Page 114 - DENG102_COMMUNICATION_SKILLS_II

Unit 7: Comprehension and Quick Reading of Texts

5. From the letter it appears that the local authorities of Vladivostok ... notes
(a) have a tradition of helping out local industries in difficult times

(b) have a bad record of giving help when it is needed
(c) have already responded positively to recent SOS messages from Vladkhleb
(d) were the first to subsidize the bread industry a few months ago

7.2 Quick reading

Quick reading is a collection of reading methods which attempt to increase rates of reading
without greatly reducing comprehension or retention.
Each type of reading has a different speed; an exciting novel is read quickly than a text in
biology.

Speed of reading textbooks vary in terms of how well they are written; as a consequence some
are more difficult to read.
Each semester, time yourself reading a chapter in each of your text books. See how many pages
you can read in an hour. Once you have an accurate estimate of your reading rate, you can better
plan your reading and studying time.
In order to assess your reading speed and make you conscious of the problems that you may be
encountering at the level of speed, you can try this exercise—using your wrist watch, find out
how much time it takes you to read this story:

l In a cursory and fast reading
l At a medium pace, without stopping to sort out difficulties
l At a slow pace, when you stop to understand all the difficulties

the Donkey

There was not a breath of air stirring; a heavy mist was lying over the river. It was like a layer of
cotton placed on the water. The banks themselves were indistinct, hidden behind strange fogs.
But day was breaking and the hill was becoming visible. In the dawning light of day, the plaster
houses began to appear like white spots. Cocks were crowing in the barnyard.
On the other side of the river, hidden behind the fogs, just opposite Frette, a slight noise from
time to time broke the dead silence of the quiet morning. At times it was an indistinct splashing,
like the cautious advance of a boat, then again a sharp noise like the rattle of an oar and then the
sound of something dropping in the water. Then silence.
Sometimes whispered words, coming perhaps from a distance, perhaps from quite near, pierced
through these opaque mists. They passed by like wild birds which have slept in the rushes and
which fly away at the first light of day, crossing the mist and uttering a low and timid sound
which wakes their brothers along the shores.
Suddenly along the bank, near the village, a barely perceptible shadow appeared on the water.
Then it grew, became more distinct and, coming out of the foggy curtain which hung over the
river, a flatboat, manned by two men, pushed up on the grass.
The one who was rowing rose and took a pailful of fish from the bottom of the boat, then he threw
the dripping net over his shoulder. His companion, who had not made a motion, exclaimed:
“Say, Mailloche, get your gun and see if we can’t land some rabbit along the shore.”

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