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Abstract:Two skills of fast reading are introducedin this paper. One is skimming, the other is scanning.Skimming is to grasp the main idea of the passages,while scanning is to find the specific details of the givenpassages. Readers must combine these two skills to raisereading speed and reading comprehension correctness.
Key Words: fast reading ; skimming ; scanning
I Introduction
Two types of common problems are often identified for Chi-nese learners of English in reading: either they read too slowlyand focus on word - level meaning or they race through a pas-sage very fast and understand little, or worse still, a combina-tion of both. Many students read slowly, one word at a time,translating into Chinese. But reading is not the same thing astranslating. Students will not necessarily understand a text be-cause they have translated every single word. Good readershave learned to read quickly and globally, focusing on literalmeaning only when specifically required. On the other hand,many other students trying to increase their effective readingspeed become discouraged when they find that if they try to racethrough a passage faster, they fail to take in what they haveread. At the end, they have been so busy "reading faster" thatthey cannot remember what the passage was about.
One of the keys to successful or efficient reading at an ad-vanced level is the ability to judge the writer' s position in rela-tion to the information he is presenting. This involves distin-guishing important points from supporting details. Taking thisinto account, readers should learn to use two independent yetfrequently interdependent strategies: skimming and scanning.
Skimming and scanning are efficient reading techniquesthat involve students learning not to read every word. In readingit is not always necessary to read everything completely. Infact, there are some circumstances in which thorough readingmay be an inefficient use of your time.
II How to Skim
Skimming means to look very quickly at the passage for thegeneral idea of the content of a reading passage rather thanreading for details. This creates a 'map' in your mind andhelps you to read more easily. The answers to skim - typequestions are generally found clearly stated. Also, they are aptto be short - - - perhaps only a word or two. Let' s take a mo-ment to consider certain parts and skipping others.
In skimming, your overall purpose should be to read onlythose parts of an article or selection that contain the most im-portant information. Your goal is to read what is most importantand skip what is least important. The basic task of skimnfing,then, is to identify those parts of any reading material that con-tain the main idea. The type of material you are reading will,in part, determine how you should adapt your reading tech-niques. When skimming, you should let your eyes move over the paragraphs quickly. Don' t read every word or use your dic-tionary. Just get a sense of general idea. As a general guide,then, read the following items:
The Title. The title often announces the subject of the ma-terial and provides clues about the author' s approach or atti-tude toward the subject.
The Subtitle or Introductory Byline. Some types of materialinclude a statement underneath the title that further explains thetitle or is written to catch the reader' s interest.
The Introductory Paragraph. The introductory paragraphoften provides important background information and introducesthe subject. It may also provide a brief overview of the treat-ment of the subject.
The Headings. A heading announces the topic that will bediscussed in the paragraphs that follow it. When read succes-sively, the headings form outline or list of topics covered inthe material.
The First Sentence of Each Paragraph. Most paragraphsare built around a topic sentence, which states the main idea ofthe paragraph. The most common position for the main idea isin the first sentence of the paragraph. If you read a first sen-tence that clearly is not the topic sentence, you might jump tothe end of the paragraph and read the last sentence.
Key Words. Quickly glance through the remainder of theparagraph. Let your eyes quickly sweep through the paragraph.Try to pick out key words that answer who, what, when,where, or how much about the main idea of the paragraph. Tryto notice names, numbers, dates, and places and capitalized oritalicized words and phrases. Also notice any numbered se-quences. This quick glance will add to your overall impressionof the paragraph and will confirm that you have identified themain idea of the paragraph.
The Last Paragraph. The last paragraph often provides aconclusion or summary for the article. It might state conciselythe main points of the article or suggest new directions for con-sidering the topic.
Ill How to Scan
Every time you use a telephone directory to find someone's phone number or address, you are scanning. When you checka bus schedule, look up a word in the dictionary, or locate abook on a library shelf, you are scanning. In each case, youare looking for a particular piece of informtion and your onlypurpose in looking through the material is to locate that infor-marion. In fact, when you scan you are not at all interested inanything else on the page and you have no reason to notice orremember any other information. What you need to do is scanthe reading - - - move your eyes quickly down the page loo-king only for specific information.
