Topic 2 : Reading Aids (Skimming, Previewing and Scanning). Introduction.

Most experienced readers use strategies that help to simplify reading. 2.1 Skimming means to search quickly through the sentences to find facts and answers to questions you may have before you read them closely. Rapid reading for facts is in actual fact skimming. !hen you skim a paragraph or a page you are searching quickly among sentences for the answers to some questions you may have. Skimming: Make sure you know what information you are looking for. Move your eyes quickly from line to line and from sentence to sentence. !hen you think you"ve found what you are looking for S#$%. Read slowly the part of the line or sentence that tells you what you want to know.

EXERCISE: Skim this paragraph about %resident &ames '. (arfield to find out the following information) *a+ the rank he held during the ,ivil !ar *b+ the classical language he knew *c+ the remarkable ability he had. #hen write the sentences below. James A. Garfield, twentieth President of the United States, was, like Lincoln, born in a log cabin. But by hard work and real ability, he became the head of iram !nstitute, a ma"or general during the #i$il %ar, a leader in #ongress, and finally #hief &'ecuti$e of the United States. Like many other (eo(le, the well)educated former backwoodsman was ambide'trous. *hat is to say, he was ca(able of writing with either his left hand or his right. But Garfield was (robably uni+ue in being able to write the two classical languages)Latin and Greek)at the same time, one with his right hand, the other with his left, 1. !hat rank did %resident (arfield hold in the ,ivil !ar-

2. !hat classical language did he know- .................................

/. !hat remarkable ability did he have- ............................... ................................................................ 'dapted from ) Reading Skills 0andbook1 0arvey S. !iener and ,harles 2a3erman *1455+. 2.2 %reviewing a selection before you read it lets you get a general idea of what you"re going to be reading before you actually begin. %reviewing is useful for short selections such as book chapters stories articles or essays. #his may also include whole books and maga3ines. Previewing: 6ook at the title ) title often suggest the topic or main idea. 6ook for subtitles ) subtitles suggest the kind of materials you will find in a small portion of the reading. 6ook at pictures charts drawings. 7llustrations often will give an idea of what the text will be dealing with. 6ook carefully at the first paragraph and absorb the information there. 6ook at the questions that come after the reading. 8uestions tell us what to expect from a passage.

EXERCISE: 2efore you read the following selection from a health education textbook preview it by answering the following questions. 1. Read the title. !hat does it tell you about the contents of this selection............................................................... _______________________________________________________________ 2. Read the subtitles. $n the basis of the subtitles what do you think the selection will discuss................................................................ /. !hat is covered in the paragraph................................................................

................................................................ igure !".!

#$AT%S I& A S'()*+ !e shudder at talk of chemical warfare. 9et every day millions of 'mericans bombard themselves and their neighbors with some of the most dangerous poisonous gases and chemicals known to humankind. A,TI-* I&.R*/I*&TS I& T(0A,,( S'()*. T1e gases ,oncentrations of carbon monoxide *,$+ a ma:or air pollutant appear in cigarette smoke at about ;<< times the safe industrial exposure. 0ydrogen cyanide a powerful poison is found at about 1=< times the >safe? concentration. T1e c1emica2 compounds #he tars in cigarette smoke are actually a sticky condensed form of more than 2<< chemicals that make up the millions even billions of tiny particles in the particulate matter in every cubic centimeter of smoke. #hese chemicals many toxics include) 't least ten hydrocarbons known to produce cancer in animals ,o carcinogens that act with other chemicals to stimulate cancer growth.

7rritants that cause coughing and other respiratory distress and are probably responsible for the deterioration of lung tissue which results in emphysema. ,hemicals that act to paraly3e the cilia *hair like pro:ections+ which protect the respiratory tract from foreign substances.

