1、Objectives and OutcomesLearn to use the four strategies in technical and business reading:Skim for an overview of a document.Scan for specific information.Determine main points by telling the topic sentence from supporting sentences.Draw inferences from assumptions and implications.Lead-inQ:In an ag
2、e of information,how to deal with the problem of reading?To read effectively,we need to follow 4 steps:Select what you really need to readRead quicklyFind main points accuratelyUnderstand indirect or implied meaning correctly To follow the 4 steps,we need to learn 4 strategies accordingly:Skimming&S
3、canningIdentifying structure and hierarchyDistinguishing main pointsDrawing inferences Before getting down to read a document in detail,you should ask yourself the following questions:Do I really need to read this document?If I do,should I read the whole document or only a part of it?Which part of t
4、he document should I focus on?Which part should I read fairly quickly?Which part should I skip?To answer these questions,you should learn how to skim and how to scan.1.Skimming(浏览或略读浏览或略读)Skimming means to go through the entire document quickly to get an overall sense of what is in the document and
5、where it is located.Skimming strategies:For a book:Look through the covers,the preface,and the table of contents to get an overview of the content,the scope and approach.Example:English for Technical Communication The front cover provides major contents.The back cover gives approaches of compilation
6、 and scopes of application.The preface provides an overview of the book.The contents tells what each chapter includes.For an article:Glance through the title,headings,topic sentences,and the first and the last paragraph to identify main ideas.E.g.What is Energy?(P.16)Skimming a document will help yo
7、u decide:whether you should read the document or not;whether you should read the whole or only a part of the document;what you need to concentrate on;what you can read fairly quickly;what you can simply skip.2.Scanning(寻读或查阅）寻读或查阅）Scanning means to run your eyes down a page to look for specific info
8、rmation.You scan a document for the following purposes:Identifying key terms that are new to youLocating particular text features such as tables,graphs and examplesDetermining critical information for you to remember,such as principles,laws,definitions,formulas,and steps in a processE.g.Effective Re
9、ading Strategies(p.4&5)Figure1-1 Wall of Words Figure 1-2 Information Map The article with labels of information is much easier to scan than traditional paragraphs.Visual cues are signals in a text that can catch your attention immediately,like headings,subheadings,or other visual cues.Visual cuesFu
10、nction and examplesFont size字号字号Different sizes of print usually used to distinguish different levels of the text:E.g.twelve points for text;eighteen points for titlesFont style字形字形Different forms of print used to draw readers attention to elements such as headings,key terms,and important characteri
11、stics:E.g.CAPITALS,bold,italics,underscore.Font type字体字体Different designs of print:E.g.Times New Roman(usu.used for long documents),Arial(usu.used for short documents)Visual cuesFunction and examplesList一览表一览表A series of parallel items in either numbered or bulleted formatIndentation缩进缩进The blank sp
12、ace between a margin and the beginning of a line,used to chunk related informationLine space行间距行间距The leading or space between lines used to chunk related informationIcons图标图标A small picture that represents a specific meaning or function:International standard icons are nonverbal information for peo
13、ple of different languages.(See Figure 2-3,p16)Table of Contents with Visual Cues Font sizes indicate hierarchy of the contents.Font styles,bold and italics,show hierarchy of the contents and chunks of information.Indentation marks hierarchy of the contents.Numbered lists group different contents.Ic
14、ons by each section serve as a quick reference of visual language.However,if the article does not provide the key information with visual cues,you will have to find the main points through reading.A paragraph in technical writing is generally composed of two kinds of sentences:a topic sentence,which
15、 states the main idea;supporting sentences,which provide detailed explanations of the main idea in a paragraph.Guidelines for identifying the topic sentence:The topic sentence provides the main idea or the topic of the paragraph,while supporting sentences give detailed explanations to support the to
16、pic sentence.The topic sentence introduces new information,while supporting sentences provide information that is already known.The topic sentence is usually general in meaning,while supporting sentences are more specific in meaning.E.g.Read Figure 2-5(p.17)for topic sentences.For specific purposes,
