Unit Six 
Text
"Don't ever mark in a book!" Thousands of teach-
ers, librarians and parents have so advised. But Mor-
timer adler disagrees.He thinks so long as you owm the
book and needn't preserve its physical appearance,
marking it jroperly will grant yau the ownership of
the book in the true sense of the word and make it a
part of yourself.
HOW TO MARK A BOOK
Mortimer J. Adler
You know you have to read "between the lines" to get the most out of
anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the
course of your reading. I want to persuade you to "write between the
lines." Unless you do, you are not likely to do the most efficient kind of
5 reading.
You shouldn't mark up a book which isn't yours. Librarians (or your
friends) who lend you books expect you to keep them clean, and you should.
If you decide that I am right about the usefulness of marking books, you
will have tq buy them.
10 There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the
property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes
and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession.
Fill ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the
best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it. An illustration
15 may make the point clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the
butcher's icebox to your own. But you do not own the beefsteak in the most
important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am
arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your bloodstream to do you
any good .
20 There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard
sets and best-sellers - unread, untouched. ( This individual owns woodpulp
and ink, not books. ) The second has a great many books - a few of them
read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny
as the day they were bought. ( This person would probably like to make
25 books his own, but is restrained by a false respect for their physical
appearance. ) The third has a few books or many - every one of them dog-
eared and dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and
scribbled in from front to back. (This man owns books. )
Is it false respect, you may ask, to preserve intact a beautifully prin-
30 ted book, an elegantly bound edition? Of course not. I'd no more scribble
all over a first edition of "Paradise Lost" than I'd give my baby a set of
crayons and an original Rembrandt!I wouldn't mark up a painting or a statue.
Its soul, so to speak, is inseparable from its body. And the beauty of a
rare edition or of a richly manufactured volume is like that of a painting
35 or a statue. If your respect for magnificent binding or printing gets in
the way, buy yourself a cheap edition and pay your respects to the author.
Why is marking up a book indispensabie to reading? First, it keeps you
awake. (And I don't mean merely conscious; I mean wide awake. ) In the
second place, reading, if it is active; is thinking, and thinking tends to
40 express itself in words, spoken or written. The marked book is usually the
thought-through book. Finally, writing helps you remember the thoughts
you had, or the thoughts the author expressed. Let me develop these three
points.
If reading is to accomplish anything more than passing time, it must
45 be active. You can't let your eyes glide across the lines of a book and
come up with an understanding of what you have read. Now an ordinary piece
of light fiction, like, say, "Gone with the Wind," doesn't require the most
active kind of reading. The books you read for, pleasure can be read in a
state of relaxation, and nothing is lost. But a great book; rich in ideas and
50 beauty, a book that raises and tries to answer great fundamental questions,
demands the most active reading of which you are capable. You don't absorb
the ideas of John Dewey the way you absorb the crooning of Mr. Vallee. You
have to reach for them. That you cannot do while you're asleep.
55 If, when you've finished reading a book, the pages are filled with your
notes, you know that you read actively. The most famous active reader of
great books I know is President Hutchins, of the University of Chicago. He
also has the hardest schedule of business activities of any man I know. He
invariably reads with a pencil, and sometimes, when he picks up a book and
60 pencil in the evening, he finds himself, instead of making intelligent notes,
drawing what he calls "caviar factories" on the margins. When that happens,
he puts the book down. He knows he's too tired to read, and he,'s just
wasting time.
But, you may ask, why is writing necessary? Well, the physical act of
65 writing, with your own hand, brings words and sentences more sharply before
your mind and preserves them better in your memory. To set down your
reaction to important words and sentences you have read, and the questions
they have raised in your mind, is to preserve those reactions and sharpen
those questions. You can pick up the book the following week or year, and
70 there are all your points of agreement, disagreement, doubt and inquiry.
It's like resuming an interrupted conversation with the advantage of being
able to pick up where you left off.
And that is exactly what reading a book should be : a conversation be-
tween you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than
75 you do; naturally you'll have the proper humility as you approach him. But
don't let anybody tell you that a reader is supposed to be solely on the
receiving end. Understanding is a two-way operation; learning doesn't con-
sist in being an empty receptacle. The learner has to question himself and
question the teacher. He even has to argue with the teacher, once he under-
80 stands what the teacher is saying. And marking a book is literally an ex-
pression of your differences, or agreements of opinion, with the author.
