Answer Avail because it's always used in a conjunction with another word with enhancing the second word initial meaning
I guess this also depends on what the "Advanced Reading Skills" lessons talks about, but don't think of it as "really hard"! Work on one word, one phrase, one sentence, and you'll start making progress. =)
In general, when translating, the first thing you'll have to do is to understand the paragraph, but you're right, this isn't that easy a paragraph to translate. You could use an English dictionary, or a bilingual dictionary (http://www.nciku.com<span>is good for English-Chinese) to help you. While you're doing this, try to pick out important words and translate them first, and see if you could understand what each sentence means. </span>
<span>Sometimes, words may have multiple meanings or be used as metaphors - for example, "amputated" means "having been cut off", but in your 2nd sentence, it means that the poet should not be condemned and criticised to the point where he is treated as having no value. </span>
<span>Finally, after you've translated the text, don't forget to read it to check if it makes sense in the language you're using - and if it makes for smooth reading!</span>
