rapid reading.doc

Are You Reading as Many Books as You Would Like? Do you read as much as youd like, or as many as youd like of the books youre interested in? Are you aware that the time spent on todays reading prevents you from reading something else? Life is one of choices?make sure your choices take you in the direction you wish to go. My biggest recommendation (建议) to increase your reading rate is to attend a rapid reading course (sometimes called speed reading), but the single most important element is the on-going practice. If you want to try a few techniques on your own, here are a few key pointers, but you really need to attend a course to be pushed to significantly higher levels of competency, because only an external person can push you past the comfort zone of your eyes, your brain, and your current beliefs about your abilities. Some Rapid-reading Keys: Read with purpose. Dont read things you wont remember, and dont waste time reading things that wont further you in any way. However, many people read mindlessly, just because its there! You should start with the end in mind. Have an expectation of success. See yourself reading at great speed. Fill your mind with a positive expectation of great deeds. Feel and imagine the power of the rapid flow of information into your mind. And hear the rapid flow of words just pouring into your brain. Preview and review the book. You can do it by scanning contents and other information at the front, as well as the back. Sit upright and hold the book at a comfortable position. Have good overhead light, fresh air, plenty of water, and a comfortable temperature. Use a visual guide. You may usually use your finger, or sometimes two fingers, which depends on the size of the print. This is where the training by an instructor is really useful (they wont let you get away with bad habits, and they push you beyond your comfort level). One of the key elements of rapid reading is to use our finger at a very fast rate, running it down the page. We dont need to read every word in order to comprehend (理解) and keep the information. All we need is a large amount of text, and the sense is gathered at lightening speed. Speed training. Go as fast as your hand can turn the pages, and dont worry that there seems to be practically no comprehension at this stage. The key is to extend the eyes capacity to absorb, and to strengthen your minds belief that it can be done. Two hands are needed. With one hand run a finger down the page as fast as you can. At first youll notice an occasional word or phrase will jump out at you, but not much else. Thats finecomprehension is not the goal at this stage. With the other hand, turn the pages as fast as you can go. Set a daily target for yourselfit might be to race through a thick book that youre interested to read. It might be to practice for a specified amount of time. Practice, practice, and practice. Magazines and newspapers are great to practice on. The columns (栏目) are thin, which helps you go even faster. Comprehension. You may think youre not absorbing much, but try this test. Choose a book you want to read. Each time you pick it up to read in your old style, first do the rapid run described above. Youll notice when you come to read in your slow way that in fact you already know, and can remember having seen, most of the key concepts. We call this a conscious convincer. Your subconscious needs reassurance (安心) that nothing is being lost, and that you have absorbed the information you need. Coupled with the rapid preview, if you do wish to read slower, do it with a highlighter in your hand. Your ability to keep the material will be greatly enhanced, for you will have visited the information several times. You may still wish to read at a slower speed for enjoyment, or because you need to really absorb every word of an author for study purposes, but if every day you practice this technique, suddenly youll find you really are reading and absorbing at a much faster rate. 1.What can we know about life? _A. Life is about reading.B. Life is about choices.C. Life is about wishes.D. Life is about directions.2.What is the most important element in speed reading? _A. Your comfort zone.B. A level of competency.C. Practice that doesnt stop.D. Ones reading rate.3.From the fourth paragraph we know when we read, _.A. we should start reading with a purpose in mindB. we should take time reading something which you wont rememberC. we should read something near at hand because it is convenientD. we should start at the end of the book to know the purpose4.How can we preview and review the book? _A. Sit upright and hold the book at a comfortable position.B. Have good overhead light and fresh air.C. Have plenty of water, and a comfortable temperature.D. Glance at contents and other information at the front and the back.5.When we use our finger as a visual guide in rapid reading, its very crucial that _.A. we take our time and have a full comprehensionB. we run our finger down the page very fastC. we read every word on the page to keep the informationD. we gather the sense of the passage light-heartedly6.In speed reading, the finger of one hand runs down the page, and the other hand _.A. turns the pages quicklyB. guides the eyes to absorbC. runs down the page tooD. marks the occasional word or phrase7.We should _.A. read newspapers and magazines every dayB. finish reading a thick book every dayC. plan a daily objective of reading for ourselvesD. read newspaper columns daily8.Reading a book quickly and then checking your comprehension by reading slowly is called .9.We will greatly strengthen our ability to keep the information, as we will several times.10.You might want to read slowly for study purposes or .Questions 11 to 20 are based on the same passage or dialog.The King, the Servant, and the 99 Club Some time ago, there lived a king. This king should have been contented with his life, given all the riches he had. However, this was not the case! The king was not content with life at all, and he spent all his time wondering why. One day, the king woke up earlier than usual to take a leisurely walk around his palace. He came to a stop when he heard someone happily singing away. He followed the sound until he discovered where it was coming from. As it turned out, one of the servants was singing, and this servant had a very contented look on his face. This attracted the king greatly and he called this man to his room. The man entered the kings room as ordered. The king asked why he was so happy. To this the man replied, Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but I make enough of a living to keep my wife and children happy. We dont need anything more than a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our stomach. My wife and children are content with the little money and food I bring home. And I am happy because my family is happy. Hearing this, the king let the servant leave and called his personal assistant to his room. The king told him about his sadness and about the happiness of the servant, hoping that somehow, he would be able to explain why a king, who could have anything he wished for, was not happy, whereas his servant, who had so little, was greatly contented. The personal assistant listened carefully and came to this conclusion: Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of the 99 Club. The 99 Club? And what exactly is that? the king asked. The Assistant replied, Your Majesty, to truly know what the 99 Club is, you will have to do the following: Place 99 gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servants doorstep. You will then understand what the 99 Club is. That very same evening, the king arranged for 99 gold coins to be placed in a bag at the servants doorstep. The servant was just stepping out of his house when he saw the bag. He then took it to a table and emptied it out so he could count the coins. Doing so, he realized that there were 99 coins and he thought it was an odd number so he counted again, and again and again, only to come to the same amountD99 gold coins. He began to wonder, what could have happened to that last coin? He couldnt imagine that anyone would leave 99 coins. He began to search his entire house, looked around his backyard for hours, not wanting to lose out on that one coin. Finally, tired out, he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to make up for that one gold coin and make his entire collection an even 100 gold coins. He got up the next morning and began the day by shouting at his children and his wife for letting him sleep too late, though in fact it was not their fault. Actually, he had spent most of the night imagining ways of working hard so that he would have enough money to buy himself that gold coin. He went to work as usual but did not feel happy as he usually did. Instead of singing happily while he did his work, he did everything very angrily. Seeing the mans attitude change so violently, the king was confused. He could not believe that the servant, who until yesterday had been singing away happy and content with his life, could have such a sudden change in behavior, and when he should have been happier after receiving the gold coins. To this, the assistant replied, Ah! But your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined the 99 Club. He explained, the 99 Club is just a name given to those people who have a lot but are never contented. They are not pleased with what they have, but are angry because of what they do not have. We have so much to be thankful for, and we can live with very little in our lives, but the minute we are given something bigger and better, we want even more! By wanting more and more we dont realize the price we pay for it. We lose sleep and happiness. Hurting the people around us is another price we pay for our growing needs and desires. That is what joining the 99 Club is all about. Having heard this, the king learned a lesson about life and decided that from that day onwards, he was going to start appreciating all the little things in life. 11.The king wondered why _.A. he had so many richesB. he gave away his richesC. he contented himself with lifeD. he was unhappy with life12.One day when the king walked around his palace, he _.A. caught someone stealingB.