There are all kinds of devices for marking a book intelligently and
fruitfully. Here's the way I do it:
1. Underlining: of major points, of important or forceful statements.
85 2. Vertical lines at the margin: to emphasize a statement already under-
lined.
3. Star, asterisk, or other doo-dad at the margin: to be used sparingly, to
emphasize the ten or twenty most important statements in the book.
4 .Numbers in the margin : to indicate the sequence of points the author
90 makes in develnping a single arguxnent.
5 .Numbers of other pages in the margin: to indicate where else in the book
the author made points relevant to the point marked; to tie up the ideas
in a book, which, though they may be separated by many pages, belong
together:
95 6.Circling of key words or phrases.
7.Writing in the margin, or at the top or bottom of the page, for the sake
of: recording questions (and perhaps answers) which a passage raised in
your mind; reducing a complicated discussion to a simple statement;
recording the sequence of major points right through the book. I use the
100 end-papers at the back of the book to make a personal index of the
author's pointS in the order of their appearance.
The front end-papers are, to me, the most important. Same people re-
serve them for a fancy bookplate. I reserve them for fancy thinking. After
I have finished reading the book and making my personal index on the back
105 end-papers, I turn to the front and try to outline t he book, not page by
page, or point by point (I've already dont tnat at the back), but as an
integrated structure, with a basic unity and an order of parts. This
outline is, to me, the measure of my understanding of the work.
New Words
persuade / v. cause(sb.) to do sth.by reasoning,arguing,
etc. 说服, 劝服
librarfan / n. 图书馆管理员
property / n. (collectively) things owned; possessions
财产
prelude / n. action, event, etc. that serves as an
introduction 序幕；前奏曲
possession / n. possessing; ownership;(pl.) property 拥有;
所有权; 财产
ownership n. the possessing ( of sth. ) ; right' of
possessing 所有(权)
illustration / n. an example which explains the meaning of
sth. ; an explanatory picture, diagram,
etc. 例;图例；插图
beefsteak / n. 牛排
transfer / vt. hand over the possession of (property,etc.);
change officially from one position,etc.
to another 转移 ;调动
butcher / n. a person who kills, cuts up and sells
animals for food 屠夫
icebox /n. a box where food is kept cool with blocks
of ice; (AmE) refrigerator
bloodstream /n. the blood as it flows through the blood
vessels of the body 血流
absorb / vt. take or suck in ( liquids ) ; take in
(knowledge,ideas, etc. ) 吸收
best-seller/ n. book that is sold in very large numbers
畅销书
individual / n. any one human being ( contrasted with
society) 个人
woodpulp / n. 木(纸) 浆
dip/ v. plunge or be plunged quickly or briefly
into a liquid,esp.to wet or coat 浸; 蘸
shiny/ a. giving off light as if polished; bright
发亮的
restrain / vt. prevent; control; hold back 抑制;控制,约束
dogeared / a. (of a book)having the corners of the pages
bent down with use, like a dog's ears
(书页)卷角的
dilapidated / a. (of things) broken and old ; falling to
pieces 破旧的；倾坍的
loosen / v. make or become loose or looser (使) 松开
continual / a. repeated; frequent 不断的;频繁的
scribble / v. write hastily or carelessly;write meaning-
less marks on paper, etc. 潦草书写;乱涂
preserve / vt. keep safe from harm or danger 保护;保存
intact / a. untouched; undamaged 完整无损的
elegantly / ad. beautifully; gracefully 优美地 ; 雅致地
elegant / a.
