READING SKILLS

Here are some of the strategies you must use to deal successfully with the Reading Paper.

Scanning
What is meant by scanning?
Scanning is a fast reading technique. It's a way of reading to look for specific information in
a text. Scanning can be used to look up a phone number, read through the small ads in a
newspaper, or for browsing TV schedules, timetables, lists, catalogues or web pages for
information. For these tasks you don't need to read or understand every word. Scanning is
also useful when studying or looking to find specific information from a book or article
quickly as there is not always time to read every word.

Hints and tips for better scanning.

1. Don't try to read every word. Instead let your eyes move quickly across the page until
you find what you are looking for.

2. Use clues on the page, such as headings and titles, to help you.

3. In a dictionary or phone book, use the 'header' words to help you scan. You can find
these in bold type at the top of each page.

4. If you are reading for study, start by thinking up or writing down some questions that
you want to answer. Doing this can focus your mind and help you find the facts or
information that you need more easily.

5. Many texts use A-Z order. These include everyday materials such as the phone book and
indexes to books and catalogues.

6. There are many ways to practise scanning skills. Try looking up a favourite recipe in the
index of a cookbook, search for a plumber in your local Yellow Pages, or scan web pages
on the Internet to find specific information.
Exercise 1: Scanning for specific information

Read the following text quickly and answer the questions.

1. When were X-rays discovered?

2. Who discovered them?
3. What are the four characteristics of X-rays?

The Discovery of X-rays

Except for a brief description of the Compton Effect, and a few other remarks, we have postponed the
discussion of X-rays until the present chapter because it is particularly convenient to treat X-ray spectra
after treating optical spectra. Although this ordering may have given the reader a distorted impression
of the historical importance of X-rays, this impression will be corrected shortly as we describe the
crucial role played by X-rays in the development of modern physics.
X-rays were discovered in 1895 by Roentgen while studying the phenomena of gaseous discharge. Using
a cathode ray tube with a high voltage of several tens of kilovolts, he noticed that salts of barium would
fluoresce when brought near the tube, although nothing visible was emitted by the tube. This effect
persisted when the tube was wrapped with a layer of black cardboard. Roentgen soon established that
the agency responsible for the fluorescence originated at the point at which the stream of energetic
electrons struck the glass wall of the tube. Because of its unknown nature, he gave this agency the
name X-rays. He found that X-rays could manifest themselves by darkening wrapped photographic
plates, discharging charged electroscopes, as well as by causing fluorescence in a number of different
substances. He also found that X-rays can penetrate considerable thicknesses of materials of low atomic
number, whereas substances of high atomic number are relatively opaque. Roentgen took the first steps
in identifying the nature of X-rays by using a system of slits to show that (1) they travel in straight
lines, and that (2) they are uncharged, because they are not deflected by electric or magnetic fields.
The discovery of X-rays aroused the interest of all physicists, and many joined in the investigation of
their properties. In 1899 Haga and Wind performed a single slit diffraction experiment with X-rays
which showed that (3) X-rays are a wave motion phenomenon, and, from the size of the diffraction
pattern, their wavelength could be estimated to be 10-8 cm. In 1906 Barkla proved that (4) the waves are
transverse by showing that they can be polarized by scattering from many materials.
There is, of course, no longer anything unknown about the nature of X-rays. They are electromagnetic
radiation of exactly the same nature as visible light, except that their wavelength is several orders of
magnitude shorter. This conclusion follows from comparing properties 1 through 4 with the similar
properties of visible light, but it was actually postulated by Thomson several years before all these
properties were known. Thomson argued that X-rays are electromagnetic radiation because such
radiation would be expected to be emitted from the point at which the electrons strike the wall of a
cathode ray tube. At this point, the electrons suffer very violent accelerations in coming to a stop and,
according to classical electromagnetic theory; all accelerated charged particles emit electromagnetic
radiations. We shall see later that this explanation of the production of X-rays is at least partially correct.
In common with other electromagnetic radiations, X-rays exhibit particle-like aspects as well as wave-
like aspects. The reader will recall that the Compton Effect, which is one of the most convincing
demonstrations of the existence of quanta, was originally observed with electromagnetic radiation in
the X-ray region of wavelengths.
SKIMMING
What is skimming?

Skimming is a reading technique that can help you to:

read more quickly

decide if the text is interesting and whether you should read it in more detail

Skimming is a fast reading technique. Use it to obtain the gist of a piece of text (i.e. to
quickly identify the main ideas in the text).

How is 'skimming' different to 'scanning'?

