Criticism is judgment. A critic is a judge. A judge must study and think about the material presented to him, accept it, correct it or reject it after thinking over what he has read, watched or heard.
Another word for criticism is appreciation. When I criticize or appreciate some object or another, I look for its good points and bad points. In reading any printed or written matter, I always have a pencil in hand and put any comments in the book or on a separate paper. In other words, I always talk back to the writer.
That sort of critical reading might well be called creative reading because I am thinking along with the author, asking him questions, seeing whether he answers the questions and how well he answers them. I mark the good passages to store them in my memory and ask myself about every other part and about the complete piece of writing; where, how and why could or should I improve upon it?
You might think that doing what I suggested is work. Yes, it is, but the work is a pleasure because I can feel my brain expanding, my emotion reacting and my way of living change.
Reading exercises is a great influence on a person. If pictures, still or moving, accompany the reading, the memory will retain the material for a long time.
Just as evil books can corrupt, so also can good books gradually work a change on a corrupt person.
Let's get back to the beneficial effects of thinking while reading. It helps us to enlarge our minds. We understand more about the universe, its people and many of its wonders. We learn to think and observe in new ways. We certainly do get a feeling for the language we are reading. All good writers in any language have been readers who read critically and continuously.
【小题1】According to the writer, creative reading is ________.A.raising questions and answering them for the author |
B.reading and giving comments on the materials one has read |
C.thinking in the same line with the author |
D.storing up facts in one's memory |
A.asks what he does not understand |
B.talks back to the author |
C.understand the background on which the works are based |
D.looks for the good and bad points of the material he has read |
A.following one's thought closely | B.accepting |
C.considering | D.agreeing |
A.understand more about their surrounding than others. |
B.have a thorough insight to the problem in life. |
C.have the feeling of the language they read. |
D.have read extensively(广泛地) and critically |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to bear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.
【小题1】What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?A.He told her not to pay any attention to what her“enemy” had said. |
B.He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
C.He told her to write down all that her“enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true. |
D.He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
A.Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me. |
B.She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer. |
C.I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
D.Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
A.Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
B.Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while. |
C.Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment. |
D.Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
A.Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend |
B.The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
C.My Father |
D.My Childhood |
Not long ago, a good friend of mine asked me to help him in a halfway house in Nashville. I agreed and made my way there one evening.
When I got there, I sat with my friend and talked about how he ended up there. As we talked, another man came up, lighting up his cigarette as he sat down. He had dark, leather skin, and looked like he had endured the sun, the rain, and the wind for long, long time. I couldn’t tell how old he was, but I was sure that he was younger than he looked.
Through a bit of conversation, I found out that he had been on the streets for many, many years.
Without my asking, he started describing life as a homeless man. How he got food; how he stayed warm; how he got money. And he told me something that caught my attention.
He said, “You want to know how I keep my stuff safe at night?”
“Sure, “ I replied.
“I put it up in the trees.”
“Why is it safe in the trees?” I asked.
“The homeless are always looking for treasure on the ground--- coins, something someone’s dropped, half-smoked cigarettes. I know if I put my stuff in the trees, they’ll never find it because they never look up. Never. “
Profound words from an unexpected place. And his message is for all of us.
We all have our particular search. We’re looking for treasure on this earth. But what we are REALLY looking for is right there above us. There’s really nothing we need on the ground.
In fact, it’s surrounding us.
【小题1】What did the author go to Nashville for?A.To help his friend. | B.To build a halfway house. |
C.To visit a stranger. | D.To pick up a homeless man. |
A.Enjoyed | B.shared |
C.Suffered | D.expected |
A.nobody could climb up the trees | B.there was a hole in the tree |
C.The leaves of the trees were thick | D.the homeless never looked up |
A.We should look up for treasure in future |
B.What we’re looking for is just by our side |
C.There’s really nothing we need on the ground |
D.It is wrong to look for treasure on the ground |
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