bind / (bound) tie or fasten with a rope, etc. ; fasten
together sheets of (a book) and enclose
within a cover 捆; 绑；装订(书)
edition / n. form in which a book is published; tdtal
number of eopies (of a book, newspaper,
etc.)issued f rom the same types (书等的)
版本; 版
paradise / n. the Garden of Eden; Heaven 伊甸园 ; 天堂
crayon / n. 蜡笔;颜色笔
original / a. of or relating to an origin or beginning;
being the first instance or source from
which a copy can be made 最初的;原著的;
原创作者的
paintirig n. a painted picture; pictures
statue / n. an image of a person or animal in wood, stone,
bronze, etc. 雕像
inseparable / a. impossible to separate from one another
manufacture / vt. make produce on a large scale by machinery
制造；(大量)生产
magnificent / a. splendid; remarkable 华丽的; 宏伟的
indispensable / a. absolutely essential or necessary
必不可少的
conscious / a. aware; able to feel and think 有意识的;
神志清醒的
understanding / n. knowledge of the nature of sth.,based esp.
on learning or experience 理解
fiction / n. ( branch of literature concerned with )
stories,novels and romances 小说
croon / vi. sing gently in a low soft voice, usu. with
much feeling 低声吟唱
reader / n. person who reads
invariably / ad. unchangeable; constantly 不变地;始终如一地
intelligent / a. having or showing a high degree of powers
of reasoning ar understanding 聪明的
caviar(e) / n. 鱼子酱
sharpen / v. become or make sharp(er)
disagreement / n. the fact or a case of disagreeing; lack of
similarity 分歧;不一致
disagree / vi .
inqufry / n. question; asking 询问
resume / vt. go on after stopping for a time (中断后)重
新开始
naturally / ad. of course; as one could have expected
humility / n. humble condition or state of mind 谦卑
solely /ad. not including anything else or any others;
only
sole / a.
receptacle / n. a container for keeping things in 容器
literally / ad. actually; virtually 确实地; 简直
fruitfully /ad. productively; with good results 富有成果地
fruitful /a.
underline /vt. draw a line under (a word, etc. ) esp. to
show importance 在…下划线( 表示强调 )
forceful/ a. strong; powerful
vertical / a. 垂直的
emph85ize / vt. Call attention to; stress 强调
asterisk / n. a starlike mark used to call attention to
sth. 星号(即*)
doo-dad / n. (informal ) a fancy, trifling ornament
小装饰物
sparingly / ad. economicallya frugally 节约地
sequence / n. succession;connected line of events,ideas,
etc. 顺序;连续;一连串
relevant / a. connected with what is being discussed;
appropriate 有关的;适宜的
phrase / n. 短语
end-paper / n. (often pl. ) a piece of blank paper stuck
inside the cover at the beginning or end
of a book 衬页
index / n. 索引
fancy / a. not ordinary;brightly coloured 别致的;
花哨的
bookplate / n. a piece of paper with the owner's name,usu.
pasted to the inside front cover of a
book 藏书票
integrate / vt. put or bring together (parts) into a whole
使成一整体
structure / n. way in which sth.is put together,organized,
etc. ; framework or essential parts of a
building 结构
basic / a. essential; fundamental 主要的;基本的
unity / n. an arrangement of parts to fonm a oomplete
whole;the state of being united 总体布局;
统一
Phrases & Expressions
read between the lines (fig.)find more meaning than the words appear to
express 体会字里行间的言外之意
do (sb. ) good help or benefit (sb. ) 帮助(某人);对(某人)有益
dip into read or study for a short time or without much
attention 浏览；稍加探究
no more...than... in no greater degree… than…
a set of a number of (things that belong together) 一套
so to speak / say (used as an apology for an unusual use of a word
or phrase) as one might say; if I may use this
expression, etc. 可以说;容许我打个譬喻
get in the way become a nuisance or hindrance 挡道 ; 碍事
in the second place as the second thing in order or importance 第二,
其次
think through think about until one reaches an understanding
or conclusion 彻底全面考虑
reach for stretch out one's hand to grasp; make an effort
to grasP 伸手去抓; 努力争取
set down write down on paper
pick up start again after interruption 中断后重新开始
leave off stop
consist in lie in; be equivalent to 在于 ; 存在于
tie up connect closely; fasten with rope,etc.系紧；捆牢
reduce…to state in a more concise form; summarize as
把…归纳为
Proper Names
Rembrandt 伦勃朗(姓氏)
Dewey 杜威(姓氏)
Vallee 瓦利 (姓氏)
Hutchins 哈钦斯
Chicago 芝加哥( 美国城市 )
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