Emperor Penguins

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Reading Comprehension Success in 20 Minutes a Day

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Reading Comprehension Skills - Scanning

Scanning is used to discover required information to complete a given task such as making a decision about what to watch on TV, or which museum to visit while visiting a foreign city. Ask students NOT to read the excerpt before they begin the exercise, but rather, to focus on completing the task based on what the question requires. It is probably a good idea to do some awareness raising of the various types of reading skills that they use naturally in their own mother tongue (i.e. extensive, intensive, skimming, scanning) before beginning this exercise.

Aim: Reading practice focusing on scanning

Activity: Comprehension questions used as cues for scanning a TV schedule

Level:Intermediate

Outline:

• Do a short awareness raising session by asking students how they go about making decisions based on schedules, short articles etc. Focus on whether they read every word and if the read in strict order when making such a decision in their own mother tongue.
• Remind them that this process is the same in English and does not require that they understand every word perfectly.
• Distribute comprehension questions and TV schedule to students.
• Make a special point of asking students to complete the exercise by first reading the question and then scanning for the appropriate answer.
• Ask students to use the TV schedule to answer the questions. To increase difficulty add a timing element (this should help students who insist on understanding every word to not do so).
• Correct activity as a class.
• Extend activity by bringing in a number of magazines concerning travel, entertainment or a similar activity and asking students to complete a given task - for example finding a destination they would like to visit or choosing a film they would like to see. Once again, ask students to do the exercise by scanning and not reading each word.

First read the following questions and then use the TV Schedule to find the answers.

1. Jack has a video - can he watch both documentaries without having to make a video?
2. Is there a show about making good investments?
3. You are thinking about traveling to the USA for a vacation. Which show should you watch?
4. Your friend doesn't have a TV, but would like to watch a film starring Tom Cruise. Which film should you record on your video?
5. Peter is interested in wild animals which show should he watch?
6. Which sport can you watch that takes place outside?
7. Which sport can you watch that takes place inside?
8. You like modern art. Which documentary should you watch?
9. How often can you watch the news?
10. Is there a horror film on this evening?

The Death Car

    It was a cold night in September. The rain was drumming on the car roof as George and Marie Winston drove through the empty country roads towards the house of their friends, the Harrisons, where they were going to attend a party to celebrate the engagement of the Harrisons' daughter, Lisa. As they drove, they listened to the local radio station, which was playing classical music.
     They were about five miles from their destination when the music on the radio was interrupted by a news announcement:
     "The Cheshire police have issued a serious warning after a man escaped from Colford Mental Hospital earlier this evening. The man, John Downey, is a murderer who killed six people before he was captured two years ago. He is described as large, very strong and extremely dangerous. People in the Cheshire area are warned to keep their doors and windows locked, and to call the police immediately if they see anyone acting strangely."
     Marie shivered. "A crazy killer. And he's out there somewhere. That's scary."
     "Don't worry about it," said her husband. "We're nearly there now. Anyway, we have more important things to worry about. This car is losing power for some reason -- it must be that old problem with the carburetor. If it gets any worse, we'll have to stay at the Harrisons' tonight and get it fixed before we travel back tomorrow."
     As he spoke, the car began to slow down. George pressed the accelerator, but the engine only coughed. Finally they rolled to a halt, as the engine died completely. Just as they stopped, George pulled the car off the road, and it came to rest under a large tree.
     "Blast!" said George angrily. "Now we'll have to walk in the rain."
     "But that'll take us an hour at least," said Marie. "And I have my high-heeled shoes and my nice clothes on. They'll be ruined!"
     "Well, you'll have to wait while I run to the nearest house and call the Harrisons. Someone can come out and pick us up," said George.
     "But George! Have you forgotten what the radio said? There's a homicidal maniac out there! You can't leave me alone here!"
     "You'll have to hide in the back of the car. Lock all the doors and lie on the floor in the back, under this blanket. No-one will see you. When I come back, I'll knock three times on the door. Then you can get up and open it. Don't open it unless you hear three knocks." George opened the door and slipped out into the rain. He quickly disappeared into the blackness.
     Marie quickly locked the doors and settled down under the blanket in the back for a long wait. She was frightened and worried, but she was a strong-minded woman. She had not been waiting long, however, when she heard a strange scratching noise. It seemed to be coming from the roof of the car.
     Marie was terrified. She listened, holding her breath. Then she heard three slow knocks, one after the other, also on the roof of the car. Was it her husband? Should she open the door? Then she heard another knock, and another. This was not her husband. It was somebody -- or something -- else. She was shaking with fear, but she forced herself to lie still. The knocking continued -- bump, bump, bump, bump.
     Many hours later, as the sun rose, she was still lying there. She had not slept for a moment. The knocking had never stopped, all night long. She did not know what to do. Where was George? Why had he not come for her?
     Suddenly, she heard the sound of three or four vehicles, racing quickly down the road. All of them pulled up around her, their tires screeching on the road. At last! Someone had come! Marie sat up quickly and looked out of the window.
     The three vehicles were all police cars, and two still had their lights flashing. Several policemen leapt out. One of them rushed towards the car as Marie opened the door. He took her by the hand.
     "Get out of the car and walk with me to the police vehicle. miss. You're safe now. Look straight ahead. Keep looking at the police car. Don't look back. Just don't look back."
     Something in the way he spoke filled Marie with cold horror. She could not help herself. About ten yards from the police car, she stopped, turned and looked back at the empty vehicle.
     George was hanging from the tree above the car, a rope tied around his neck. As the wind blew his body back and forth, his feet were bumping gently on the roof of the car -- bump, bump, bump, bump.