Many people do not scan as efficiently as possible becausethey randomly search through material, hoping to stumble onthe information they are seeking. Scanning in this way is timeconsuming, frustrating, and often forces the reader to give upand read the entire selection. The key to effective scanning is to approach the material in a systematic manner. The followingsteps provide a systematic approach.
Check the Organization. Before you begin to scan, checkto see how the article or material is organized. Assessing the or-ganization is very similar to pre - reading. Your purpose shouldbe to notice the overall structure of the article so that you willbe able to predict where in the article you can expect to find theinformation you are looking for.
Form Specific Questions. Scanning is effective only if youhave a purpose, so try to fix in our mind what you are lookingfor by forming specific questions about the topic. For example,when scanning for informtion on abortions in New York, askquestions such as:
How many abortions were performed in a certain year7
What rules and limitations restrict abortions?
Where are the majority of abortions performed?
Anticipate Word Clues. The next step is to anticipateclues that may help you locate the answer more rapidly. For ex-ample, if you were trying to locate the population of New YorkCity in an article on the populations of cities, you might expectthe answer to appear in digits such as 2305,610, or in wordssuch as "two million or three million". If you were looking forthe name of a political figure in a newspaper article, you shouldexpect to find two words, both capitalized.
Identify Likely Answer Locations. Using what you havelearned from checking how material is organized, try to identifylikely places where the information you are looking for mightappear. You might be able to identify a column or section thatcould contain the needed information, you might be able to e-liminate certain sections, or you might be able to predict thatthe informtion will appear in a certain portion of the article.
IV Conclusion
All in all, scanning and skimming both are important infast reading. Although they play different roles in reading, theyhave the same aim, that is, raise reading speed and readingcomprehension correctness. And in most cases, readers mustcombine these two ways to answer questions. There is no doubtthat these skills will raise reading speed. If the readers graspthese skills very well, they will be more efficient in their stud-ying and working.
Key Words: fast reading ; skimming ; scanning
I Introduction
Two types of common problems are often identified for Chi-nese learners of English in reading: either they read too slowlyand focus on word - level meaning or they race through a pas-sage very fast and understand little, or worse still, a combina-tion of both. Many students read slowly, one word at a time,translating into Chinese. But reading is not the same thing astranslating. Students will not necessarily understand a text be-cause they have translated every single word. Good readershave learned to read quickly and globally, focusing on literalmeaning only when specifically required. On the other hand,many other students trying to increase their effective readingspeed become discouraged when they find that if they try to racethrough a passage faster, they fail to take in what they haveread. At the end, they have been so busy "reading faster" thatthey cannot remember what the passage was about.
One of the keys to successful or efficient reading at an ad-vanced level is the ability to judge the writer' s position in rela-tion to the information he is presenting. This involves distin-guishing important points from supporting details. Taking thisinto account, readers should learn to use two independent yetfrequently interdependent strategies: skimming and scanning.
Skimming and scanning are efficient reading techniquesthat involve students learning not to read every word. In readingit is not always necessary to read everything completely. Infact, there are some circumstances in which thorough readingmay be an inefficient use of your time.
II How to Skim
Skimming means to look very quickly at the passage for thegeneral idea of the content of a reading passage rather thanreading for details. This creates a 'map' in your mind andhelps you to read more easily. The answers to skim - typequestions are generally found clearly stated. Also, they are aptto be short - - - perhaps only a word or two. Let' s take a mo-ment to consider certain parts and skipping others.
In skimming, your overall purpose should be to read onlythose parts of an article or selection that contain the most im-portant information. Your goal is to read what is most importantand skip what is least important. The basic task of skimnfing,then, is to identify those parts of any reading material that con-tain the main idea. The type of material you are reading will,in part, determine how you should adapt your reading tech-niques. When skimming, you should let your eyes move over the paragraphs quickly. Don' t read every word or use your dic-tionary. Just get a sense of general idea. As a general guide,then, read the following items:
The Title. The title often announces the subject of the ma-terial and provides clues about the author' s approach or atti-tude toward the subject.
