商务英语专业毕业论文(12)
So, if you want to improve your reading ability, learning skimming and scanning is indispensible when you going through a text.
2.4.5 Read at a super speed
Rapid reading is good, but not good enough. Of necessity, you should also know and use three super speeds---surveying, skimming, and scanning. Too many people become poor readers precisely because they set up speed as their sole objective and race through materials without knowing what to look for and without any real purpose. They always read with the same speed or the same procedure because they know no other way. So you can see that it would be very important to train yourself to adopt one set of procedures for regular reading and simultaneously practice another set of speed reading techniques.
Surveying is specialized technique for getting a mountaintop view of an article, chapter, or entire book. With surveying, you catch a broad, overall picture of basic essentials. It will make you reading easy. When you know in general where the writer is going, you can follow more easily. It will increase your subsequent reading speed. It should also improve comprehension because you catch the essentials and writer’s plan. A quick surveying provides an ideal basis for deciding intelligently where to taste, swallow, or chew and digest the material. Then how can we survey? Written communication has certain characteristics that make surveying possible. Usually, the title of an article provides a concise indication of article content. The first paragraph normally suggests more exactly what is to follow. From that point on, major divisions are often marked with sub-titles. Other especially important points are apt to appear in italics, graphs, or tables. Finally, more often than not, the last paragraph will summarize or suggest key implications or applications. So read the title, the first paragraph, all sub-headings, italicized words, graphs, tables and the last paragraph.
Skimming is not the kind of reading you have been told to do to achieve full comprehension, you just past over the text lightly and hastily. Skimming generate your reading speed. It helps you review and keeps you informed. But how can we skim? When you are skimming, you eyes begin to slide down a column of words, names, or figures; you don’t actually read each entry. As your glance moves down a page, you are vaguely aware of other words, but you react positively only when the right one comes along. When you do reach the desired point, you read all that is necessary with your normal attention to detail. If you want to develop skimming ability, you must do some drills: set a goal first, and then re-skim frequently when you don’t understand until you comprehend the text fully. Skimming drills should be followed by comprehension tests. At last, skim regularly. Once you are accustomed to skimming and have established the habit, it will be proved valuable throughout your life.
