READING 2

10TH MEETING
 General
Skimming
Reading overview
Technique Specific
Scanning
facts
SKIMMING
 Skimming is like snorkeling.
 The purpose of skimming is to tell you what general information is within section.
 Use skimming in previewing, reviewing, determining the main idea, and finding source
material for a paper.
 Pay attention to some of these typographical cues-headings, boldface and italic type,
indenting, bulleted and number lists.
 Alert for some key words and phrases, the names of people and places, dates, noun, and
unfamiliar words.
SCANNING
 Scanning is like pearl diving.
 The purpose of scanning is to locate and swoop down on particular facts.
 Scan tables of contents, summaries, indexes, headings, and typographical cues.
 Skim first then go scan the things you need. Look one key word at one time.
SCANNING FOR ANSWERING
QUESTION
 The question itself supplies the keywords.
 Make sure you read the question completely then choose your keywords.
 Look for answers to only one question at a time.
 When you locate a keyword, read the surrounding text carefully.
 Re-read the question to determine if the answer you found correctly.
EXAMPLE
 Read the following text quickly and fill in the table. What do the numbers given in the table refer to?

1%? 2%? 13%? 16%? 30%?

Spoon-fed feel lost at the cutting edge
Before arriving at university students will have been powerfully influenced by their school's approach to learning particular
subjects. Yet this is only rarely taken into account by teachers in higher education, according to new research carried out at
Nottingham University, which could explain why so many students experience problems making the transition. Historian Alan
Booth says there is a growing feeling on both sides of the Atlantic that the shift from school to university-style learning could be
vastly improved. But little consensus exists about who or what is at fault when the students cannot cope. "School teachers
commonly blame the poor quality of university teaching, citing factors such as large first-year lectures, the widespread use of
inexperienced postgraduate tutors and the general lack of concern for students in an environment where research is dominant in
career progression," Dr Booth said. Many university tutors on the other hand claim that the school system is failing to prepare
students for what will be expected of them at university. A-level history in particular is seen to be teacher-dominated, creating a
passive dependency culture. But while both sides are bent on attacking each other, little is heard during such exchanges from the
students themselves, according to Dr Booth, who has devised a questionnaire to test the views of more than 200 first-year history
students at Nottingham over a three-year period. The students were asked about their experience of how history is taught at the
outset of their degree programme. It quickly became clear that teaching methods in school were pretty staid.
About 30 per cent of respondents claimed to have made significant use of primary sources (few felt very confident in handling
them) and this had mostly been in connection with project work. Only 16 per cent had used video/audio; 2 per cent had
experienced field trips and less than 1 per cent had engaged in role-play. Dr Booth found students and teachers were frequently
restricted by the assessment style which remains dominated by exams. These put obstacles in the way of more adventurous
teaching and active learning, he said. Of the students in the survey just 13 per cent felt their A-level course had prepared them very
well for work at university.
YOUR TURN
 Make a group of four then do the task.

Phobia
No. 6
Which of these phobias is not mentioned in the text?
A) Arachibutyrophobia B) Arachnophobia C) Amathophobia
KARINA FURNITURE
This text is aimed at people who want to buy furniture.
1. The text is aimed at:

2. The suite is made of: 54% polyester, 46% cotton.

3. Does the catalogue company offer a home delivery service? Yes

4. Does the large armchair cost £232.99? No/False

5. How much does the 3 seater sofa cost?the 3 seater sofa costs £409.95

6. For what type of use is the Karina range general domestic use.
designed/made?

7. Is it true that the metal-action sofa-bed is wider than the 2

seater sofa? True

8. Is it true that the futon costs more that the armchair? True
FRIMSBOROUGH COUNTY LIBRARY

1. The text is aimed at: The text is aimed at all library users.

2. Is it true that information is given about borrowing CDs? true

3. Which category of video isn’t listed? (A. educational B.

D. travel
exercise C. film D. travel)

4. Do they provide the telephone number? Yes/True

5. Do they tells you where to get more information about how

Yes/True
many items you can borrows from the library?

6. Do members can also borrow CD-ROMs? Yes/True

7. Which month is ‘library month’? April

8. What is the name of the library? Frimsborough County Library.

 to give information about phobias
1. The purpose of the text is to …

‘only in a particular
2. A situation
phobia that frightens
happens … you’, so only in certain situations.

3. The number of people One

whoin
have
ten phobias is …as 10 percent.
is the same
4. Peladophobia is … a fear of bald people

‘confront
5. The writer your fears,
advises evenwith
people if it’sphobias
in a very
to careful
… way or
with the help of a trained therapist
6. Which of these phobias is not mentioned in(athe
arachnophobia text?
fear of spiders)
7. Cognitive behavioral therapy is …
is said to have a high success rate in phobias.
8. This text might be found under which heading on the BBC

website? B. Mental health

(A. physical health B. mental health C. You

and your therapist)

PLEASE SCORE YOUR FRIENDS’
GROUP BY USING THESE
FORMULA

(TOTAL TRUE (BOTH TEXT) *

12.5)/2 = SCORE