閱讀測驗破關秘笈
閱讀測驗說難不難，說簡單不簡單。但做閱讀測驗很重要的一項
就是「閱讀速度」。
當然，想要增加在考試的速度，
一定要加上平時有大量的閱讀原文書的習慣這項。
我之所以不推薦買「閱讀測驗的題庫書」而改以
推薦直接閱讀好的原文書是因為就我個人和觀察得到的
經驗是，一般人都懶得做題庫，而且那些閱讀測驗的題目書
通常都是大家考完試都丟掉而不想再做，因此
沒有辦法幫助大家真正學好英文，
不如買一本生動有趣而可以引發你讀得下去的原文書
而比較有投資報酬率！
不過我不是反對由寫閱讀測驗的題庫來練習閱讀理解能力，
因為我也有寫過超多的閱測題目。但我覺得個人要發展
出「一生一世的學英文態度」而不是為了考試拼英文而已。
這樣考完了，英文程度馬上直直落，因為沒有了動力和動機。
所以說，學習一定要培養至少一個「動機」這樣才有「動力」。
由閱讀來學習英文，那最好是由條理清楚的作者寫的，
還有就是適合自己讀得下去的讀物。
對於原文書的初學者，我推薦由 Mary K. Baxter 寫的書，
如 A Divine Revelation of Hell 、
A Divine Revelation of Heaven、
和 A Divine Revelation of Angels 等等，她寫的書有一個特點，
就是裡面的英文簡單易懂，絕對沒有難的文法和是特別艱深的單字，
而且書的內容引人入勝。大力推薦。
這些書都可以在 http://www.amazon.com 上買到。
也可以在線上看，
http://www.spiritlessons.com/Mary_K_Baxter_A_Divine_Revelation_of_Hell.htm
也有中文翻譯，可連至：
★中文正體字版：http://fuyin.lingliang.org/200204/020423ttdy.htm
★中文簡体版：
(1) http://www.webhope.info/lcbook/qs/index-qs.htm
(2) http://www.ctestimony.org/200204/020423ttdy.htm
當然也可以自己到圖書館找覺得自己有興趣的原文書。
我對剛讀原文書的入門者，我是滿推薦 Mary K. Baxter 她寫的書。
至於想要加強自己的寫作能力的，
有一個作家我大力大力地推薦，
就是 John Bevere .
他寫的書也相當地「讚」！
他寫的 The Bait of Satan 和 Honor's Reward 以及 Under Cover 等，
都深深地震憾我的心，
因為好久沒有看到像他傑出的作者。他的書在美國賣出數百萬本，
是 Best-seller！
The Bait of Satan 這本有線上全文↓
http://rgcministries.com/biblestudies/files/bos/
如果你的英語能力還不是好到可以直接閱讀原文書的程度，
可以先看這本書的中文版：
中文版可至下列書房購買。
校園書房 2365-3665 100台北市羅斯福路四段22號
http://www.campus.org.tw/
這本書介紹的內容其中一段有提到 Joseph 的故事。
Joseph was Jacob's eleventh son. He was despised by his older brothers because his father favored him and had set him apart with a coat of many colors. God gave Joseph two dreams. In the first he saw bound sheaves in a field. His sheaf arose and stood upright while his brothers' sheaves bowed down to it. In the second dream he saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars (representing his father, mother, and brothers) bowing to him. When he told these dreams to his brothers, needless to say, they did not share in his enthusiasm. They hated him even more.
Shortly afterward, his ten older brothers went to feed their father's flocks in the field. Jacob sent Joseph to see how they were doing. When the older brothers saw Joseph coming, they conspired against him, saying, “Here comes that dreamer. Let's kill him! Then we shall see what will become of his dreams! He says he is going to be a leader over us. Let him try to lead us when he is dead!” So they threw him in a pit to die. They took his coat away, tore it, and stained it with animal's blood to convince their father he'd been devoured by a wild beast.
After they threw him into the pit, however, they saw a company of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt . Then Judah said, “Hey, wait a minute, guys. If we let him rot in that pit it will not profit us. Let's make some money and sell him as a slave. He will be as good as dead and will never again bother us, and we'll all share the spoils!” So they sold him for twenty shekels of silver. Joseph had offended them so they betrayed him, taking away his inheritance and family. Keep in mind these are ‘brothers’ who did this -- same father, same flesh and blood.
Now as Taiwanese our culture is so different that it is hard for us to understand the severity of what these men did. Only killing him would have been worse. In biblical times it was very important to have sons. A man’s sons carried his name and inherited all he had. Joseph’s brothers kept him from ever receiving his father's name and inheritance. The blotted his name out, completely stripping him of his identity. All that was familiar to Joseph was gone.
When a person was sold as a slave to another country, he remained a slave until he died. The woman he married would be a slave, and all his children would be slaves!
