Principles of Reading Comprehension

To comprehend a reading passage, you should be able how to find and decide the topic, to find idea of the topic and what are purposes of discussing the topic. In this part you will study these things that are mentioned above.

A. Main Idea

• Main idea tells you more about the topic, and also tells the writer's idea about the topic. The main idea is the essence of the paragraph, or what the author is trying to get across to the reader.
• Main idea is often found in the first sentence in a paragraph followed by supporting details. But some authors prefer to give the supporting details first end with the main idea. Others give some detail, the main idea, and then more detail.
• Since the main idea could be found anywhere In the paragraph, a reader should have a plan to facilitate finding the main idea.

Read the following sentence carefully.
Example:
Topic: Whales
What are three different ideas about the whales ?
a. Whales are aquatic animals
b. Whales live In Atlantic ocean.
c. Whales are killed for their oil.

1. Topic: Sport
Write three different ideas about sport.
a. ------------------------------------------------------
b. ------------------------------------------------------
c. ------------------------------------------------------

2. Topic: Education
Write three different Ideas about education.
a. ------------------------------------------------------
b. ------------------------------------------------------
c. ------------------------------------------------------

3. Topic: Language
Write three different ideas about language.
a. ------------------------------------------------------
b. ------------------------------------------------------
c. ------------------------------------------------------

4. Topic: Teacher
Write three different Ideas about teacher.
a. ------------------------------------------------------
b. ------------------------------------------------------
c. ------------------------------------------------------

5. Topic: Science
Write three different Ideas about Science.
a. ------------------------------------------------------
b. ------------------------------------------------------
c. ------------------------------------------------------

B. Scanning
• When you need to locate specific information, you might not read carefully or even skim. Instead, you might be able to scan to find the information needed. For instance if you need a telephone number of a friend whose name begins with B, you would not need to carefully read all the names in the directory or even all B’s to locate the number.
• Scanning is not a reading process in the true sense of the word. It is a searching and floating material until you find that you need. Then you stop and reads as much as necessary in order to answer your question .
• In order to scan efficiently, you should have a clear Idea of what you are looking for, where you are likely to find it, and how you can recognize the information when you see it. If you are looking for a name, for example, capital letters might be yours clue; if you are looking for a date, your need will not always be contained in one or two words. In this case, you should scan until you can locate the information, and then you read until you have all the information you are seeking.

Examples:
Saturday with Grandpa
Saturday is our day to clean, but Grandpa turns work into fun.
We like to sing when we dust. We like to dance when we mop. We clean the car together. We do the wash together. We both wear our caps.
When we are done, we hurry to the store. We shop for food. Grandpa lets me pick the fruits that I like best. We carry the food home. Grandpa tells stories while we walk.
At night, our work is done. Friends come over. We cook dinner. We sing and dance.
Saturday is our day to clean, but Grandpa turns work into fun!
Answer the following questions by the reading text above:
1. What happens in "Saturday with Grandpa"?
2. What do the boy and his grandpa both wear while they clean?
3. What does hurry mean?


C. Skimming
• Skimming is a technique for speed reading.
• Skimming is a technique used to look for the ‘gist’ (the main point) of what the author saying without a lot of detail.
• This is used if you only want a preview or an overview the material.
• In preview Skimming one reads the introductory information, the headings and subheadings, and the summary.
• Another method would be to read only key words or key sentences. Skimming is a technique for speed reading.
Suggestion for underlining effectively:
A. Skimming for point of view
Read these sentences quickly and try to guess “is the writer for or against the idea ?
Examples:
1. Candy is not good for your teeth. It is especially bad for children’s teeth. If children eat a lot of candy, they will have problems later.
For _____________ Against _____________
2. Dogs are often a problem at home. Many dogs are noisy and dirty. They may even be dangerous for small children.
For _____________ Against _______________
3. An apartment looks much nicer with some plants. The green leaves make it seem cooler in summer. The flowers give it a happy feeling.
For _____________ Against _______________

B. Skimming for pattern of organization
Read the signal words and it wii tell you about the pattern.
Examples:
1. The book has a lot of information about Poland. First it tells about the history. It also explains how to travel around the country. And finally, it lists some interesting places to visit.
________ listing __________ time-order
________ comparison __________ cause-effect
2. A whale eats a lot of ocean food every day. That is because it is a very large animal.
________ listing __________ time-order
________ comparison __________ cause-effect
3. The Spanish kings and queens sent many people to find out about America. Christoper Colombus was one of these people. Ponce de Leon was another. And Vasco da Gama was yet a third.
________ listing __________ time-order
________ comparison __________ cause-effect

C. Skimming for ideas
Example:
Murder in the Language Lab
By M.L.Allen
This book is an unusual detective story. It begins with a crime, a murder. A scientist is killed in a laboratory. But no one knows who killed the scientist. Inspector Barker is the detective. He must find the killer, but he needs help.
He gets help from Sally, sally is a chimpanzee. She lives in the laboratory. In this laboratory, scientists are studying language. They are interested in how animals like Sally can learn some language. Sally is very smart chimpanzee. She cannot talk, but she can understand many words. She can answer questions by using a computer. Sally saw the murder. She is afraid of Inspector Barker at first. But she wants to help. So, she tells Inspector Barker who the murder is.
If you like detective stories, you will enjoy this one. But you probably will not able to guess who the murder is!

Choose the correct answer!
1. This Story is
a. full of information
b. sad
c. fun to read
d. difficult to read
2. Inspector Barker
a. finds the murder himself
b. never finds the murder
c. is studying language
d. gets help from a chimpanzee
3. Sally is
a. a scientist
b. a very smart animal
c. not very smart animal
d. a murder