Reading Practice

The reading process

Critical thinking is an
essential part of the
reading process; readers
need to interpret,
evaluate, and
react to the ideas
presented, connect them
to their own ideas, and
express them clearly in
writing.
Previewing
• To quickly familiarize yourself with the organization and content of a
chapter or article before beginning to read it.
1. Read the title and subtitle of the selection.
2. Check the author’s name.
3. Read the introduction or the first paragraph.
4. Read each boldfaced (dark print) heading.
5. Read the first sentence under each heading.
6. If the reading lacks headings, read the first sentence of each of a few
paragraphs on each page to discover main ideas.
7. Note any graphic aids.
8. Read the last paragraph or summary.
Previewing of “Secrets for Surviving in College”

• Study the highlighted parts, why are they highlighted?

• Connect the reading to your own experience by answering two
questions:
• Do you wish reading and studying were easier?
• Do you spend time reading and studying but not get the grades you feel you
deserve?
• Evaluate your previewing:
• Why do many students not achieve the grades they want?
• What does the term learning style mean?
• What is one of the biggest failings of college students?
• What is the SQ3R method?
Make predictions
• Using the questions:
• What clues does the author give?
• What will this material be about?
• What logically would follow next?
Connect Reading to Prior Knowledge and Experience

• Ask questions and try to answer them. What have I learned in the
past about improving my grades? What do I already know about
study methods?
• Draw on your own experience. What have I done in the past that
improved my grades? What are my friends who are successful in
school doing that results in their being successful in class and in
taking exams?
• Brainstorm. Jot down or type everything that comes to mind about
doing well in college and improving your grades. List facts and
questions, or describe cases you have recently heard or read about.
Develop guide questions
• After previewing and before reading.
• Turn each major heading into a series of questions.
• As you read a section, look for and highlight the answers to your
questions.
• When you finish reading a section, stop and check to see whether you
can recall the answers. Place check marks by those you cannot recall.
Then reread.
• Avoid asking questions that have one-word answers, like yes or no.
Questions that begin with what, why, or how are more useful.
Questions to sharpen previewing skills
1. How difficult is the material?
2. How has the author organized the material?
3. What type of material is it (for example, practical, theoretical,
historical background, or a case study)?
4. Where are the logical breaking points where I might divide the
assignment into portions?
5. At what points should I stop and review?
During reading
Examining a Paragraph (KFC article)
• KFC claims, on its website, that its animal-welfare advisory council
“has been a key factor in formulating our animal welfare program.”
But Dr. Duncan, along with five other former members of this
advisory council, say otherwise. They all resigned in disgust over the
company’s refusal to take animal welfare seriously. Adele Douglass,
one of those who resigned, said in an SEC filing reported on by the
Chicago Tribune that KFC “never had any meetings. They never asked
any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this
animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used.”
Examining a Paragraph
• Topic: Animal welfare
• Visualize paragraph structure
Locating the topic
• Men’s life expectancy
• Family problems in the 1950s
• Offline vs. online friendships
Locating the topic sentence
1. Identify the topic: Figure out the general subject of the entire
paragraph.
2. Locate the most general sentence (the topic sentence). This sentence
must be broad enough to include all of the other ideas in the
paragraph.
3. Study the rest of the paragraph. The topic sentence must make the
rest of the paragraph meaningful. It is the one idea that ties all of the
other details together.
Practice locating the topic sentence
A focus group is a small group, usually consisting of about
seven to ten people who are brought together to discuss a
subject of interest to the researcher.