It would have been hard to be born a slave, but it was indescribably worse to be born an heir of wealth with a great future only to have it stripped away. It would have been easier if Joseph never knew what could have been. It was as if he were a living dead man. I’m sure he was tempted to wish his brothers had killed him. The point is that what Joseph’s brothers did was evil and cruel.
Perfect Hindsight
As you read my paraphrase of Joseph's story, you probably already knew the outcome. It is a very inspiring story when you know the ending. But that is not how Joseph experienced it. It looked as if he would never see his father or his God-given dream fulfilled. He was a slave in a foreign nation. He couldn't leave Egypt . He was the property of another man for life.
Joseph was sold to a man named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard. He served him for about ten years. He never had word from his family, and he knew that his father believed he was dead. Their lives had gone on without him. Joseph had no hope of a father's rescue.
As time went on, Joseph found favor with his master and was treated well. Potiphar set Joseph over his household and all he had.
But at the same time that conditions were looking up for Joseph, something very wrong was brewing in the wife of his master. She had cast longing eyes on him and wanted to commit adultery with him. She tried daily to seduce him, and he refused. One day she was alone with him in the house and cornered him and insisted that he lie with her. He refused and ran out, leaving his robe in her clutched hand. When he did this she was shamed and screamed, “Rape!” Potiphar had Joseph thrown in Pharaoh's prison.
Now Pharaoh's prison was nothing like our prisons in America . I have ministered in several prisons, and as unpleasant as they are, they would be country clubs compared to this dungeon of Pharaoh's. No sunlight or workout areas, just a sunken room or pit void of light and warmth. Conditions ranged from crude to dehumanizing. Prisoners were put there to rot as they survived on the bread and water “of affliction” (1 Kings 22:27). They were given just enough food to survive so they could suffer. According to Psalm 105:18, Joseph's feet were hurt with fetters, and he was laid in irons. He was put in this dungeon to die.
If he had been Egyptian he might have had some chance of release, but as a foreign slave, accused of rape, he had little or no hope. Things couldn’t have gotten any worse. Joseph had gone as low as a person could go without being dead.
Can you hear his thoughts in the damp darkness of that dungeon? “I served my master with honesty and with integrity for over ten years. I’m more faithful than his wife. I stayed loyal to God and my master, daily fleeing sexual immorality. What is my reward? A dungeon!
“It seems that the more I try to do what is right, the worse it gets! How could God allow this? Could my brothers steal my promise from God too? Why hasn't this mighty, covenant God intervened on my behalf? Is this how a loving, faithful God cares for His servants? Why me? What have I done to deserve this? I only believed I'd heard from God.
I'm sure he wrestled with these or similar thoughts.
He had very limited freedom in his life, but he still had the right to choose his response to all that had happened to him. Would he become offended and bitter toward his brothers and eventually God? Would he give up all hope of the promise's fulfillment, robbing himself of his last incentive to live?
Is God in control?
I imagine it never crossed Joseph's mind until it was all over that this was God's process to prepare him to rule. How would he use his future authority over these brothers who betrayed him? Joseph was learning obedience by what he suffered. His brothers were skillfully wielded instruments in the hand of God. Would Joseph hold fast to the promise, seeking God for its purpose?
Perhaps when Joseph had his dreams he saw them as a confirmation of the favor on his life. He had not yet learned that authority is given to serve, not to set you apart. Often in these training periods we focus on the impossibility of our circumstances, instead of the greatness of God. As a result we are discouraged and need to blame someone, so we look for the one we feel is responsible for our despair. When we face the fact that God could have prevented our whole mess -- and didn't -- we often blame Him.
This kept ringing through Joseph's mind: “I have lived in accordance to what I know of God. I've not transgressed His statutes or nature. I was only repeating a dream God Himself gave me. And what’s the result? My brothers betray me, and I'm sold as a slave! My dad things I'm dead and never comes to Egypt to find me.”
To him the bottom line was his brothers. They were the force that had thrown him into this dungeon. Maybe he entertained thoughts of how things would be different once he was in power, when God put him in the position of authority he had seen in the dreams. How different it all would be if his brothers had not aborted his future.
How often do we hear our brothers and sisters fall into the same trap of assigning blame? For example:
“If it weren’t for my wife I would be in the ministry. She has hindered me and ruined so much of what I have dreamed of.”
“If it weren’t for my parents I would have had a normal life. They are to blame for where I am today. How come others have normal parents and I don’t? If my mom and dad didn’t get divorced I would have been much better off in my own marriage.”
“If it weren’t for my pastor repressing this gift in me I would be free and unhindered. He has kept me from fulfilling my ministry destiny. He has turned the people in the church against me.”
“If it weren’t for my former husband, my kids and I wouldn’t have all this financial trouble.”
“If it weren’t for that woman in the church I would still be in favor with the leaders. With her gossip, she has destroyed me and any hope I had of being respected.”
The list is endless. It is easy to blame everyone else for the problems you have and imagine how much better off you would be if it had not been for all those around you. You know that your disappointment and hurt are their fault.