&icotine #his oily colorless substance sold as an insecticide is so powerful a poison that :ust one drop will kill a person in seconds. #he average nicotine content of a cigarette *an average 1.1 milligrams with a range from <.@ to 2.@ milligrams+ is well below the lethal level but can still have many disastrous effects on the body. 2./ Scanning is used to discover required information to complete a given task such as making a decision about what to watch on #A or which museum to visit. Readers scan a piece of writing when they search for specific information in it. Bor example a reader may scan the biography of Cr Mahathir by only looking out for significant dates. Scanning therefore allows the reader to efficiently gather information which may be scattered throughout a long piece of writing. 7t encourages the reader to conduct research in a purposeful way and this avoid distractions. Scanning: Con"t try to read every word. 6et your eyes move quickly across the page. Dse clues such as headings and titles to help you. 7f you are reading for study begin by thinking up or writing down some questions that you want to answer. Many texts use the 'EF order. Dtili3e this. 7t is found in phone books catalogues etc. %ractice scanning skills. Gxample search for a plumber in the yellow page.

inding meaning 3rom conte4t. Task A : Scanning race #his will prepare you for the next task. !ho in the class will be the first to circle or highlight all the boxed words in the following student essayalbeit attuned to a burden demographyHEic gain mutual numerous prevent rather than supplemented sustained trend

Question: 7t is to the benefit of society for family units living together to include the older generation"

!hat is your view on this matter#itle) Social 2enefits of Gxtended Bamilies. 1. ' ma:or social trend in many countries has been for elderly people to live increasingly by themselves rather than with their children. $ften they have pride in remaining independent and don"t want to feel a burden on their families. 0owever there would be considerable advantages for society if more elderly people lived with their adult children rather than alone or in nursing homes. ,learly this wouldn"t work in every case but reasons include mutual benefit for all members of the family and the fact that this can help society cope with the massive demographic changes predicted for the future. 2. 'll generations gain benefit from living in extended families. Most grandparents and greatEgrandparents en:oy spending time with their grandchildrenE it is common to hear them say that having children around makes them feel younger. 7n addition for parents it is cheaper when children are looked after by their older relatives than in child care centres. /. 2enefits for the children are numerous and clearly what is good for them is good for the whole family. Bamily care is likely to be higher quality than at a child care centre for many reasons. 7t will be better attuned to the children"s needs because the family members know them better and because there are fewer children to look after in a family home than in a child care centre. Burther families generally have greater emotional involvement in the child"s development than people looking after the child as a :ob. 7t"s also an advantage that this kind of care can strengthen family bonds due to the increased contact that family members have with each other. #he experienced that grandparents and greatEgrandparents bring to childErearing from the years of raising their own children is an additional reason. 0owever it must be remembered that care centres have staff with professional training which family members rarely get the opportunity to gain and they also provide opportunities for social interaction with other children beyond those available in the family home. ,hild care facilities thus do have a place in children"s upbringing but their use must be balanced against the advantages of home care. ;. ' further benefit to society results from expected changes in the demography of almost every country. 's health care improves people are living longer lives. 'lso in most developed countries birth rates are decreasing. 2oth these trends serve to increase the proportion of older people in the population and decrease the future proportion of working age people. #he result is that government services such as subsidi3ed health care and nursing homes cannot be sustained at the same level into the future. #herefore other ways of looking after the elderly must be considered for example families looking after their own elderly parents. #his must be supplemented however with some government support albeit

reduced from the present level to prevent people having to leave :obs or reduce their working hours to look after elderly relatives. @. 7n summary the benefits of encouraging more elderly people to live with their children or grandchildren are considerable and overall provide advantages for all members of the family and offer a way to deal with demographic shifts. 0owever some level of support services would still be necessary in many cases. #herefore the elderly should be encouraged where reasonable to move in with their children while welfare services should be tailored to support this.

2.5 Paragrap1 Structure.

' group of related sentences that discuss one main idea.

' paragraph is marked by indenting the first word *about half an inch+

Paragrap1

May be shortHlong but long enough to develop the main idea clearly.

May start by itself.

T1ree Parts o3 a Paragrap1. ' #opic Sentence I main idea of the (aragra(h. Supporting Sentences I de$elo(s the to(ic sentence. ,oncluding Sentence I signals the end of the (aragra(h.

2.6 'ode2: Paragrap1 Structure. Cescribe on a controlling idea. Gxplain the controlling idea. (ive an example. Gxplain the example. ,omplete the paragraph"s idea or transition.

