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The problem many students have in common, who have had low scores in Reading Comprehension Tests, is that they have too little time left for the test. Some students found themselves ending up having 5 or 6 unsolved questions. There seems to be no way out from this quagmire.
People say that it takes much time and effort to master a foreign language. So learners should practice it everyday with much patience to enhance their reading skills, much more their reading speed. It is evident that practice is the only royal road to language learning. I have no intention of refuting their advice on language learning in general. They are absolutely right. But when it comes to the matter of preparing for the test, especially in the case of students who have entrance exams near at hand, it becomes a different matter. Their advice is not of any help.
I'd like to propose 3 reading skills to improve students' reading speed as follows.
Step 1. When you read, you need to cut phrases according to their meaning.
When they say, native speakers cut each phrase by the meaning of it. Though in writing there is only physical spaces between words and each phrase is not divided by the meaning, writers divide phrases in their minds by the meaning they have. So when you read, you need to divide each phrase to catch exactly what the writers say. Phrase-cutting is very important to understand a sentence and it is universally applied to all languages in the world. Remember the pun we used to play with when in elementary school? ;“아버지가 방에 들어가신다.” “아버지, 가방에 들어가신다.” The one has a completely different meaning from the other. So is it in English.
Let me give you examples which have long sentences, seemingly confusing readers.
Compare the two sentences below.
A.
It would be dangerous to assume that the power of a modern national community to mould the character and thought of its individual members, and to produce a certain degree of conformity and uniformity among them, is any less than that of a primitive tribal community.
B.
It would be dangerous/to assume /that the power of a modern national community /to mould the character and thought /of its individual members,/and to produce a certain degree of conformity and uniformity among them, /is any less /than that of a primitive tribal community.
A.
The knowledge that governments possess is more limited. They are too busy to search out the facts for themselves, and consequently they know only what their underlings think good for them unless there is such a powerful movement in a different sense that politicians cannot ignore it.
B.
The knowledge /that governments possess /is more limited. They are too busy /to search out the facts for themselves, /and consequently they know /only what their underlings think good for them/unless there is such a powerful movement /in a different sense /that politicians cannot ignore it.
Step 2: When you read, never fail to check what demonstratives refer to.
When you read a passage, you may encounter demonstratives such as it, they, them, there, etc. Poor readers pay little attention to what they refer to, so that they are too confused to get hold of what the entire passage means.
The press has its weakness, /and 1)that must be acknowledged. We seek excellence, /but no institution can rid 2)itself of all imperfection. There indeed have been violation of journalistic ethics. Because the transgressions of 3)one /reflect poorly on 4)all, /each violation sounds an alarm /throughout 5)the profession. Instead of offering excuses /or retreating behind the well-worn rhetoric /of the people's right to know, /we must always have the courage / to recognize our errors / and the wisdom to correct 6)them. I think /some newspapers operate in an ethical climate /wholly different from - and more demanding than - /7)that of just a generation ago, /and I find 8)that encouraging.
that : The press has its weakness
2) itself : institution
3) one : one institution
4) all : all institutions
5) the profession : the profession of the journalist
6) them : errors
7) that : the climate
8) that : some newspapers operate in an ethical climate wholly different from - and more demanding than - that of just a generation ago
As a rule, a demonstrative refers to the noun or clause which precedes the demonstrative. Most of the times it refers to the single noun as in 2)itself, 6)them, 7)that, but sometimes it refers to the clause as in 1)that and 8)that. Demonstratives are so important a key to the understanding of the entire flow of the passage that you should be careful not to overlook them.
Step 3: Read passages guessing what will follow what you are reading. Use +(plus), 0(neutral) and -(minus) approach to understand the flow of the passage.
When you read passages, you need to guess at the same time, at the next level, what the direction of the story will be, what kinds of story will develop, what kinds of events will occur, what will be the conclusion of the story, etc. It is, what is called, this power reading that helps the reader to speed up their reading and to comprehend the story more easily.
And to catch what the writer says more exactly, you should place your judgement on the inclination of the passage; you should know beforehand the writer's value judgement on what he writes. Once you understand it, you can more easily and exactly understand the direction of the story.
ex) Insert one word in both blanks which will complete the passage.
The American artist, Andy Warhol, once said that anyone will be famous for fifteen minutes. Fame in the modern world seems to have lost its meaning. (The writer says that fame lost its meaning in the modern world. His value judgement on fame in the modern world seems to be negative as we know from the statement "lost its meaning"(-). Aha! There will be discernable difference in meaning between the fame in the modern world and the fame in the past. So at the next level, we can guess that the writer is going to compare those two concepts.) In the past, people became famous for their achievements. (The writer is comparing the fame in the modern world( - ) and fame in the past( + ).) There were famous politician, famous artists, famous philosophers and so on. Of course it is also possible to become famous for doing bad things.
But these days, it seems possible to become famous for no real reasons. Because our daily lives are surrounded with the , we get used to famous faces without knowing much about the people behind them. Many of us can recognize actors whose films we have never seen, or pop stars whose songs we have never heard. Perhaps a famous face is the most important product.
We see famous people on magazine covers and on TV.( We see their faces on magazine, TV, etc. What are they called? They are the media. So the appropriate word for the blank will be "media".) They are often young and good-looking. But apart from that, why should they be famous? They have nothing special to say. "Fame is not based on achievements any more. It is created by the ______________, and sold to us every day. In a society in which anyone can be famous, fame is an empty thing with little or no value.(This sentence is the key sentence which concludes the story and it is what the writer wants to say.)
As seen above, readers should understand the direction of story after they read two or three sentences, because it is usually demonstrated by the writer in the first part of the story.
The three skills mentioned above are but a part of numerous skills to be used in understanding English writings. But they are the basic fundamentals which many good readers unconsciously employ to read written materials in an exact and speedy manner. There's no royal road to English. It is true. But the same saying has also an implication that there are many roads to English. So it matters which road you should take to your ultimate goal, English. The choice is up to you.
By Kim Kyung Tae