Reading Skills阅读技巧

Reading Skills

Increasing Word Power 扩大词汇量

Words are the bricks to build up any language. How can we increase our word power?

1. Read Extensively

2. Listen and Note.

3. Etymology

4. Check Unfamiliar Words

5. Solve Crosswords

6. Use the Words You Learn Preventing Regression 避免回视

Regression means rereading a word, phrase, or sentence out of habit and not because of need. Sometimes, it is necessary to reread something, especially in a difficult passage. But habitual, unnecessary regression really slows you down.

To reduce the number of times that the eyes skip back to a previous sentence, run a pointer along the line as you read. This could be a finger, or a pen or pencil. Your eyes will follow the tip of your pointer, smoothing the flow of speed-reading. The speed at which you read using this method will largely depend on the speed at which you move the pointer.

You can also use a card or paper to cover the text after you read it to prevent regression. This will train your eyes to look forward, and eventually you won’t need the guide to focus your vision. Avoiding Vocalization and Inner Speech 避免出声阅读

Put a finger over your lips or on your vocal cords!

Broadening Eye Span 扩大视幅

Reading is composed of a series of fixations (注视) which the eye makes while viewing a printed line. During these fixation pauses, the material viewed is translated into meanings by the brain. A good reader will make three to four fixations for ordinary line of print; the poor reader eight to twelve or more.

To reduce fixations, take several words or chunk words together in parentheses. Practice seeing more than one word at a time, and increase the amount of words in parentheses each time you practice. With time, you may be able to read an entire line of text in one fixation.

Reading in Thought Groups 按意群读

While making constant efforts to improve your reading comprehension, you should try consciously to increase your reading speed. And to read in thought groups is an easy, yet effective way of picking up speed and fluency.

It means when you read, try not to think of a sentence as a string of single words. Instead, think of it as several thought groups. In other words, try to move your eyes group by group, not from word to word. In this way you will read faster.

However, there are no solid rules for dividing longer sentences into thought groups. It really depends on the idea that you are trying to convey.

Taking notes 做笔记

Taking notes during your reading at the recall stage keeps you active and concentrating. Besides, they provide a written record for revision. The content should include:

1. The author’s main ideas and any important details;

2. The logical structure of his/her argument;

3. Any important references he/she mentions.

Basic Reading Process 基本阅读步骤

It is preferable to read a passage at least twice: the first time, to get the main idea of the passage, and then a second time, to focus on the important details. Sometimes a third time is necessary—to

check the difficult points. Follow the basic reading method, and answer the questions respectively when you finish reading any materials t each time.

Most people wish they read more. It is an activity that is both fun and enlightening. It can help us be more knowledgeable and successful. However, it is an activity that many people don't engage in very much.

The following are ten suggestions to help strengthen your reading habit －ways to find and make more time for reading.

1) Always have a book around.

2) Set a reading goal.

3) Keep a log.

4) Keep a reading list.

5) Turn off the television.

6) Listen when you can’t read.

7) Join a reading group or book club.

8) Visit the library or bookstore often.

9) Build your own strategy.

10) Drop Everything and Read.

Skimming & Scanning 略读和查读

Skimming

Aim: To identify the main ideas in the text quickly

Some hints and tips for better skimming:

1. Read the title, subtitles or subheading;

2. Look at the illustrations;

3. Read the first and last sentence of each paragraph;

4. Take in key words;

5. Think about the meaning of the text.

Scanning

Aim: To look for specific information in a text

Some hints and tips for better scanning:

1. Don’t try to read every word;

2. Use clues on the page, such as headings and titles;

3. Use the “header” words to help you;

4. Think up or write down some questions;

5. Many texts use A-Z order;

6. There are many ways to practice scanning skills.

Reading for Main Ideas 了解大意

An important skill in reading is learning to comprehend the main idea of a text. This is accomplished by first determining the thesis statement of the text. The thesis statement, or topic sentence, tells the reader what the text is about; it is the most important sentence in the text. Sometimes the main idea is implied rather than directly stated in a sentence and the reader must learn how to infer (make an educated guess) as to what the main idea of the text is in order to comprehend the material as a whole.

Recognizing Important Facts or Details 掌握语篇中的事实和主要情节

To understand the main idea thoroughly, you must recognize the important facts or details which

help develop or support it. These facts and details give you a deeper understanding of the main idea. Here are some ways to help you recognize the important facts or details:

1. Read for the main idea. If you have identified the main idea, you can recognize more easily the important facts that support it.

2. Keep it in mind that not all facts or details are equally important. Look only for the facts related to the main idea.

