High 1 · Reading series
Lesson 60 · The Sentence I Can Now Read
Audio track 60
Listen first
Listen once before opening the English passage.
Open the English passage and hover for word help
On the wall outside the library, I found a sentence from a student exhibition: “A source is useful only when we understand which question it can answer.” I knew every word, yet I stopped to think about what the sentence meant.
I remembered the number about online textbooks that came from one company's customers. I remembered a satellite image of a river taken after heavy rain. I remembered the library guide that seemed complete until visitors tried to use it. Each source had helped, but each had limits.
Last year, I might have translated the sentence word by word and moved on. Now I could connect it to people, places, and decisions. I did not need to agree that the sentence covered every situation. I could ask when it was helpful and what else I would need to know.
The words had not changed. My way of reading them had. One sentence had become a door to questions I wanted to keep asking.
Sentence practice
Play any sentence in Dicvo’s Jenny English voice. Before playing all, choose how many times each sentence plays. A practice pause about as long as the sentence follows each play, including before the next sentence. The complete reading remains above.
Choose a sentence to begin.
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On the wall outside the library, I found a sentence from a student exhibition: “A source is useful only when we understand which question it can answer.”
-
I knew every word, yet I stopped to think about what the sentence meant.
-
I remembered the number about online textbooks that came from one company's customers.
-
I remembered a satellite image of a river taken after heavy rain.
-
I remembered the library guide that seemed complete until visitors tried to use it.
-
Each source had helped, but each had limits.
-
Last year, I might have translated the sentence word by word and moved on.
-
Now I could connect it to people, places, and decisions.
-
I did not need to agree that the sentence covered every situation.
-
I could ask when it was helpful and what else I would need to know.
-
The words had not changed.
-
My way of reading them had.
-
One sentence had become a door to questions I wanted to keep asking.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
图书馆外墙上，我读到学生展览中的一句话：‘只有弄清一份资料能回答什么问题，它才有用。’每个词我都认识，却还是停下来想了想整句话的意思。
我想起一个关于电子课本使用人数的数字，它只来自一家公司的客户；想起一张暴雨后拍摄的河流卫星照片；也想起一份看似完整、直到访客试用才暴露问题的图书馆导览。每份资料都帮过忙，也各有局限。
如果在去年，我或许会逐词翻译这句话，然后继续往前走。现在，我能把它与人物、地点和决定联系起来。我不必认定它适用于所有情形；我可以追问它在什么时候有帮助，还需要知道什么。
词没有变，变的是我阅读它们的方式。短短一句话，成了通向更多问题的一扇门；这些问题，我还想继续追问。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- source
- 资料来源；需要判断能回答什么。
- only when
- 只有在……时；句子的条件关系。
- answer a question
- 回答问题；衡量资料是否有用。
- exhibition
- 展览；句子出现在学生作品中。
- satellite image
- 卫星照片；河流影像有拍摄背景。
- seem complete
- 看似完整；导览经试用才发现不足。
- limit
- 局限；每份资料都有适用范围。
- word by word
- 逐词；从前的阅读方式。
- cover
- 涵盖；一句话未必适合所有情形。
- become a door to
- 成为通往……的门；比喻引出更多问题。
Background notes (Chinese)
阅读理解不止是认识单词，还要把句子放进具体证据和使用情境。主人公回顾本册出现的统计数字、卫星照片与导览，理解资料的用途和局限。