛姆的書雖然只讀過兩本,還有一本尋歡作樂,不過之后一定會再多讀一些。他的筆觸是平實與華麗的交雜,看似矛盾卻很真切。這本書同王爾德的自深深處,都很適合作為進(jìn)階讀本。)

【哲學(xué)社科類】

一間自己的房間( 伍爾夫有關(guān)女權(quán)主義的長篇演講。混雜大量意象與意識流的筆觸,柔軟又不失力量,娓娓道來。)

東方學(xué)( 看名字我就不想看的一本書,沒想到課上要求看后,覺得其實挺簡單的。是一本了解西方如何看待東方的入門書。)

純潔與危險( 不是很確定這本書的中文名字,探究人們對于不潔之物的歷史淵源的一本書。同樣的不厚,不難,很有趣。)

最后,希望每個人都能找到適合自己的那本原版書。

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