3. To check on your understanding of the material you have read, review the facts or details which you have decided are the most important. Then consider if they support what you have identified as the main idea. If adding up the facts or details does not lead logically to the main idea, you have failed either to identify the main idea or to recognize the important supporting details. Identifying the Author’s Purpose and Tone了解作者的目的和语气

Purpose 目的

1. Know the main idea of the passage;

2. Identify the author’s purpose according to the text.

Tone 语气

positive, negative, neutral, critical, doubtful, suspicious, indifferent, concerned, pessimistic, optimistic, factual, impartial, objective, subjective, ironic, cynical, emotional, polite, humorous; disapproval, hate, admiration, disgust, gratitude, forcefulness

Understanding Text Coherence理解语篇的连贯性

1. Grammatical devices: such as tense and aspect, reference, substitution, time or place relater and parallel construction;

2. Lexical devices: such as hyponymy, synonymy, complementarity, and metonymy and repetition;

3. Logical connectors: such as “and”, “but”, “in addition”, “that is to say”, etc.

Drawing Conclusions了解语篇的结论

Careful and thoughtful readers always think about what they are reading, trying to interpret the ideas presented in a reading passage. In doing so they are able to draw conclusions based on what the author tells them.

In order to draw reasonable conclusions we have to build our conclusions upon facts or evidence and not upon our own opinions, likes, or dislikes. Of course our experience may prove useful, but most of our conclusions must be based on what we read in the passage.

To draw a conclusion about implied main ideas in paragraphs, you need to do the following:

1. Consider what each sentence says about the common topic;

2. Ask yourself what general thought or idea emerges when you put all of those individual pieces of information together;

3. Think of the idea that emerges as the author's implied main idea and the purpose of the passage.

Paraphrasing进行信息转换

A paraphrase is a passage borrowed from a source and rewritten in your own words. A paraphrase should be true to the original author’s idea, but is rewritten in your own words and sentence structure. Since you are using someone else’s ideas and expressing them in your own words, it is very important to give credit to the source of the idea.

A paraphrase should not use any of the original author’s words except incidental conjunctions and common prepositions.

The case study for guessing vocabulary in English reading

The case study for guessing words in English reading falls into six categories.

A. According to punctuation

1. Chongqing, China’s newest municipality, with a population of 30 million, has welcomed its first test-tube baby.

2. This stream was made up of the tiny larvae —newly-born ants —being carried out of the nest by the workers.

3. They can make the abstract concrete; the elusive comprehensible; the unfamiliar familiar.

4.Tornadoes (violent and destructive whirl wind) normally occur on hot, humid (a little wet) day, but not necessarily in the summer.

B. According to signal word, including or, in other words, not, i.e. (that is), however, rather than, unlike, etc.

1.People began to make their own paper money, or currency.

2. It must be lasting and easy to recognize, to divide, and to carry about. In other words it must be “durable, distinct, divisible and portable”.

3. In fact, the direct-selling model has almost certainly been a boon, not a barrier, to Dell’s plans.

4. Hedonism, that is, believing that pleasure is the purpose of life, seems to bring health, not illness.

5. In the past the world seemed to run in an orderly way. Now, however, everything seems to be in

a state of turmoil.

6. Return the money of your own volition rather than be forced to hand it over.

7. Unlike his sister, who is a warm, interested person, John is apathetic to everyone and everything.

C. According to example

1. You may borrow from the library any periodicals: Nature, New Society, News week, or The Listener.

2. Today young couples who are just starting their households often spend lots of their money on appliances, for instance, washing-machines, refrigerators and color televisions.

D. According to definition

1. A person or thing beyond comparison, a model of excellence, is known as paragon.

2. Ventilation, as you know, is a system or means of providing fresh air. It plays a very important part in the field of engineering.

3. Defined most broadly, folklore includes all the customs, belief and tradition that people have handed down from generation to generation.

E. According to attributive clause

1. The close association between parasite and host is an example of symbiosis which means “living together”.

2. The protagonist is the main character in a story, the person whom we watch from the beginning to the end of the action.

3. He was a prestidigitator who entertained the children by pulling rabbits out of hats, swallowing fire, and other similar tricks.

F. According to root, prefix and suffix

Word analysis can be quite useful especially if there is some contextual information in the

sentence or paragraph. Root carry the basic meaning of the word, prefix change root’s meaning, and suffix part of speech. Being aware of how words are formed will help you to discover the meaning of a great number of unfamiliar words in your reading. By breaking them down into parts, one can try to guess the general meaning of them.

1. Some words, like astronaut, are made up entirely of Greek of Latin prefixes and suffixes.

2. If the prefix anti- means “against”, what does antibiotic really mean?

3. Flower dehydration techniques have also made dried flower a favorite.