(MDH 1994 -- From a common urban legend)

Studies have shown that students find it easier to understand and learn from text that is considerate, or reader friendly. Features of considerate text such as clear titles, heads, and subheads; visual aids; and directly stated main ideas promote comprehension and recall of information—if students use them. This article describes major features that characterize considerate text and ways that a teacher can encourage students to use them.

Characteristics of Considerate Text
Three characteristics help define considerate text: clear text structures, coherent writing, and audience awareness.

Clear Text Structures
The first characteristic—clear text structures—refers to the sequencing of ideas or actions. Considerate text features logical patterns of organization such as these:

• Chronological order, or the presentation of actions or events in the order in which they actually occurred or should be performed
• Comparison and contrast, or the presentation of similarities and differences between two or more people, places, or things
• Cause and effect, or the presentation of interactions between at least two actions or events—one of them a cause, or reason, and the other an effect, or result

To complement and draw attention to text structures, considerate text may also include graphic organizers or other visual aids. For example, text that compares and contrasts might be accompanied by a Venn diagram that sums up similarities and differences.

Coherence
A second characteristic of considerate text—coherence—refers to the clarity with which the parts of a text are connected. In considerate text, connections are made explicit through the use of features like these:

• Heads and subheads that "chunk" text for readers and help them see how sections of text relate to each other
• Directly stated main ideas that help students understand central points and see their relationship to supporting details
• Use of transitional words and expressions that signal and clarify the relationships between actions, events, or ideas. For example, cause-and-effect relationships may be signaled by transitions like because, consequently, and as a result.

Audience Awareness
A third characteristic of considerate text—audience awareness—refers to the degree with which text anticipates and fulfills readers' needs. Considerate text seeks to meet students' comprehension and study needs through the use of features like these:

• Prereading questions or activities that encourage students to activate their prior knowledge of a subject
• Clear titles and introductions or overviews that preview main ideas
• Vocabulary aids that help students understand key terms
• Questions or other types of comprehension checks that help students evaluate how well they understand what have they read

Classroom Uses of Considerate Text
Teachers should not assume that students automatically recognize or effectively use the features of considerate text. Struggling readers may overlook aids to comprehension, while other readers may skip over helpful features in the mistaken belief that skipping will save time. Here are some ways that teachers can help students reap the benefits of considerate text.

• Teach text structures
  Before assigning students to read considerate text, determine which structure is key to understanding the text. Define the structure in class and list any transitional expressions in the text that signal the structure. Then distribute copies of an appropriate graphic organizer and direct students to use it to take reading notes. Or organize students into post-reading groups and direct group members to complete the graphic organizer together.