The term skimming is often confused with scanning. Remember:

Skimming is used to obtain the gist (the overall sense) of a piece of text.
E.g. Use skimming to get the gist of a page of a textbook to decide whether it is useful and
should therefore be read more slowly and in more detail.
Scanning is used to obtain specific information from a piece of text.
E.g. Use scanning to find a particular number in a telephone directory.

Sometimes you can use both reading methods. After you have skimmed a piece of text to
decide whether the text is of interest, you may wish to use scanning techniques to locate
specific information.

How do you skim read?

Don't read the whole text word-for-word. Use as many clues as possible to give you some
background information. There might be pictures or images related to the topic, or an eye-
catching title. Let your eyes skim over the surface of the text and, whilst thinking about any
clues you have found about the subject, look out for key words.

Hints and tips for better skimming.

1. Read the title, subtitles and subheading to find out what the text is about.

2. Look at the illustrations to give you further information about the topic.

3. Read the first and last sentence of each paragraph.

4. Don't read every word or every sentence. Let you eyes skim over the text, taking in key
words.

5. Continue to think about the meaning of the text.

Exercise 2: Skimming for general information
Read the following text quickly and answer the questions.

London congestion charging

The charge was introduced on Monday 17 February 2003 to encourage people to leave
their cars behind and use public transport when travelling in central London. It was
introduced due to the high pollution levels and traffic congestion.

The Inner Ring Road forms the congestion zone boundary and includes roads such as
Marylebone Road, Euston Road, Park Lane and Edgware Road. Drivers can travel along
these roads without incurring the charge. Maps of this zone are published in the national
press and are available from a range of outlets as well as online.

Commuters have to pay £5 for each day they wish to travel through or within the charge
zone between the hours of 7.00am and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Commuters have a
choice about how they pay the £5. They can pay online, via the Internet, phoning, texting on
their mobile phones and over the counter at petrol stations and convenience stores.

Commuters also have a choice about how often they pay. They can pay daily, weekly,
monthly or annually.

Not everyone has to pay the £5. Those exempt include residents, emergency services,
registered-disabled drivers, taxis and those using alternative energy vehicles. These
people/organisations have to apply for exemption, which can be done online.

1 This article tells you about a charge that 4 This text is aimed at:
has been around since: o Businesses
o January 2003 o Students
o February 2003 o London residents
o March 2003 o Everyone
o April 2003
5 What type of text is this?
2 Is there more than one way to pay the o Descriptive
congestion charge? o Informative
o Yes o Instructive
o No - the method of payment depends o Persuasive
on where you live.
o No - everyone has to pay online
o Yes - but you cannot change your 6 This text does give information about:
preferred method of payment once you o The weather in London.
have chosen. o The days and times the Congestion
Charge applies
3 Does the article inform the reader about o The number of drivers who evade
why the charge was introduced? paying the charge each day
o Yes o The names of shops where you can get
o No Congestion Charge maps
Exercise 3: UNDERSTANDING READING STRATEGIES

A. Think about what approach you would use when reading in these different situation.
How would your way of reading be different in each situation?

1. looking for a location on a department store floor guide

2. looking at the front page of the newspaper on a bus, a few minutes
before your stop
3. reading a short story
4. assembling something using an instruction manual
5. choosing a holiday-read by looking at the back of a book.
6. looking at a sign in a foreign language

B. Now match these definitions to each of the situations above.

A. reading for gist

B. reading for the main points
C. reading for detailed understanding
D. reading for specific information
E. deducing meaning
F. following a narrative
 Answer key
Exercise 1 - Answers

Read the following text quickly and answer the questions.

1. When were X-rays discovered?

2. Who discovered them?
3. What are the four characteristics of X-rays?

1. 1895
2. Roentgen
3. 1. they travel in straight lines
2. they are uncharged
3. they are a wave motion phenomenon
4. the waves are transverse

Exercise 2 - Answers
1 The London Congestion Charge was introduced in February 2003. This is mentioned in the first
paragraph

2 The correct answer is yes, there is more than one way to pay. You can find the various methods
of payment in paragraph 3.

3 The correct answer is that yes the article does inform the reader about why the charge was
introduced. It says that it was due to 'high pollution levels and traffic congestion'.

4 The correct answer is everyone. The text is aimed at anyone who wants to know more about the
scheme.

5 This text is informative. Informative text wants to advise you, or tell you about something and it is
factual. Instructive text is something like a recipe - it tells you how to do something.

6 The right answer is 'the days and times the Congestion Charge applies'.

Exercise 3:
1. D 2. B 3. F 4. C 5. A 6. E