17、such as,to make their writing vivid,interesting,or persuasive,writers may use indirect or implied expressions.You should be able to draw inferences:Understand the implied meaning by reasoning.Make connections and draw conclusions beyond words by common sense,expertise knowledge and imagination.Use p
18、ragmatic inference.一语未了，忽听外面人说：“林姑娘来了。”话犹未了，林黛玉已摇摇的走了进来，一见了宝玉，便笑道：“嗳哟，我来的不巧了！”宝玉等忙起身笑让坐，宝钗因笑道：“这话怎么说？”黛玉笑道：“早知他来，我就不来了。”宝钗道：“我更不解这意。”黛玉笑道：“要来一群都来，要不来一个也不来，今儿他来了，明儿我再来，如此间错开了来着，岂不天天有人来了？也不至于太冷落，也不至于太热闹了姐姐如何反不解这意思？”宝玉因见他外面罩着大红羽缎对衿褂子，因问：“下雪了么？”地下婆娘们道：“下了这半日雪珠儿了。”宝玉道：“取了我的斗篷来不曾？”黛玉便道：“是不是，我来了他就该去了。”宝玉笑道
19、：“我多早晚儿说要去了？不过拿来预备着。”宝玉的奶母李嬷嬷因说道：“天又下雪，也好早晚的了，就在这里同姐姐妹妹一处顽顽罢姨妈那里摆茶果子呢，我叫丫头去取了斗篷来，说给小幺儿们散了罢。”宝玉应允。李嬷嬷出去，命小厮们都各散去不提。红楼梦第八回第八回 比通灵金莺微露意探宝钗黛玉半含酸比通灵金莺微露意探宝钗黛玉半含酸Figures of speech（比喻、修辞格）Figures of speech is the usage of words or expressions other than its original or literal meaning to create a vivid pic
20、ture.Commonly used figures of speech:Simile Metaphor Metonymy Synecdoche 1.Simile（明喻）:an explicit comparison between two things unlike in nature that yet have something in common.E.g.The heart is like a pump and works as a pump.The DNA molecule forms a double-helix structure like a staircase.Simile
21、is useful in technical descriptions.People understand the new on the basis of what they already known.The purpose of a simile is to help clarify a complex or unfamiliar thing by comparing it with something the reader is familiar with.Simile is usually introduced by“as”or“like”.2.Metaphor（暗喻）:an impl
22、ied comparison between two things unlike in nature that yet have something in common.Eg.The heart is a muscular pump that drives the blood through the blood vessels.The clear night has a thousand eyes.Conventional airplanes create radar signatures when they are detected.3.Metonymy（转喻）:a figure of sp
23、eech that calls one thing in the name of another related to it.The kettle is boiling.Burning the rain forest means we are silencing thousands of songs we have never even heard.4.Synecdoche（提喻）:a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.How to earn daily bread wit
24、h my pen was the problem.China defeated Japan in the mens world table-tennis championships.The river is congested with a thousand masts.Read Para.2(p.20)written by Al Gore My search for the underlying causes of the environmental crisis has led me to travel around the world to examine and study many
25、of these images of destruction.At the very bottom of the earth,high in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains,with the sun glaring at midnight through a hole in the sky,I stood in the unbelievable coldness and talked with a scientist in the late fall of 1988 about the tunnel he was digging through time.Slipp
26、ing his parka back to reveal a badly burned face that was cracked and peeling,he pointed to the annual layers of ice in a core sample dug from the glacier on which we were standing.He moved his finger back in time to the ice of two decades ago.“Heres where the U.S.Congress passed the Clean Air Act,”
27、he said.At the bottom of the world,two continents away from Washington,D.C.,even a small reduction in one countrys emissions had changed the amount of pollution found in the remotest and least accessible place on earth.1.the bottom of the earth:the South Pole Area(metaphor)2.the sun glaring at midni
28、ght:the polar day period3.a hole in the sky:the damaged ozone layer due to serious air pollution(metaphor)4.a badly burned face:a face hurt by the strong sunlight shining through the holeAn ozone hole in the Antarctic Circle5.the tunnel he was digging through time:he was digging a tunnel through lay
29、ers of ice formed in time order(metonymy)6.annual layers of ice:layers of ice formed in different years7.He moved his finger back in time:He moved his finger back along the layers of ice(metonymy)8.Heres where:Here is the layer of ice formed at the same time when the U.S.Congress.This is where the U
30、S Congress passed the Clean Air Act.Two continents away from DC9.two continents away:Antarctica and South America10.remotest and least accessible place:Antarctica,implying the earth is dirtier than 20 years ago Skimming:Go through the entire document to get an overview of the doc.Scanning:Run your e
31、yes down a page to look for specific information.Make full use of visual cues in skimming&scanning.Distinguishing main points:Topic sentence introduces the topic(usu.general in meaning),or provides the summary/conclusion,or gives the new idea.Drawing inferences:Understand the implied meaning by reas
32、oning.Use the knowledge of figures of speech.1.Group work:Find some articles by yourselves,like academic writing,newpaper writing etc.,in traditional organization,analyze your reading strategies,identify the structure and topic sentences,explain the figures of speech,and reorganize the article with various visual cues possible,including headings,subheadings,font size,font style,line spacing,indentation,lists and graphics,etc.Show your presentation next class and later send them to mosoteach.2.Reference websites:http:/
