Writing Between the Lines

Unit4WritingbetweentheLinesWriting between the LinesBy Mortimer J. AdlerYou 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 reading.I contend, quite bluntly, that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love.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.Full 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 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.There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers — unread, untouched. The second has a great many books — a few of them read through, most of them as clean and shiny as the day they were bought. (This person would probably like to make 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-earedand dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back.Is it false respect, you may ask, to preserve intact and unblemished a beautifully printed 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 or a statue.But the soul of a book can be separated from its body. A book is more like the score of a piece of music than it is like a painting. No great musician confuses a symphony with the printed sheets of music. If your respect for magnificent binding or typography gets in the way, buy yourself a cheap edition and pay your respects to the author.Why is marking up a book indispensable 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 express itself in words, spoken or written. The marked book is usually the thought-through book. Finally, writing helps you remember the thought 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 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. Thebooks you read for pleasure can be read in a state of relaxation, and nothing is lost. But a great book rich in ideas and beauty, a book that raises and tries to answer great fundamental questions, demands the most active reading of which you are capable. If when you’ve finished reading a book, the pages are filled with your notes, you know that you have read actively.But, you may ask, why is writing necessary? Well, the physical act of 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.Even if you wrote on a scratch pad, and threw the paper away when you had finished writing, your grasp of the book would be surer. But you don’t have to throw the paper away. The margins (top and bottom, as well as side), the end papers, the very space between the lines, are all available. They aren’t sacred. And, best of all, your marks and notes become an integral part of the book and stay there forever. You can pick up the book the following week or year, and 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 between you and the author. Presumably he knows more about the subject than 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 consistin being an empty receptacle. The learner had to question himself and question the teacher. He even has to argue with the teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying. And marking a book is literally an expression of your differences or agreements of opinion, with the author.。

How to Improve College Student’s Reading AbilityAbstractThe most common problem college students have nowadays, including English majors, is that they have difficulty in understanding the long sentences, or sentences with complicated structures. Therefore, how to improve reading ability of college students draws more and more attention. Reading ability is very important in our daily life and studies. So the first thing we meet when we are reading is the vocabulary, that is, how to deal with the unfamiliar words will be a very important aspect in our discussion. Next, we must have a good knowledge of English grammar which will help us understand the English passages better. As the people said,practice makes perfect, so we should read a large number of English material except the textbooks. Finally, we should eradiate the bad reading habits and form good ones. The author of the paper has analyzed some common reading skills and put forward some suggestions to the further improvement of college students‟reading ability with the authors‟ own learning experience, which may help to improve the students‟ reading competence.Key words:Reading ability Vocabulary Grammar Reading habits如何提高大学生的阅读能力摘要如今大学生面临的多数问题，包括英语专业的学生，就是在理解英语长句或者复杂结构句上有困难。

考研英语作文行距English: When it comes to the line spacing for the GRE writing section, it is important to maintain a consistent line spacing throughout your essay. The standard line spacing for most academic writing is double-spaced, which means there is a full blank line of space between each line of text. This not only makes your essay easier to read and more visually appealing, but it also allows room for comments and revisions from graders. Using double-spacing helps ensure that your essay looks professional and polished, which can positively impact the overall impression your essay makes on the graders. Additionally, double-spacing can also make it easier for you to make edits and revisions to your essay, as there is more space to write in between lines. Overall, maintaining a double-spaced line spacing in your GRE essay is a simple yet effective way to enhance the appearance and readability of your writing.中文翻译: 关于GRE写作部分的行距，保持一致的行距是非常重要的。

如何在已有英文衡水体作文划二线格【中英文版】How to Draw Double Lines in English Handwriting with Existing Cursive Script在已经写好的英文衡水体作文中划二线格，需要一定的技巧和耐心。

以下是一些步骤和建议，帮助你完成这一任务。

Firstly, prepare a ruler and a fine-point pen.Ensure the pen"s ink is compatible with the paper to avoid smudging.Before drawing the double lines, it"s crucial to analyze the existing handwriting"s slant and line spacing.首先，准备好一把直尺和一支细尖笔。

确保笔的墨水与纸张兼容，避免晕染。

在划二线格之前，分析现有手写的倾斜度和行间距至关重要。

Secondly, gently place the ruler beneath the line of text you wish to underline.Adjust the ruler"s position to align with the bottom of the letters, making sure it"s parallel to the baseline of the script.其次，轻放直尺在你想要划线的文字下方。

调整直尺位置，使其与字母底部对齐，并确保与手写体的基线平行。

ext, using the fine-point pen, draw the first line carefully, following the ruler"s edge.Avoid pressing too hard to prevent any damage to the paper or the existing writing.Once the first line is done, move the ruler down to draw the second line, ensuring an even distance between the two lines.接下来，使用细尖笔，沿着直尺边缘小心地画出第一条线。