Guidelines for previewing a textbook passage

• Read the main heading.

• Check to see if the passage is divided into parts.

• Read the first few sentences.

• Read the first sentence of each paragraph after that.

• Read the final sentences of the passage.

EXERCISE 4

Preview the following passage from Chapter 3 of Society: The Basics for one minute. Then
answer the questions that follow.

Introduction:The Importance of Social Experience

On a cold winter day in 1938, a concerned
social worker walked anxiously to the door of a
rural' Pennsylvania farmhouse. Investigating a
case of possible child abuse, the social worker
3
soon discovered a five-year-old girl hidden in a
second-floor storage room. The child, whose
name was Anna, was wedged into an old chair
with her arms tied above her head so she could
not move. She was wearing filthy garments,
and her arms and legs were as thin as
matchsticks.
Anna's situation can only be described as
tragic. She was born in 1932 to an unmarried
mentally impaired woman of twenty-six who
lived with her father. Enraged by his daughter's
"illegitimate" motherhood, the grandfather did
not even want the child in his home. Anna,
therefore, spent the early months of her life in
the custody of various welfare agencies. But
her mother was unable to pay for this care, so
Anna returned to the home where she was not
wanted. Because of her grandfather's hostility
and her mother's indifference, Anna lived
alone in a room where she received little
attention and just enough milk to keep her
alive. There she stayed—day after day, month
after month, with virtually no human
contact—for five years.
Upon learning of the discovery of Anna,
sociologist Kingsley Davis traveled
immediately to see the child. He found her in a
county home, where local authorities had
taken her. Davis was appalled by the sight of
the emaciated child, who could not laugh,
speak, or even smile. Anna was completely
apathetic, as if alone in an empty world.

(Source: J. J. Macionis, Society: The Basics, 4th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998)

rural: relating to the country, not the city

2
investigate: to try to find out the truth about something
3
child abuse: cruel treatment of a child

Previewing 79
 B. Answer the following questions without looking back at the passage.

1. What is the section about?

It was about a girl named Anna, who was being abused by her family
2. Have you ever heard or read about other children like Anna?
I have never heard or read about other children like Anna
3. Is this part of the chapter divided into parts?
Yes, it is. I think it was divided into 3 parts
4. Do you think this chapter would be difficult to read and understand?
No, I don't think so because it doesn't contain any academic vocabulary so it is easy to read and understand
5. What words, phrases, or numbers do you remember from previewing the passage?
Anna was born in 1932
C. Compare your answers with those of another student. If you disagree, read the passage to check
your work.

EXERCISE 5

A. Preview another passage from Chapter 3 of Society: The Basics for two minutes. Then answer
the questions that follow.

Social Isolation
For obvious ethical reasons, researchers cannot
subject human beings to experimental
isolation. But research on the effects of social
isolation has been conducted on nonhuman
primates.
Research with monkeys. Psychologists
Harry and Margaret Harlow (1962) observed
rhesus monkeys whose behavior is in some ways
surprisingly similar to that of human beings in
various conditions of social isolation. They
found that complete isolation (with adequate
nutrition) for a period of even six months was
sufficient to cause developmental disturbances.
When reintroduced to others of their kind, these
monkeys were anxious, fearful, and defenseless
against aggression.
The Harlows also placed infant rhesus
monkeys in cages with an artificial 'mother'
constructed of wire mesh and a wooden head
and the nipple of a feeding tube where the
breast would be. These monkeys, too, were
subsequently unable to interact with others. But
when they covered the artificial 'mother' with
soft terry cloth, the infant monkeys clung to it,
thereby deriving some emotional benefit, which
reduced developmental harm. The experiment
revealed the profound importance of the simple
act of cradling as part of parent-infant
interaction.

80 Comprehension Skills
 Finally, the Harlows discovered that, when
socially isolated for shorter periods of time
(about three months), infant monkeys
eventually regained normal emotional patterns
after rejoining others. But they concluded that
longer-term isolation causes irreversible
emotional and behavioral damage.
Isolated children. The later development of
Anna roughly squares with the Harlows'
findings. After her discovery, Anna benefited
from extensive social contact and soon showed
some improvement. When Kingsley Davis (1940)
revisited her after ten days, he noted that she
was more alert and displayed some human
expression, and even smiled with obvious
pleasure. Over the next year, as she experienced
the humanizing effects of socialization, Anna
showed more interest in other people and
gradually gained the ability to walk. After a year
and a half, she was able to feed herself, walk
alone for short distances, and play with toys.
Consistent with the observations of the
Harlows, however, it was apparent that Anna's
five years of social isolation had left her
permanently damaged. At age eight her mental
and social development was still below that of a
normal two-year-old. Only as she approached
ten did she begin to use language. Of course,
since Anna's mother was mentally retarded,
perhaps Anna was similarly disadvantaged. The
riddle was never solved, however, because Anna
died at age ten of a blood disorder, possibly
related to her years of abuse (Davis, 1940).
In a more recent case of childhood isolation,
a thirteen-year-old California girl was victimized
in a host of ways by her parents from the age of
two (Curtiss, 1977; Pines, 1981; Rymer, 1994).
Genie's ordeal included being locked alone in a
garage for extended periods. Upon discovery,
her condition was similar to that of Anna. Genie
was emaciated (weighing only fifty-nine
pounds) and had the mental development of a
one-year-old. She received intensive treatment
by specialists and thrived physically. Yet even
after years of care, her ability to use language
remains that of a young child, and she lives
today in a home for developmentally disabled
adults.
All the evidence points to the crucial role of
social experience in personality development.
Human beings are resilient creatures,
sometimes able to recover from even the
crushing experience of prolonged isolation. But
there may well be a point—precisely when is
unclear from the small number of cases
studied—at which isolation in infancy results in
damage, including a reduced capacity for
language, that cannot be fully repaired.

( Source: J. J. Macionis, Society: The Basics, 4th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998)

B. Answer the following questions without looking back at the passage.

1. What is the title of this section?

Social Isolation
2. What is it about?
It's about researching human emotion and behaviour if they don't have parent care
3. How is it divided into parts?
It's divided in to 2 parts. Parts 1 about researching on monkey. Part 2 about researching on human
4. How do the parts relate to the topic of the section?
It shows the similar in behavior and emotion of monkey and human if they were both isolated
S. What words, phrases, or numbers do you remember from your preview?
anxious, fearful and defenseless
C. Compare your answers with those of another student. If you disagree, read the passage to check
your work.

Previewing 81