I want to emphasize the following point: Absolutely no man, woman, child, or devil can ever get you out of the will of God! No one but God holds your destiny. Joseph’s brothers tried hard to destroy the vision God gave him. They thought they had ended it for Joseph. They said out of their own mouths, “Come, therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit… We shall see what will become of his dreams!” (Genesis 37:20). They were out to destroy him. It wasn’t an accident. It was deliberate! They wanted no chance of his ever succeeding.
Let’s see how Joseph would fare in our churches today. If he were like most of us, do you know what he would be doing? Plotting revenge. He would comfort himself with such thoughts as, “When I get my hands on them, I’ll kill them! I will kill them for what they have done to me. They are going to pay for this.”
But if Joseph had actually had this attitude, God would have left him in that dungeon to rot! That’s because if he had gotten out of prison with this motive, he would have killed the heads of ten of the twelve tribes of Israel . This would include Judah , from whose lineage Christ would descend.
Yes, the ones who treated Joseph so wickedly were the patriarchs of Israel ! And God had promised Abraham that they would bring forth a nation. Through them the Lord Jesus would eventually come! Joseph stayed free from offense, and the plan of God was established in his life and in the lives of his brothers.
Prison was a time of sifting for Joseph, but it was also a time of opportunity. There were two prisoners with Joseph, and both had vivid and disturbing dreams. Joseph interpreted both of their dreams with amazing accuracy. One man was to be restored while the other would be executed. Joseph asked the one about to be restored to remember him when he regained Pharaoh’s favor. The man returned to Pharaoh’s service, but two years passed with no word from him. It was yet another letdown for Joseph, another opportunity to become offended.
The time came when Pharaoh had a very alarming dream. None of his magicians or wise men could give him the explanation. It was then that the restored servant remembered Joseph. He shared how Joseph had interpreted his and his companion’s dreams in prison. Joseph was brought before Pharaoh, and he told him what the dream meant -- a famine was coming -- and wisely instructed him on how to prepare for the crisis. Pharaoh immediately promoted Joseph to second in command over all of Egypt . Joseph, through the wisdom God had given him, had prepared for the severe famine that was coming.
Later when this famine came to all the known nations, Joseph’s brothers had to come to Egypt for aid. If Joseph had held anything in his heart against his brothers, that would have been the time to carry it out. He could have thrown them in prison for life or tortured them and even killed them and not be blamed because he was second in command in Egypt . His brothers were of no concern to Pharaoh.
But Joseph ended up giving them grain for no charge. Then they were given the best land of Egypt for their families, and they ate the fat of the land. To sum it up, the best of all the land of Egypt was given to them. Joseph ended up blessing those who had cursed him and doing good to those who hated him (see Matthew 5:44).
God knew what Joseph’s brothers would do before they did it. As a matter of fact, the Lord knew they would do it before He gave Joseph the dream or before any of those boys was born.
To go one step further, look at what Joseph said to his brothers when they reunited. “But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God…” (Gen. 45:5-8).
Look at what the psalmist said: “Moreover He [God] called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread. He sent a man before them -- Joseph -- who was sold as a slave” (Ps. 105:16-17).
Who sent Joseph? His brothers or God? Out of the mouth of two witnesses we see that it was God who sent him. Joseph said plainly to his brothers, “It was not you who sent me.” Hear what the Spirit is saying!
As already stated, no mortal man or devil can supersede the plan of God for your life. If you lay hold of this truth it will set you free. But there is only one person who can get you out of the will of God, and that is you!
Consider the children of Israel . God had sent a deliverer, Moses, to lead them out of Egyptian bondage into the Promised Land. After a year in the desert, leaders were sent to spy it out. They returned complaining. They were afraid of the nations in the land who were larger and stronger militarily.
All the people, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, agreed with these leaders. The people felt as if God had brought them out to die. They were offended with Moses and God. This pattern had been going on for over a year. Their offense resulted in that generation’s never seeing the land God promised they would possess.
Many people have been working fervently and have come into difficult life situations because of being mistreated by either wicked men or co-workers. The truth is that they have been treated unjustly. But to become offended would only fulfill the enemy’s purpose of getting them out of the will of God.
If you stay free from offense you will stay in God’s will. If you become offended you will be taken captive by the enemy to fulfill his own purpose and will.
看完以上的內容，是不是覺得閱讀英文原文很有趣呢？然後你只要知道以下的方法，就可以破解閱讀測驗了↓
先知道題目要問得是什麼，再看文章，方便你掌握文章重點！並要用最短的時間瞭解每個段落的意思，您可用以下方法：先看每個段落的第一句，然後看第二句，再看段落的最後一句。如到這個時候，您還是不清楚這一段意思的話，您便需要全篇都看。介紹（Introduction）和結論（Conclusion）通常都會包含很多有用資訊，您應比較仔細地看這兩段。如此一來，就破解成功！
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