SKIMMING

Skimming is does not require you to read all the material in a text. Skimming is used to get at the gist or an overview of a text. It helps you to read a text three to four times faster than normal reading. People usually skim when they limited time to read tons of material. Skimming helps you review major ideas after you have studied a topic.

How to skimming
When skimming : a) Read only the words that will help you to get the sense of the text. b) Read only the main ideas. c) Read the headings, subheadings and illustrations.

Example 1 Skim through the short extract below in five seconds. Read only the heading, subheading and the words in bold.

The fastest runner The cheetah The Cheetah which has its home in the grasslands of Africa is the worlds fastest runner. It can run up 70 miles per hour. Because of its speed, it is able to canch its prey with easy. It can go from a stationary position to a speed of 45 miles per hour within 2 seconds.

Comments By glancing at the heading, the subheading and the words in bold in the extract, you can tell that the extract is about the cheetah from Africa which is the worlds fastest runner. Other information support the general idea that it is an animal which moves with great speed.

SCANNING
Scanning is a form of high speed reading in which you read selectively to find out a particular fact or some specific information you need. When scanning an article or a chapter of book, you dont have to read every word. We usually scan when we are looking up the meanings of words in a dictionary, the names and telephone numbers in a telephone directory.

How to scanning is done

Know exactly what you are looking for torm or special words that will be used. For example, a question beginning with : a) When b) Who c) Why d) Where e) what

Search for key words by moving your eyes quickly down the page until you find what you need. Decide where you need to look for information you need. If you want to find out time for your favourite TV program, you would zreo in on the entertaiment page rather than browse through the business page of a news paper where the prices of stocks and shares are listed.

Use headings and subheadings and other aids to helps you identify the section you need to scan to locate quickly the specific information you need.

Example 1 Joo Lee does not know the meaning of shallot, so she looks the words up in a dictionary. To scan for the word, she should skip all the entries beginning from a to r and should straight away flip to the page beginning with shall. Once she has identified the page she should then run her fingers down the page very quickly and she should stop when she sees the words shallot and then read the definition. She should ignore all the other words and the definitions given and just zero in on the word she is looking for.