You will have a lot of reading to do in your grade this year. You can do more of it in less time if you learn to read rapidly.
Perhaps you have been told about some habits which keep a person from reading fast and have been strongly asked to break those habits which you might have.
Do you still have any of these bad habits? Check yourself by answering “yes” or “no” to these questions:
A. Do you move your lips when reading silently?
B. Do you point to those words with your fingers as you read?
C. Do move your head from side to side as you read?
D. Do you read one word at a time?
If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, start at once to break the habit. If you move your lips, hold your fingers over them, or hold a piece of paper between your lips while you are reading. Then if your lips move, you will know it and stop them moving.
If you point to words, hold the two sides of your book, one side with your left hand, the other side with your right hand. Then you won’t have a free finger to use in pointing while reading. If you move your head, place your chin in one hand, and hold your head still.
If you read no more than one or two or three words at time, you need to work very hard in learning to take in more words at each glance when your eyes are traveling across the lines of words.
Even if you do read fairly fast now, you can learn to read even faster. As you probably have been told, the secret of fast reading is to take in whole groups of words at each glance. Read in groups and force your eyes along the lines of words as fast as you can make them go. Anyone who practices doing these two things will be able to read faster.
1. You ____those habits that we are talking about in reading if you want to read fast.
A. must remember B. must get rid of C. must have D. must keep
2. You may hold your finger over your lips while reading so as _____.
A. to hold a piece of paper between them B. to keep yourself from talking to others
C. to tell others to be silent D. to feel whether your lips move or not
3. When your eyes travel across the lines of words, ____.
A. you need to read the words out B. you need look at every word carefully
C. you need to read several words at a time D. you need to remember every word
4. When you read, ____.
A. don’t use your finger to point to the words
B. don’t hold your books with your hands
C. don’t keep your head still
D. do all of the things mentioned in A, B and C
5. If you can read fairly fast now, ____.
A. you don’t need to learn to read faster B. you can go on reading like that
C. you can learn to read even faster D. you can enjoy reading