Fresh water is a limiting resource in many parts of the world

and is certain to become even more so as the 21st century
unfolds. Government policies that protect
animals from overharvesting are
essential to keep species from the
brink of extinction.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has taken a brute-force
approach to screening species for cancer-suppressing
chemicals.
And
This approach is often referred to as the “grind ’em and find
’em” strategy.
Highlight
• We learn many different kinds of things during our lives, and one method
of learning probably isn’t going to work for everyone. Some people seem
to learn better if they can read about a topic or put it into their own words
(verbal learners). Others may find that looking at charts, diagrams, and
figures help them more (visual learners). There are those who learn better
if they can hear the information (auditory learners), and there are even
people who use the motion of their own bodies to help them remember
key information (action learners). While instructors would have a practical
nightmare if they tried to teach to every individual student’s particular
learning style, students who are aware of their own style can use it to
change the way they study.
- Ciccarelli and White, “Secrets for Surviving College and Improving Your Grades,” Psychology, PIA-4–5
Annotate to record your thinking
• Do as you read.
 #1
Note-taking
Grammar
The way we are using the word grammar differs in another way from
its most common meaning. In our sense, the grammar includes
everything speakers know about their language - the sound system,
called phonology, the system of meanings, called semantics, the rules
of word formation, called morphology, and the rules of sentence
formation, called syntax. It also of course includes the vocabulary of
words - the dictionary or lexicon. Many people think of the grammar of
a language as referring solely to the syntactic rules. This latter sense is
what students usually mean when they talk about their class in "English
grammar.".
- An introduction to language by Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman (Holt-Saunders)
 #1
Note-taking
Oils (From Power and Progress by G. C. Thornley (Longman))
#2
There are three main groups of oils: animal, vegetable and mineral. Great quantities of animal oil come from whales,
those enormous creatures of the sea which are the largest remaining animals in the world. To protect the whale
from the cold of the Arctic seas, nature has provided it with a thick covering of fat called blubber. When the whale is
killed, the blubber is stripped off and boiled down, either on board ship or on shore. It produces a great quantity of
oil which can be made into food for human consumption. A few other creatures yield oil, but none so much as the
whale. The livers of the cod and the halibut, two kinds of fish, yield nourishing oil. Both cod liver oil and halibut liver
oil are given to sick children and other invalids who need certain vitamins. These oils may be bought at any
chemist’s.
Vegetable oil has been known from antiquity. No household can get on without it, for it is used in cooking. Perfumes
may be made from the oils of certain flowers. Soaps are made from vegetable and animal oils.
To the ordinary man, one kind of oil may be as important as another. But when the politician or the engineer refers
to oil, he almost always means mineral oil, the oil that drives tanks, aeroplanes and warships, motor-cars and diesel
locomotives; the oil that is used to lubricate all kinds of machinery. This is the oil that has changed the life of the
common man. When it is refined into petrol it is used to drive the internal combustion engine. To it we owe the
existence of the motorcar, which has replaced the private carriage drawn by the horse. To it we owe the possibility
of flying. It has changed the methods of warfare on land and sea. This kind of oil comes out of the earth. Because it
burns well, it is used as fuel and in some ways it is superior to coal in this respect. Many big ships now burn oil
instead of coal. Because it burns brightly, it is used for illumination; countless homes are still illuminated with oil-
burning lamps. Because it is very slippery, it is used for lubrication. Two metal surfaces rubbing together cause
friction and heat; but if they are separated by a thin film of oil, the friction and heat are reduced. No machine would
work for long if it were not properly lubricated. The oil used for this purpose must be of the correct thickness; if it is
too thin it will not give sufficient lubrication, and if it is too thick it will not reach all parts that must be lubricated.
Summarising
• As part of an essay, you need to include a section of about 100
words on the advantages and disadvantages of progress from the
Samoans' point of view.
• (Text given to students) Progress in Samoa
 Summarising •
•
Sasa frightened by progress
doesn't understand development
• Read through the text from beginning to end. • Samoa poor country, needs change
• Remember your purpose: to discuss the advantages and • Sasa doesn't want change fast
disadvantages of progress from the Samoans' point of • doesn't want young people to
view. emigrate
• many other Samoans confused
• Select the relevant information. • Samoans want benefits of progress
• Mark all the points which should come into your answer. • but don't want to lose traditional
Do this very carefully, and be sure not to miss anything. culture
• they want balance past and future
• Change the structure. You should now have a brief list in • system of land ownership inefficient
your own words of all the points you marked in the • electoral system undemocratic
previous step. • money sent by emigrants good for
• Without looking at the original text, join these points economy
together into a paragraph. Change the order of the • but causes inflation and neglect of
points if necessary, to make the construction more land
logical. Use conjunctions and adverbs such as 'therefore',
'however', 'although', 'since', to show the connections
between the ideas.
 Example answers
• Samoa is a very poor country with an inefficient system of land ownership and
an undemocratic electoral system. Change is necessary; however, many
Samoans, like Samoa Sasa, are worried about the speed of development. They
want the benefits of progress, but find it difficult to understand what is
happening, and are frightened of losing their traditional way of life. They do not
want their young people to leave for New Zealand, and although the emigrants
send money home, the increased wealth is causing neglect of the land and
inflation. Samoa's problem is to find a compromise between past and future.

• Samoa is rapidly being modernised. Improvements include new roads, an up-to-

date communications system, a big new tourist hotel, a radio station and a
sawmill. These changes are bringing foreign investors and advisers flooding into
Samoa, and European-style houses are appearing everywhere. On the other
hand, many young Samoans are leaving for New Zealand. The money they send
home is changing the country's economy, causing neglect of agriculture and
inflation. Economic changes seem likely to be followed by political changes.
Paraphrasing
Communication in the Animal Kingdom
Animal species have complex forms of communications. Ants send
chemical signals secreted from glands to share communication
information about food and enemies with other members of the
colony. When honeybees discover a source of nectar, they return to the
hive and communicate its location to the other worker bees through an
intricate dance that signals both direction and distance. Male songbirds
of various species sing in the spring to attract a female mate and also to
warn other males to stay away from their territory to avoid a fight.
Dolphins talk to each other at great depths of the ocean by making a
combination of clicking, whistling, and barking sounds.