• Encourage students to use text features to predict content
  Before students read considerate text, read aloud the title of the text. If pictures or photographs accompany the text, draw students' attention to them. Then ask students to predict what the text will be about. Follow up by reading aloud any heads and subheads in the text and asking students whether the additional information verifies or contradicts their predictions. Allow students to change their predictions if they wish. Conclude by having students read the article to check their predictions.

• Model how to find directly stated main ideas
  Point out that main ideas are often directly stated at or near the beginning of a text or chunk of text. Distribute copies of a well-constructed essay or informational article, and read aloud the title and the introductory paragraphs. Explain how the title and main idea interrelate. Then identify the main idea or ideas in the introduction. Follow up by pairing students and challenging them to underline the main idea of each paragraph or unit of text. Have student pairs report their findings to the class and explain their reasoning.

• Provide payoffs
  Help ensure that students are rewarded for using the features of considerate text. For example, if a text contains vocabulary previews, build pop quizzes around the vocabulary words. And if a text includes summaries or questions, keep them in mind when you construct quizzes and tests.

The plain, brown cloak that Sir Alec Guinness 1) __________ when he played the character Obi-Wan Kenobi 2) __________ the Star Wars films is part 3) __________ a collection of film and television costumes that will be sold. Alec Guiness died 4) __________ 2000.

Today's English learner has a wide choice of dictionaries in which to choose from. There are dictionaries with American English, with British English, with idioms or slang, and even with pictures. One of the most popular dictionaries I have seen among many students are talking electronic dictionaries. All you have to do is type in a word in your language and you can see it and hear it in English. That's great, right? Well, I think it's great, too... but only sometimes.

Bilingual electronic dictionaries are fast and easy. They can be great when you are traveling and need information quickly. But I am against electronic dictionaries and even bilingual paper dictionaries in many cases. Let me explain...

When you reach an intermediate level of English (about the level of 5 Minute English) you know enough of the language to ask the meaning of certain things while using English. Translating between languages in your head takes time. You should be translating as little as possible and you should be thinking in English as much as possible. I strongly recommend that intermediate and advanced students use an English-English dictionary made especially for your understanding. For example, Longman has a good dictionary for students. Other companies do, too.

I also feel that paper (book) dictionaries are better for studying than electronic dictionaries. True, they take longer to use. But, for some reason, the information you look up seems to stay in your head longer. It may be because you were forced to spell the word in your head and therefore "see it" more clearly in your mind.

So what do you do if you have checked an English-English dictionary and still don't understand something? Go to your bilingual dictionary. It is useful sometimes. Just remember to try to stay in English as much as possible.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England nor French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweet-breads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you can comb through the annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another.

Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent?

Have you ever seen a horsefull carriage or a strapfull gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it.

Using Inference

Sometimes someone will try to tell you something without coming right out and saying it. He will imply it. When you understand what is implied, you infer. Sometimes you can infer the truth even when the speaker or writer isn’t trying to be helpful. That’s called “reading between the lines.”

See if you can infer an impled or hidden message in each of the following selections.

  Turner almost wished that he hadn’t listened to the radio. He went to the closet and grabbed his umbrella. He would feel silly carrying it to the bus stop on such a sunny morning.

1. Which probably happened?

a. Turner realized that he had an unnatural fear of falling radio parts.
b. Turner had promised himself to do something silly that morning.
c. Turner had heard a weather forecast that predicted rain.
d. Turner planned to trade his umbrella for a bus ride.

“Larry, as your boss, I must say it’s been very interesting working with you,” Miss Valdez said. “However, it seems that our company’s needs and your performance style are not well matched. Therefore, it makes me very sad to have to ask you to resign your position effective today.”

2. What was Miss Valdez telling Larry?

a. She would feel really bad if he decided to quit.
b. He was being fired.
c. He was getting a raise in pay.
d. She really enjoyed having him in the office.

 No, Honey, I don’t want you to spend a lot of money on my birthday present. Just having you for a husband is the only gift I need. In fact, I’ll just drive my old rusty bucket of bolts down to the mall and buy myself a little present. And if the poor old car doesn't break down, I’ll be back soon.

