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FYI: http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=14318&page=1
Something More Important Than Enlarging One's Vocabulary "How to enlarge my vocabulary"---this is one of the commonest questions that I have been asked. True, the average Chinese learner of English has a very limited vocabulary, but I think he has something more important to do about his limited vocabulary than to enlarge it. He has yet to know many more words before he can master English. Nor can he master English till he has acquired a better understanding of morst of the words that are in his vocatulary.
For he may think he knows a word when he does not really know it. By knowing a word I mean knowing its true sense or senses instead of merely knowing one or more of what we call its Han equivalents. Take the word "student". Very often it is misused and misunderstood by us Chinese. It is misused and misunderstood by those who call all schoolchild students and take offence at being called students of English simply because they are no longer at school. As a matter of fact, a schoolchild is not a student, but one who studies English is a student of English though he may be an old man and may have already written many books on it.
We are apt to neglect common words. Apart from the possibility of misuse and misunderstanding we are apt to neglect their various senses, or rather idiomatic uses. Take the word "read", which you of course think you know very well. But do you know all the senses (or uses) as illustrated below?
Can you read dreams? The baby cannot read the clock. He is reading her thoughts. The sentence reads like a paraphrase. Don't read too much into the text. The thermometer reads 680. If not, you can hardly yet be said to know the word "read".


FYI:
read: 1. 阅读,看(书、报等): He reads French quite well, but doesn't speak it. He has read widely among the most advanced thinkers of his age.
2. 读起来(有被动意思): The two editions read differently. The play reads better than it acts.
3. 读出声,念(给人听): He longed to read his stories to Ruth. Then he started to read him the letter.
4. 读到,(从书报中)看到: I've read in a book that during the war it was invented. Yesterday I read in the newspaper that milk would cost more.
5. 应该读,内容是,上面写着,(另一文本)是...: "Mr. W. H. all" should be read "Mr. W. Hall". The name reads "Benson" not "Fenton". The book reads "effect" for "affect". The passage quoted reads as follows. How does the sentence read now?
6. (仪器等)上面的读数为: The meter reads 10 therms. The speedometer read sixty miles per hour.
7. 学习,钻研(尤指在大学学习某科目): John is reading law. He's reading physics [reading for a degree in physics]. A self-made man, he read the law on his own until he could pass the bar examination.
8. 看懂,看出: Can you read Morse Code? You can read the signs? God reads men's hearts. She read his thoughts.
9. 理解(为): She read his letter to mean that he didn't intend to come. There are two ways of reading his behavior. The law reads two ways. Silence must not always be read as consent.
10. read about 读到,阅读关于...的文章: I know it's true, because I read about it in the official report.
11. read aloud 朗读,念(给人听): He read his stories aloud to her.
12. read around[round] the subject[topic] 环绕某题目进行阅读: It's not enough to have read the poet's life and works. You must read around the subject and see how far he reflects more general movements in literature.
13. read back 念给本人听(看是否写得准确): Do you mind reading back the text of my message?
14. read between the lines 看出字里行间的意思,从字里行间看出: A clever foreign correspondent can often avoid censorship by careful wording, leaving his audience to read between the lines.
15. read for 读(某科学位),学习以取得(某学位): He spent three years reading for a degree in history.
16. read from 从...选读: From the plays of Shakespeare he read some of the best known speeches.
17. read into 理解某篇材料时加进(原来没有的意思): You have read into her letter more sympathy than she probably feels.
18. read of 读到(某事),(从报刊等上)看到: I read of his death in yesterday's newspaper.
19. read one like a book 对...的想法意图了如指掌: John's girl friend could read him like a book.
20. read one's mind 可以看出某人在想什么: I have known John so long that I can read his mind.
21. read (oneself) to sleep 看着看着睡着了,借看[念]书使(自己)睡着: She read herself to sleep.
22. read out 念(出声),大声念出: The boy read out his lesson clearly.
23. read over 看一遍: The editor read over the manuscript.
24. read through (从头到尾)看一遍,看完: Let's have a read-through. She read through three of the passages.
25. read up 钻研,看书(来了解某门学科),仔细看(材料): There's no need to attend classes in theory; you can read it up for yourself in the library.
26. read up on 钻研(某学科),使对(某学科)有更新的了解: I must read up on developents in the field; I'm getting badly out of touch.
27. well[widely] read 博览群书,知识渊博: He discovered that the young visitor was well read.