Week 1 Day 1

Reading Wisely
The youngster who reads voraciously, though indiscriminately, does not necessarily gain in wisdom over the teenager who is more selective in his reading choices. A young man who has read the life story of every eminent athlete of the twentieth century, or a coed who has steeped herself in every social-protest novel she can get her hands on, may very well be learning all there is to know in a very limited area. But books are replete with so many wonders that it is often discouraging to see bright young people limit their own experiences.
有智慧的閱讀
任意地大量廣泛閱讀書籍的年輕人並不一定比對閱讀領域有選擇性的青少年增加更多智慧。對於仔細閱讀過二十世紀所有傑出運動員生平故事的年輕人或是沉浸於每一本到手的社會運動小說的女生而言，在這些特定的領域中或許可以習得所有該領域的知識。然而不同書籍中充滿了各式的驚奇，因此，看到聰穎的年輕人將自己的閱讀經驗侷限在某個領域中實在是令人沮喪的。
Words
1. voracious 貪婪的，狼吞虎嚥的。adj.
同義字 gluttonous, rapacious, ravenous
所以 voracious reader就是指對閱讀很有興趣，想要將所有書籍都讀完，對書籍永遠有無法滿足胃口的讀者
2. indiscriminate 無差別的，任意的。adj.
同義字 unselective， random
這個字是從discriminate”歧視”來的 加上in表示無歧視的，引申變成對事物沒有特定的偏好，沒有特定的選擇性
3. eminent 出眾的,卓越的。adj.
同義字 outstanding， noted ，distinguished，famous
4. steeped 沈浸在...中的；充滿...的。adj.
同義字 soaked， drenched， saturated
當我們說「沉浸於…」時，會用「steeped （oneself） in something」這樣的用法
Ex: Professor Smith is steeped in surface physics.
5. replete 充滿的,裝滿的。adj.
同義字abundantly supplied
當我們說「充滿…」會用 「be replete with something」
Ex: My home is replete with every modern convenience.
Today’s Idiom
To eat humble pie—承認錯誤並且道歉
humble pie 原本是 umble pie，是一種用牲畜內臟所做成的派，美國人不吃內臟，對美國人來說是難吃噁心的，所以引申出來變成很羞愧的承認錯誤。另一個相同的用法是 to eat crow, to eat dirt
Grammar
1. The youngster who reads voraciously, though indiscriminately, does not necessarily gain in wisdom over the teenager who is more selective in his reading choices.
原來的句子應該是the youngster does not necessarily gain in wisdom over the teenager. 主詞是the youngster 動詞是gain in wisdom over受詞是teenager 。接著再用關係代名詞 who….來分別形容the youngster 和 the teenager。所以是什麼樣的youngster呢？就是後面who 所帶出來的 who reads voraciously, though indiscriminately。大量閱讀但是去強調“並沒有刻意挑選內容”所以用though indiscriminately來補充說明。同理 the teenager 是怎麼樣的teenager呢? 也是用who is more selective in his reading choices來形容。這裡的youngster和teenager其實都是年輕人，只是用不同的字來讓文章更豐富而不至於太過於重複。英文句子中很容易把一句簡單的句子插入各式各樣的形容詞，一方面是增加句子精彩度，二方面也是讓句子可以講一句就完結，不需要花太多句子來描述。第一句主要表示廣泛沒選擇的唸書是怎麼樣的情形。
2. A young man who has read the life story of every eminent athlete of the twentieth century, or a coed who has steeped herself in every social-protest novel she can get her hands on, may very well be learning all there is to know in a very limited area.
第二句也是落落長，但其實就是 a young man 和a coed是主詞，跟第一句一樣，用關係代名詞who 來形容是怎麼樣的 a young man 和怎麼樣的a coed(男女同校的女生)，一男一女的描述來代表在專業領域中唸書的人有什麼樣的情形。all there is to know就代表learning的受詞，學得所有該知道的東西，in a very limited area, 就是副詞，代表在有限制範圍的領域內所有該知道的東西都知道了。
3. But books are replete with so many wonders that it is often discouraging to see bright young people limit their own experiences.
第三句則說，books are replete with …. books是主詞，are replete with則是動詞片語， many wonders 是受詞，然後運用so…that…的片語來表達如此的…以致於…。that後面再加上it虛主詞開始的子句。it is often discouraging to see …，則運用了it is + adj. + to 原型動詞的方式來表達。