2017-04-09

Five Reading Myths

MYTH 1: I HAVE TO READ EVERY WORD

​Many of the words used in writing grammatically correct sentences actually convey no meaning.  If, in reading, you exert as much effort in conceptualizing these meaningless words as you do important ones, you limit not only your reading speed but your comprehension as well.

MYTH 2: READING ONCE IS ENOUGH

​Skim once as rapidly as possible to determine the main idea and to identify those parts that need careful reading.  Reread more carefully to plug the gaps in your knowledge.

​Many college students fell that something must be wrong

with their brain power if they must read a textbook chapter more than once.  To be sure, there are students for whom one exposure to an idea in a basic course is enough, but they either have read extensively or have an excellent background or a high degree of interest in the subject.

​For most students in most subjects, reading once is not enough.  However, this is not to imply that an unthinking Pavlovian-like rereading is necessary to understand and retain materials.  Many students automatically regress or reread doggedly with a self-punishing attitude. ("I didn't get a thing out of that paragraph the first time, so if I punish myself by rereading it maybe I will this time.") This is the hardest way to do it.

​Good reading is selective reading.  It involves selecting those sections that are relevant to your purpose in reading.  Rather than automatically rereading, take a few seconds to quiz yourself on the material you have just read and then review those sections that are still unclear or confusing to you.

​The most effective way of spending each study hour is to devote as little time as possible to reading and as much time as possible to testing yourself, reviewing, organizing, and relating the concepts and facts, mastering the technical terms, formulas, etc., and thinking of applications of the concepts-in short, spend your time learning ideas, not painfully processing words visually.

MYTH 3: IT IS SINFUL TO SKIP PASSAGES IN READING

​Many college students feel that it is somehow sinful to skip passages in reading and to read rapidly.  We are not sure just how this attitude develops, but some authorities have suggested that it stems from the days when the Bible was the main book read, savored, and reread.  Indeed, the educated person was one who could quote long passages from these books from memory.

​Today proliferation of books and printed matter brought about by the information explosion creates a reading problem for everyone.  Furthermore, much of this printed material offers considerably less than Shakespeare or the Bible in meaning or style.  You must, of course, make daily decisions as to what is worth spending your time on, what can be glanced at or put aside for future perusal, and what can be relegated to the wastebasket.

​The idea that you cannot skip but have to read every page is old-fashioned.  Children, however, are still taught to feel guilty if they find a novel dull and out it down before finishing it.  I once had a student who felt she could not have books in her home unless she had read every one of them from cover to cover.  Studies show that this is the reason many people drop Book-of-the-Month Club subscriptions; they begin to collect books, cannot keep up with their reading, and develop guilty feelings about owning books they have not had time to read.

​The idea that some books are used merely for reference purposes and are nice to have around in case you need them seems to be ignored in our schools.  Sir Francis Bacon once said that some books are to be nibbled and tasted, some are to be swallowed whole, and a few need to be thoroughly chewed and digested no matter how trivial the content.  No wonder many people dislike reading.

MYTH 4: IF I SKIM OR READ TOO RAPIDLY MY COMPREHENSION WILL DROP

​Many people refuse to push themselves faster in reading for fear that they will lose comprehension.  However, research shows that there is little relationship between rate and comprehension.  Some students read rapidly and comprehend well, others read slowly and comprehend poorly.  Whether you have good comprehension depends on whether you can extract and retain the important ideas from your reading, not on how fast you read.  If you can do this, you can also increase your speed.  If you "clutch up" when trying to read fast or skim and worry about your comprehension, it will drop because your mind is occupied with your fears and you are not paying attention to the ideas that you are reading.

​If you concentrate on your purpose for reading -- e.g. locating main ideas and details, and forcing yourself to stick to the task of finding them quickly -- both your speed and comprehension could increase.  Your concern should be not with how fast you can get through a chapter, but with how quickly you can locate the facts and ideas that you need.

MYTH 5: THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT MY EYES THAT KEEPS ME FROM READING FAST

​This belief is nonsense too, assuming that you have good vision or wear glasses that correct your eye problems.  Of course, if you cannot focus your eyes at the reading distance, you will have trouble learning to skim and scan.  Furthermore, if you have developed the habit of focusing your eyes too narrowly and looking at word parts, it will be harder for you to learn to sweep down a page of type rapidly.

​Usually it is your brain, not your eyes, that slows you down in reading.  Your eyes are capable of taking in more words than your brain is used to processing.  If you sound out words as you read, you will probably read very slowly and have difficulty in skimming and scanning until you break this habit.

Steps to Follow in Skimming for the Main Ideas

1. First, read the title of the chapter or selection carefully.  Determine what clues it gives you as to what the selection is about.  Watch for key words like "causes," "results," "effects," etc., and do not overlook signal words such as those suggesting controversy (e.g. "versus," "pros and cons"), which indicate that the author is planning to present both sides of an argument.

