Download - Skim Reading is a Key Skill

8/10/2019 Skim Reading is a Key Skill

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Skim reading is a key skill

Most candidates who've done the academic version of

IELTS (International English Language TestingSystem) say thereading test was the most difficult of the four modules.The

academic reading test assesses whether your reading skills are

developed enough to succeed instudies in English at an

undergraduate or postgraduate level. If you're a professional,

such as a doctor or alawyer, you may also need to do the test to

see if your language skills are developed enough for you towork

in an English language environment.Many candidates want band

score 6.0 in the reading test, but some need 7.0 or even higher.This can bevery challenging. Most candidates find the first of

the three reading passages is difficult, and the next twopassages

are always harder.Still, it's possible to get a very good band

score. Of course, you must have fairly good English grammar

andvocabulary to do well. Just as important, though, are well-

developed reading skills.

Skimming

One of the essential reading skills is skimming. Skimming is

what you do when you want to quickly find outthe general idea

of a document. For example, when you look at a page of the --

Bangkok Post-- to findsomething interesting to read, you just

look quickly at the headings and any photos, and maybe a

fewphrases here and there in an article. This quick reading is

called skim reading.To skim read, you must read at least twice

as fast as your normal speed. However, don't try to read

andunderstand every word. Try to find the main ideas, which are

usually in the main clauses of each sentence.

Doing it in the test


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Before you try to answer any questions in a reading passage,

look at the heading and any pictures. Askyourself what you

think the passage might be about. Then, read the first one or two

paragraphs and quicklyguess what the whole passage is about.Finally, skim read each of the remaining paragraphs to get

ageneral idea of what each is about. \When skim reading, you

only want to find the main point and the general content of each

paragraph. Themain point is given in the paragraph's topic

sentence. Make it a practice to read the opening sentence ofeach

paragraph in a reading passage since it's usually, but not always,

the topic sentence. Don't readevery word in the topic sentence.Just read its main subject, its main verb and the object of the

main (orindependent) clause. Pay less attention to other words in

the topic sentence, such as any relative clausesor adverbial

clauses.It's also very important to get a feel for the general

content of each paragraph. To do this, skim through thewhole

paragraph, looking at sets of related words throughout it. Before

moving on to the next paragraph,skim read the paragraph asecond time and underline the main points. This second skim

reading makesthe main points much easier to recognize and

understand. Once you've quickly summarised the mainpoints of

the paragraph in your head, move on to the next paragraph and

repeat the process.Only read each paragraph enough to

understand what it's generally talking about, and try to ignore

less important information. For instance, don't try to remember

the items in a list of examples in the paragraph.Instead, just

remember that the paragraph has examples of a certain category

of things.


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A road map

At the end of your skimming, you should know what the whole

passage is generally about, and what eachparagraph is generallytalking about.Remember, you're not trying to get a detailed or

accurate understanding of the passage. All you want is amental

outline that tells you which paragraph talks about what topic: a

"road map" of the passage. With thismap, you're in an excellent

position to quickly find the right paragraph with the answer for a

readingpassage's question.Spend six minutes skimming the 10 or

so paragraphs in a passage before looking at any of the

questions.That leaves 14 minutes to do the questions.

Other approaches

Some candidates find it difficult to get the general content

of each paragraph in six minutes. The mostcommon reason is

they're trying to understand every word, or too many words, in

the paragraphs. In otherwords, they're still reading normally, not

skimming. Distracted by less important information andconfusedby words they don't understand, they waste time.Other

candidates go straight to the questions and start scanning for

answers instead of first skim readingthe passage. Usually,

they're afraid they won't have enough time to answer the

questions. However, thismethod is very inefficient as the

candidates often can't understand the questions or the reading

passage.Since they aren't familiar with the general content of

each paragraph, it's also harder to find whichparagraph has the

answer to a question. They're frequently forced to waste time

scanning the wholepassage several times.By comparison, if you

first spend six minutes developing a road map, you're more

likely to understand thequestions. You're also often fairly sure of


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an answer as soon as you read a question. However, as

yourmind can play tricks under the pressure of the exam, always

make sure an answer is correct by carefullychecking the

information in the passage.As well, by skim reading first, youvery often know exactly which paragraph to read to check or

find ananswer. This saves valuable time, so you're in a better

position to answer all questions and get a highscore.Improving

your skim reading skills does take time and effort, but it's

essential, especially if you're aiming forband 6.0 or higher. You

may need much practice to become good at skimming.