.(7/ (old is a precious metal and it is pri3ed for two important characteristics. Birst of all gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. #herefore it is suitable for :ewellery coins and ornamental purposes. (old never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful forever. Bor example a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was made 2@ centuries ago. 'nother important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science. Bor many years it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications such as photography and dentistry. #he most recent use of gold is in astronauts" suits. 'stronauts wear goldEplated heat shields for protection when they go outside spaceships in space. 7n conclusion gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility. #opic Sentence) (old is a precious metal and it is pri3ed for two important characteristics. Supporting Sentences) Birst of all gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. Bor example a Macedonian ,oin remains as untarnished today as the day it was made 2@ centuries ago. ,oncluding Sentence) 7n conclusion gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.

#riting Tec1ni8ue 9uestions. 1. !hat is the topic of the paragraph2. !hat 2 main points do the writer make about the topic/. !hat examples do the writer use to support each point2.: Summar;. Reading strategies) Skimming ) to search quickly through sentences to find facts and answers to questions. %reviewing ) to get a general idea of what you"re going to be reading before you actually begin. Scanning ) to discover required information to complete a given task in making a decisionHchoice. %aragraphs) Dnity and coherence of ideas found in sentences is what constitutes a paragraph. 6ength and appearance do not determine whether a section in a paper is a paragraph. Dltimately a paragraph is a sentence or group of sentences that support one main idea. #opic Sentence) ' wellEorgani3ed paragraph supports or develops a single controlling idea which is expressed in a sentence called the topic sentence. Supporting Sentences) #hey are called >supporting? because they support or explain the idea that has been expressed in the topic sentence. ,oncluding Sentences) 7t summari3es the information that has been presented. #his is the concluding sentence.

2." *4ercises Read the following texts. #hen complete the given chart. 1+ Dnlike human language the communication dance of the bees is confined to a single sub:ect or thought. 7t is fro3en and inflexible. Bor example an experimenter forced a bee to walk to the food source. !hen the bee returned to the hive it indicated a distance twentyEfive times further away than it actually was. #he bees had no way of communicating the special circumstances or taking them into account in its message. 'nimal E ............................................................. ............................................................. ............................................................. ............................................................. ............................................................. ,ommunicationE ........................................................ ......................................................... ......................................................... ......................................................... .........................................................

2+ K#alking" birds such as parrots and mynah birds are capable of flawlessly enunciating words and phrases of human language. #he birds imitate what they have heard. 2ut when a parrot says K%olly wants a cracker " she may really want a ham sandwich or drink of water or nothing at all. ' bird that has learnt to say Khello" or Kgoodbye" is as likely to use one as the other regardless of whether people are arriving or departing. 'nimal E ............................................................... ................................................................. ................................................................. ................................................................. ................................................................ ,ommunication E ......................................................... ......................................................... ......................................................... ......................................................... .........................................................

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/+ #wo Brench scientists have studied the song of the Guropean robin. #he song studied was that which signaled the robin"s possession of a certain territory. #he scientists found that the rival robins paid attention only to the alternation between highE pitched and lowEpitched notes and which came first didn"t matter at all. #he message varies only to the extent of expressing how strongly the robin feels about his possession and how much he is prepared to defend it and start a family in that territory.

'nimal E ................................................................ ................................................................ ................................................................ ................................................................ ................................................................ ,ommunication E ......................................................... ......................................................... ......................................................... ......................................................... .........................................................

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Make a decision and form an opinion. $ne very important issue surrounding families today is the issue of the working mother. !omen should not be allowed to work until their children are at least 12 years old. Ciscuss. !rite one paragraph based on the above. Gnsure that your paragraph has a topic sentence supporting sentences and the concluding sentences. 2.5 References Boley Mark L 0all Caine. *144/+ DISTINCTION English for Advan ed !earners" 1st edn *Gdinburgh DM ) #homas Nelson and Sons 6td+ ,ox Mathy L 0ill Cavid. *2<<;+ EA# no$% English for A ademi #ur&oses" *NS! 'ustralia1 %earson Gducation 'ustralia+

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