Day 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. 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.

voracious

• craving for great quantities of food

• having an extremely strong desire to have a lot of something

同音词 veracious: truthful, honest

indiscrimanate

• something discriminate makes no fine distinctions 不加区分的

派生自 discriminate 区分；辨别，源自拉丁语 discriminare，本义也是分辨，但现在这个词的词义更多地变成了歧视

eminent

• highly regarded, respected

由 ex- + -minere 构成，这词根竟然跟 amount, dismount, mountain, mouth 是同源的。

prominent: important, noticable

imminent: just about to happen

steep

• get somthing drenched or soaked in liquid

除了常见的陡峭的含义还有浸泡的意思。当然我们俗语里讲的“试一下水”在英语里的说法也很类似，也是用 steep 这个词。

replete

• full

就是充满了的意思，来自于拉丁语 replere，词根来自于原始印欧语 *pele- (1)，英语的 fill 也跟这个同源，如果了解格林定律的话很容易说得通。