3. What is the message?

a. I don’t want a gift.
b. Buy me a new car.
c. The mall is fun.
d. I’ll carry a bucket for you.

 Bill and Jessica were almost done taking turns choosing the players for their teams. It was Jessica’s turn to choose, and only Kurt was left.
Jessica said, “Kurt.”

4. We can infer that ________

a. Kurt is not a very good player.
b. Jessica was pleased to have Kurt on her team.
c. Kurt was the best player on either team.
d. Jessica was inconsiderate of Kurt’s feelings.

There is one sentence in each of the following paragraphs that does not contribute to the main idea. It does not belong in the paragraph. Underline the sentence that should be removed from each paragraph.

 1. I am looking forward to election day. It’s fun to vote and exciting to watch the election results. I’ll be rooting for my candidate to win and enjoying the suspense if the vote is close. The following day will be a good time to play video games. No matter who wins, an election is a special occasion.

 2. April is beginning the lengthy process of choosing a college to attend. She is buying and reading guides to the best schools. She hasn’t completely ruled out working for a year before attending college. She’s checking out the many Websites that provide information for picking the right college or university. She’s even researching the climate of the area of every school she considers.

 3. Bill is one of those people who just doesn’t have to worry about gaining too much weight. He is the best tennis player I’ve ever met. Bill can eat any amount of any food he likes without putting on an ounce. He can go for weeks without exercising with no apparent effect. It just doesn’t seem fair!

 4. Scientists are learning a great deal about the aging process. This knowledge will allow doctors to help their patients live longer and better lives. They will be able to defeat diseases associated with aging and perhaps even delay the onset of old age. Many doctors would agree that some medicines are much too expensive.

How Television Has Changed

You really have to get very old before you realize you’re old. I’m in my middle fifties and I don’t feel old yet. However, sometimes I look back at my childhood and __1__ things to the way life is for __2__ kids. Some things have certainly changed.
One area of change is television. Some changes have been improvements. Some changes, on the other hand, have been __3__.
When I started school, most people didn’t have a television; TV was just beginning to get __4__. My father decided to go all out and buy a 16 inch black and white Motorola set. I still remember watching the Lone Ranger save people from the __5__ guys on that awesome electronic machine. That was exciting!
Now, __6__ have larger pictures in full color. The pictures are clearer and the sound is much more realistic. The new high definition sets are made to rival __7__ screens.
The variety and quantity of programming has __8__ greatly. There are hundreds of channels and more shows than one person could ever watch. There are many fine entertainment and educational __9__. There’s also a lot of garbage, stuff that most parents don’t want their kids exposed to. Overall, we have more choices, and that is good.
I wonder what __10__ will be like when today’s kids are my age.

Half-Truths

Beware of those who use the truth to deceive. When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important information that should be included, he can create a false impression.
For example, someone might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery. It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”
This guy’s a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought two hundred tickets, and only one was a winner. He’s really a big loser!
He didn’t say anything that was false, but he deliberately omitted important information. That’s called a half-truth. Half-truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest.
Untrustworthy candidates in political campaigns often use this tactic. Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs. Then she seeks another term. One of her opponents runs an ad saying, “During Governor Smith’s term, the sate lost one million jobs!” That’s true. However an honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs.”
Advertisers will sometimes use half-truths. It’s against the law to make false claims so they try to mislead you with the truth. An ad might boast, “Nine out of ten doctors recommend Yucky Pills to cure nose pimples.” It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Corporation.
This kind of deception happens too often. It’s a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well.

 1. Which statement is true according to the article?

a. Whenever people tell the truth, they are really lying.
b. You can’t trust gamblers.
c. All governors help their states.
d. The truth can be used in dishonest ways.

 2. What does “deceive” mean?

a. removing one’s teeth in public
b. ignore warnings
c. fool
d. repair

 3. What does “omitted” mean?

a. spent money
b. left out
c. told about
d. exposed

 4. The author clearly wants people to _________.

a. think carefully about what they read and hear
b. wear mismatched socks during political campaigns
c. never trust anyone
d. vote for female candidates

 5. Another appropriate title for this selection would be:

a. Natural Cat Food
b. Everyone Lies
c. Lying With the Truth
d. Nose Pimples