2. Look carefully at the headings and other organizational clues. These tip you off to the main points that the author wants you to learn.  You may be accustomed to overlooking boldface headings and titles which are the obvious clues to the most important ideas.  If you concentrate on the details and ignore the main ideas, you will have much more difficulty retaining the information you read.

  Remember that authors want you to recognize the important concepts.  They use:

a. Major headings and subheadings to convey major points.

b. Italicized words and phrases so that crucial new terms and definitions will stand out.

c. Lists of points set off by numbers or paragraphs that begin with the phrases such as "The three most important factors . . . " etc.

d. Redundancy or repetition.  By stating and restating the facts and ideas, the author ensures that you will be exposed in different ways to the concepts she feels are the most crucial for you to understand.  She hopes that on at least one of these exposures you will absorb the idea.  Therefore, it is vital that you recognize when an important concept is being restated in slightly different words and when you have completely mastered the idea.

                                                                                                                                                  -Martha Maxwell

©Academic Skills Center, Dartmouth College 2001

最后编辑于
©著作权归作者所有,转载或内容合作请联系作者
  • 序言:七十年代末,一起剥皮案震惊了整个滨河市,随后出现的几起案子,更是在滨河造成了极大的恐慌,老刑警刘岩,带你破解...
    沈念sama阅读 204,293评论 6 478
  • 序言:滨河连续发生了三起死亡事件,死亡现场离奇诡异,居然都是意外死亡,警方通过查阅死者的电脑和手机,发现死者居然都...
    沈念sama阅读 85,604评论 2 381
  • 文/潘晓璐 我一进店门,熙熙楼的掌柜王于贵愁眉苦脸地迎上来,“玉大人,你说我怎么就摊上这事。” “怎么了?”我有些...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 150,958评论 0 337
  • 文/不坏的土叔 我叫张陵,是天一观的道长。 经常有香客问我,道长,这世上最难降的妖魔是什么? 我笑而不...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 54,729评论 1 277
  • 正文 为了忘掉前任,我火速办了婚礼,结果婚礼上,老公的妹妹穿的比我还像新娘。我一直安慰自己,他们只是感情好,可当我...
    茶点故事阅读 63,719评论 5 366
  • 文/花漫 我一把揭开白布。 她就那样静静地躺着,像睡着了一般。 火红的嫁衣衬着肌肤如雪。 梳的纹丝不乱的头发上,一...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 48,630评论 1 281
  • 那天,我揣着相机与录音,去河边找鬼。 笑死,一个胖子当着我的面吹牛,可吹牛的内容都是我干的。 我是一名探鬼主播,决...
    沈念sama阅读 38,000评论 3 397
  • 文/苍兰香墨 我猛地睁开眼,长吁一口气:“原来是场噩梦啊……” “哼!你这毒妇竟也来了?” 一声冷哼从身侧响起,我...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 36,665评论 0 258
  • 序言:老挝万荣一对情侣失踪,失踪者是张志新(化名)和其女友刘颖,没想到半个月后,有当地人在树林里发现了一具尸体,经...
    沈念sama阅读 40,909评论 1 299
  • 正文 独居荒郊野岭守林人离奇死亡,尸身上长有42处带血的脓包…… 初始之章·张勋 以下内容为张勋视角 年9月15日...
    茶点故事阅读 35,646评论 2 321
  • 正文 我和宋清朗相恋三年,在试婚纱的时候发现自己被绿了。 大学时的朋友给我发了我未婚夫和他白月光在一起吃饭的照片。...
    茶点故事阅读 37,726评论 1 330
  • 序言:一个原本活蹦乱跳的男人离奇死亡,死状恐怖,灵堂内的尸体忽然破棺而出,到底是诈尸还是另有隐情,我是刑警宁泽,带...
    沈念sama阅读 33,400评论 4 321
  • 正文 年R本政府宣布,位于F岛的核电站,受9级特大地震影响,放射性物质发生泄漏。R本人自食恶果不足惜,却给世界环境...
    茶点故事阅读 38,986评论 3 307
  • 文/蒙蒙 一、第九天 我趴在偏房一处隐蔽的房顶上张望。 院中可真热闹,春花似锦、人声如沸。这庄子的主人今日做“春日...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 29,959评论 0 19
  • 文/苍兰香墨 我抬头看了看天上的太阳。三九已至,却和暖如春,着一层夹袄步出监牢的瞬间,已是汗流浃背。 一阵脚步声响...
    开封第一讲书人阅读 31,197评论 1 260
  • 我被黑心中介骗来泰国打工, 没想到刚下飞机就差点儿被人妖公主榨干…… 1. 我叫王不留,地道东北人。 一个月前我还...
    沈念sama阅读 44,996评论 2 349
  • 正文 我出身青楼,却偏偏与公主长得像,于是被迫代替她去往敌国和亲。 传闻我的和亲对象是个残疾皇子,可洞房花烛夜当晚...
    茶点故事阅读 42,481评论 2 342

推荐阅读更多精彩内容