英語專四考試閱讀項目是對考生在英語閱讀能力方面的檢驗，要求學生在考試中充分展示自己真實的閱讀水平。所以要想取得好成績，就需要我們平時勤學苦練，從掌握閱讀技巧的基本方法着手，逐步、有效地提高閱讀能力。以下部分將舉例說明閱讀時所涉及的方面。
正式閱讀前的預讀
要進行英語閱讀，必須首先具有一定的詞彙量（包括固定詞組）和語法積累。但是這並不等於閱讀就過了關；我們還必須掌握一定的閱讀方法或技巧，才能對原文有更準確和深刻的理解。特別在閱讀一些不大熟悉的材料時，閱讀技巧就顯得尤爲重要，正式閱讀前的預讀就是首先應該掌握的技巧。
有些學生不管在平時還是在考試時，一拿到文章後，馬上就開始仔細閱讀文章中的每個句子。因此往往一段讀下來，還不知該文章的主題。這樣既費時，理解效果也不好。比較可取的方法是: 在正式閱讀前，先預讀一遍，然後再細讀每個句子。如果不習慣通讀全文，或者在考試中時間不允許，那麼至少也應該讀其中一段或幾個句子，然後再逐句細讀。這樣做的目的是爲了瞭解全文或某一段的大致內容，既有利於讀者根據上下文選擇合適的詞義，分析詞和詞、句和句之間的關係，也有利於讀者根據文章內容涉及的領域、人物、地理等背景情況，從自己的頭腦裏調用相關的'背景知識來幫助理解文章的內容，提高閱讀效率。事實上，通讀和細讀相結合本身就是基本閱讀技巧之一。
在正式閱讀一篇文章（尤其是較長篇幅的文章）之前，以下的步驟能幫助讀者更有效地組織思路、理解原文: 仔細閱讀文章的標題（如果有的話）；閱讀諸如副標題、斜體字、黑體字等內容，快速瀏覽圖表、數字，以便了解主題內容和寫作目的；閱讀文章的第一段和以後各段的第一和最後一個句子，因爲許多作者常常把他們要表達的中心大意放在段落的第一句或最後一句裏；如果存在一個結論性的段落，也應仔細閱讀。通過預讀方式，讀者能基本瞭解文章的中心大意，語言的難度，以及細讀時可能會遇到的問題。預讀時還應帶着問題閱讀，這些問題將有助於讀者決定他們細讀時所需要的閱讀技巧。下面是一些閱讀問題的例子。
1. 我是否熟悉文章所涉及的話題？
2. 文章的寫作風格是文學性的（literary），還是事實性的(factual)？
3. 對於這樣的文章，我是否能以較快的閱讀速度來獲得較好的理解？
4. 作者的寫作目的是什麼？
5. 文章整體的語言難度如何？詞彙是普通詞彙還是專業詞彙？
6. 作者通過這篇文章想告訴我們什麼？
7. 文章能回答哪些主要問題？
快速預讀下面一篇文章，時間控制在一分鐘內。在預讀過程中可隨手寫下幾個你認爲完成閱讀本文後可得到答案的問題。
Those Funny Things Your Body Does
Gooseflesh, dimples, yawning — they may seem strange to you, but your body knows what its doing.
What Causes “Butterflies” in the Stomachs?
Your body is often a road map of your emotions — blushing, gooseflesh, and that quivering sensation in your stomach when youre nervous or anxious are all psychosomatic reactions. States of emotional excitability bring on muscular contractions throughout the body, resulting in generalized tension. “Butterflies” in your stomach is merely a localized tension state, caused by muscle spasms in the stomach and intestines, as well as an oversecretion of hormones from the adrenal glands. At the same time, your hands may get sweaty and your heart thump, proof again of the interconnection between the bodys systems.
Why Does Your Hair Turn Gray?
Scientists are still puzzling over this one. They know that hair colour is due to tiny pigment granules scattered along the inside of the hair shaft. They also know that these pigments are produced by cells near the hair root, and are deposited in the shaft as it forms. But researchers still dont understand the exact chemical process that takes place in the hair bulb and causes the pigment cells to stop producing colour. Most people develop noticeable gray hairs by their mid40s, although a lucky few make it to their 50s with no change in colour. Generally, blondes gray before brunettes. And, contrary to numerous ghost stories, there are no scientific data to show that hair can turn gray overnight (although rapid graying may be the result of disease). Unfortunately, the process is irreversible. Vitamins wont bring back that lost colour, Is a Dimple? Its a shame that such a charming feature should have so mundane a cause, but here are the prosaic facts: The skin is attached to muscles underneath the surface, and some people have an extra point of attachment, usually on the cheek. When the facial muscles contract, they draw the skin up at that point, forming a dimple.
Why Do You Get Gooseflesh?
Remember the last time you stepped out of the shower into an air瞔onditioned room? A chill passed over your body, leaving your skin rippled with little bumps. What happened? Once again, an instantaneous reaction took place, triggered either physiologically by the cold or psychologically by fear or stress. The autonomic nervous system called into action a group of tiny muscles, each of which is linked to one of the millions of hair shafts all over your skin surface. When these muscles, medically known as the erector pili, contract, they lift the skin and hair attached to them. This closes off the pores and blood vessels, preventing heat loss. The result: gooseflesh.
Can You Really Be “Double Jointed”?
Boasting of their prowess, kids will try to impress their friends by performing such astounding feats as twisting their thumbs backward toward their forearms, or bend瞚ng their fingers into grotesque positions. But “double瞛ointedness” is a misnomer — its the ligaments, not the joints, that are responsible for these supple movements. Joints (“articulations,” as the medical books say) are the mooch fibrous sheaths at the end of every bone. Lined with cartilage and lubricated by the sticky fluid contained in small sacs known as bursas, joints — due to their unique construction — permit a certain amount of movement but also restrain us from moving in ways that may cause injury. Ligaments, tough but flexible ropes of fibrous tissue, hold the joints together and thus support the skeletal system. Because of their construction, some peoples ligaments stretch more than others, allowing for the increased agility that we have come to call double jointedness.
Why Do We Yawn?
Did you ever notice that when youre exhausted, drowsy, or simply bored, your breathing becomes shallow? Actually, your rate of respiration slows, too. Under normal circumstances, most people inhale and exhale 12-24 times a minute, bringing in 9-12 pints of air. But this rate can drop as low as 7 or 8 times per minute, as it does during sleep, for example. Although most people think carbon dioxide is “the bad guy” in terms of normalizing respiration (oxygen being “the good guy”) it is actually the increased amount of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream that brings our respiration rate back up to normal when it starts to slide. Nerve cells in the respiratory centre (in the brain stem just above the spinal cord) are highly sensitive to carbon dioxide. When there is too much of it in the blood, the centre signals the lungs or respiratory muscles to breathe deeper and faster. At the same time, the autonomic nervous system (which controls internal organs, muscles, and nerves without your realizing it) signals the facial muscles around the jaw to contract into a yawn, forcing you to take an extra deep breath. The combination of these two movements helps eliminate the excess carbon dioxide. You could say that yawning provides an added boost that nudges the respiratory process along.
下面是一些你可能在預讀時寫下的問題:
1. What kinds of bodily activities are associated with anxiety?
2. Can hair graying be reversed?
3. Is “gooseflesh” a psychological or physiological phenomenon?
4. Is “double瞛ointed” behaviour quite abnormal?
5. Does yawning have a psychological effect on a physiological basis?
你所寫下的或想到的問題與以上的問題一樣嗎？你是否在文章中找到答案？你應該能在一分鐘內找到文章大意。