The Subtitle or Introductory Byline. Some types of materialinclude a statement underneath the title that further explains thetitle or is written to catch the reader' s interest.
The Introductory Paragraph. The introductory paragraphoften provides important background information and introducesthe subject. It may also provide a brief overview of the treat-ment of the subject.
The Headings. A heading announces the topic that will bediscussed in the paragraphs that follow it. When read succes-sively, the headings form outline or list of topics covered inthe material.
The First Sentence of Each Paragraph. Most paragraphsare built around a topic sentence, which states the main idea ofthe paragraph. The most common position for the main idea isin the first sentence of the paragraph. If you read a first sen-tence that clearly is not the topic sentence, you might jump tothe end of the paragraph and read the last sentence.
Key Words. Quickly glance through the remainder of theparagraph. Let your eyes quickly sweep through the paragraph.Try to pick out key words that answer who, what, when,where, or how much about the main idea of the paragraph. Tryto notice names, numbers, dates, and places and capitalized oritalicized words and phrases. Also notice any numbered se-quences. This quick glance will add to your overall impressionof the paragraph and will confirm that you have identified themain idea of the paragraph.
The Last Paragraph. The last paragraph often provides aconclusion or summary for the article. It might state conciselythe main points of the article or suggest new directions for con-sidering the topic.
Ill How to Scan
Every time you use a telephone directory to find someone's phone number or address, you are scanning. When you checka bus schedule, look up a word in the dictionary, or locate abook on a library shelf, you are scanning. In each case, youare looking for a particular piece of informtion and your onlypurpose in looking through the material is to locate that infor-marion. In fact, when you scan you are not at all interested inanything else on the page and you have no reason to notice orremember any other information. What you need to do is scanthe reading - - - move your eyes quickly down the page loo-king only for specific information.
Many people do not scan as efficiently as possible becausethey randomly search through material, hoping to stumble onthe information they are seeking. Scanning in this way is timeconsuming, frustrating, and often forces the reader to give upand read the entire selection. The key to effective scanning is to approach the material in a systematic manner. The followingsteps provide a systematic approach.
Check the Organization. Before you begin to scan, checkto see how the article or material is organized. Assessing the or-ganization is very similar to pre - reading. Your purpose shouldbe to notice the overall structure of the article so that you willbe able to predict where in the article you can expect to find theinformation you are looking for.
Form Specific Questions. Scanning is effective only if youhave a purpose, so try to fix in our mind what you are lookingfor by forming specific questions about the topic. For example,when scanning for informtion on abortions in New York, askquestions such as:
How many abortions were performed in a certain year7
What rules and limitations restrict abortions?
Where are the majority of abortions performed?
Anticipate Word Clues. The next step is to anticipateclues that may help you locate the answer more rapidly. For ex-ample, if you were trying to locate the population of New YorkCity in an article on the populations of cities, you might expectthe answer to appear in digits such as 2305,610, or in wordssuch as "two million or three million". If you were looking forthe name of a political figure in a newspaper article, you shouldexpect to find two words, both capitalized.
Identify Likely Answer Locations. Using what you havelearned from checking how material is organized, try to identifylikely places where the information you are looking for mightappear. You might be able to identify a column or section thatcould contain the needed information, you might be able to e-liminate certain sections, or you might be able to predict thatthe informtion will appear in a certain portion of the article.
IV Conclusion
All in all, scanning and skimming both are important infast reading. Although they play different roles in reading, theyhave the same aim, that is, raise reading speed and readingcomprehension correctness. And in most cases, readers mustcombine these two ways to answer questions. There is no doubtthat these skills will raise reading speed. If the readers graspthese skills very well, they will be more efficient in their stud-ying and working.