Introductory passage 2 Obstacles to faster effective reading Perhaps you have seen very young children - or very old people - learning to read. They move the index finger along the line of print, pointing to cach word, sometimes even to individual letters, saying the word or letters to themselves in a low voice. This is called ‘ vocalizing’. Sometimes the Ieamer makes no sound though his lips may move to form the words, some- times there is not even any perceptible movement of the mouth at all, but the learner is still activating his throat muscles slightly to ‘say’ the words to himself. He is still vocalizing. However slight the extent of vocalizing may be it will still be impossible for such a reader to reach a speed of more than about 280 w.p.m. The appreciation of written words must be entirely visual and we must read more than one word at a time. Look at *you’, the second word of this passage. Even if you look straight at the ‘o' of that word, without moving your cycs at all you can clearly see ‘perhaps’ and ‘have’ on either side. So you can read three words at once. Now look at the word ‘word’ on line 3. With a very slight movement of the eyes, you can take in the whole phrase ‘. .. saying the word or letters...’ in the same glance. In the same way, you can probably take in a complete short sentence on onc line, like the one on line 8, at one glance. None of the lines of print on a page this size should need more than three eye movements. Take line 6. This would perhaps break up into three word groups: (1) ... times there is not even ... (2)... any perceptible movement... (3)...of the mouth at all, but...When you are reading well, your eyes will be one or two word groups ahead of the one your mind is taking in. Practise on something easy and interesting Many students trying to increase their effective reading speed become discouraged when they find that if they try to race through a passage fastcr, they fail to take in what they have read. At the end, they have been so busy ‘reading faster’ that they cannot remember what the passage was about. The problem here is that the material they are practising on is cither too difficult for them in vocabulary or content, or not sufficiently interesting. We hope that the passages in this course material will be both interesting and fairly casy, but you should also practise as much as you can in your own time. Read things you like reading. Go to the subject catalogue in the library. Biography, sport, domestic science, the cinema...Introductory passage 2 there is bound to be some area that interests you and in which you can find books of about your level of ability or just below. If you want a quick check on how easy a book is, read through three or four pages at random. If there are, on average, more than five or six words on each page that are completely new to you, then the book (though you may persevere with it for interest’s sake) is not suitable for reading-speed improvement. Incidentally, you should try to read three or four times as much ‘light’ speed reading material (whether it is Newsweek, The Saint or A Tale of Two Cities) as you do close, slow textbook work, You cannot achieve a permanent improvement in your reading specd if most of the time you are practising reading slowly. Say whether the following statements are true or false according to the information given in the passage. 1 Very old people and very young children learn to read in much the same wa} 2 Vocalizing will prevent readers from reading at speeds of over 100 w.p.m. 3. It is sometimes possible to sce three words at once without moving the eyes. 4 To read well your eyes should be one or two word groups ahead of mind. 5 Some students get discouraged when they first start reading faster. 6 It is more important to read fast than to understand what is read. 7 Reading practice material should be interesting and not too hard. 8 Itis impossible to check quickly how difficult a book is. 9 You should never read a book that has five or six new words per page. 10 Newsweek, The Saint and A Tale of Two Cities are unsuitable for students. Vocabulary Find the following words in the passage and select the meaning you think is most likely to correspond among the choices given. 1 index finger (line 2) 3. activating (line 7) a) little finger a) restraining b) thumb b) feeling c)_ ting finger ¢) operating d)_ first finger a) acting 2 perceptible (line 6) 4 appreciation (line 11) a) observable a) approval b) loud b) satisfaction ©) excessive ¢) perception d) piercing d) increaseIntroductory passage 2 5 glance (line 18) a) look b) line ©) breath d) stance 6 discouraged (line 27) a) interested b) disabled c) dissatisfied a) courageous 1. race (line 27) a) hurry b) compete ¢) concentrate d) read carefully Missing word summary content (linc 31) satisfaction ideas amount pleasure area (line 36) space extent subject width persevere with (line 41) try hard with dispense with dispose of despair of Fill in the numbered blanks from the selection of words given below. The correct choices will complete the sense of this summary of the reading passage. You only read slowly if you [1] or look at individual words or letters. To improve reading speeds, your eye must [2] groups of words swiftly [3] your mind is absorbing the ideas. One [4] of practising faster rea that you may not remember the ideus. This [5] be because the English is too [6] for this type of practice. Choose a book with, on average [7] than six new words per page. 1a) glance b) vocalize ©) pronunciation 2 a) take in b) take over ©) take on 3a) unless b) while ©) after 4 a) advantage b) method ©) danger a) is b) has ©) may a) easy b) difficult c) unlikely a) fewer b) more c) at least