如何提高大学英语四级阅读技巧

如何提高大学英语四级阅读技巧【摘要】阅读理解是英语四种基本技能中的最重要的一种。阅读能力的培养又是大学英语教学的重点所在。大学英语四级考试中的阅读理解是对考生语言能力综合运用的一种检验。本论文主要探讨了英语四级的阅读部分，列举了阅读题选材的内容，阅读当中的妨碍阅读理解和阅读速度的因素，同时详细介绍了skimming和scanning的策略，进而提及背景知识在应试技巧中的重要性，此外，本文在分析几例考题的基础上提出相应的应试策略以提高学生的阅读能力和应试能力。

【关键词】大学四级；阅读理解；词汇；相应策略；阅读速度

Introduction

Whenatestistobegiventotesttaker,thetestmakersshouldconsideritsvalidity,andthevaliditynowhavetwoaspects:contentvalidityandconstructvalidity.Thecontentofatestconstitutesarepresentativesampleoflanguageskillbymentioningvalidity,andsuchvaliditydependonthepurposeofatest.Ifatestistooeasy,toodifficulttomosttesttakersortheylackthebackgroundofthetestingmaterial,itisnotvalid.Thatis,thepurposeiftestandtestingprinciplesaswellasspecificinstructionstoacertaintestdeterminesthevalidityofthetests.[1]R44

Today,theprincipleoftestingcompliesbytheCETtestcenterarevitaltotheteachersofEnglishandthestudentsintendingtotakesuchtests,whichdeterminethevalidityoftheCETteststhemselvesandhaveaguidetoEnglishteachingandstudying.ThispaperisabouttheCET-4readingsection,itconcludesprinciples,purposes,andtestingabilityandhowtheyareembodiedinthereadingsection.

InCET-4(collegeEnglishtestBand4),readingcomprehensiontestshouldbefinishedwithinalimitedtime(35minutes).CET—4isheldtwiceayearinthewholecountry.Thereadingsectioncontains4shortpassageswithfivemultiple-choicequestions,amountto20questions.The20questionsaredividedintotwoparts,accordingtothetypeofcorrectanswer:directquestionsandindirectquestions.Therefore,thethreereadingachievementsareobtainedasdependentvariables:

A.Thewholeachievementofthewholereadingcomprehensiontest;

B.Indirect–questionachievement;

C.Direct-questionsachievement;

1Principle

FromtheCET—4modeltest(readingsection),wecanseethatthestudentshouldfinishthefourpassagesin35minutes(thespeedofreadingisabout70wordseveryminutes),itincluding5questionsineachpassage.Soonaveragethestudentshouldreadeachpassageandchoosetherightanswerin8—9minutesthroughthinkingandreasoning.R19

“(1)Thecontentofreadingmaterialsisaboutbiography,society,culture,commonsense,andnaturalscienceandtheconcernedbackgroundknowledgeisnotbeyondthestudent’sreachofcomprehension.

(2)Thetypeoftestisvarious,includingstories,expositions,andargumentations,etc.

(3)ThedegreeofdifficultyismildandthewordsarewithinChinesemeaningwhichhassomeinfluenceonthesentenceandpassagecomprehension.”R45

2.Purpose

Thepurposeofthereadingsectionisdesignedtoteststudent’sabilities,asfollowing;

(1)Togetthegistofreadingpassage;

(2)Togettheinformationofdetailsofthepassageandtheexampleofsupportingthegist;

(3)Tounderstandtheliteralmeaningandmakeinferenceaccordingtothereadingpassages;

(4)Judgethemeaningofsomewordsandphrasesthroughcontest;

(5)Tounderstandspecificsentencesaswellasthelogicrelationsofthecontext;

(6)Followtheauthor’sopinionandattitude;R46

Therearethreedifferentlevelsinthereadingtest:

(1)Thefirstlevel,studentsmayuseskimmingandscanningtofindthedetailsorthemainideasinthepassageaccordingtothequestions,thisisthebasicrequirement,anditiseasyforstudentstogettheaccuratedeductions.

(2)Thesecondlevel,studentcancatchthekeywordsandtherelatedwordstoreasontheimpliedstatementandmakesomedeductions.Thistypeofrequirementismoredifficultthanthefirstlevel,thestudentsthemselvesshoulddrawtheconclusionfromthepassage,andtheycannotfindtheanswerdirectlyfromthepassage.

(3)Thethirdlevelisthemostdifficultquestionsforstudents,studentsareaskedtodrawlogicalconclusionfromthereadingpassage,theyshouldconsidermoreinformationinthepassage,butthesedifferentlevelsofquestionshavenotthesameproportioninthetest,itcanexpressedwiththefigurebelow:R46

3.Vocabulary-obstacleandsolution

Vocabulary:

VocabularyisthemainpartinEnglishlearning.One’sEnglishleveldependsonone’svocabulary.Manystudentscomplainthattheydonotunderstandwhattheyarereading.Itisnottheproblemofgrammarbutvocabulary,indeedwealmosthavelearnedgrammarinhighschool.Whatshouldwelearnthen?—Vocabulary.Ifonehasthesmallvocabulary,itisdifficultforhimtodotheEnglishreading.AndforeverystudentinEnglishdepartment,themostdifficultprobleminreadingisvocabulary.

TherewordsinEnglishWordsareconstantlybeingchanged.Ithasbeen

Provedthatthereader’sinadequatestoreofvocabularyandmisuseofwordshasgreatlyaffectedtheirreadingefficiency.Tobeanefficientreader,youwillneedtoknowalotofwords.Theycanstorethenewwordsdependonthedictionaryorguessingthemeaningofthewordsthroughthevocabularybuildingforms,suchasroot,prefix,suffix.

Solution

ItisnecessaryforEnglishlearnertohaveawell-designeddictionary.EspeciallyhavinganEnglish-Englishdictionary,buthowtouseitefficiently?Therearesomebasicpointsthestudentscanfollowwhenusingthedictionary;

(1)TrytouseyourEnglish-Englishdictionaryfirstwhenyouneedtolookupaword,onlyuseyourbilingualdictionaryifyouhaveto.

(2)Don’tlookupeverywordyoudon’tunderstand,onlylookupthewordswhichinterferewithyourcomprehension.

(3)Alwaystrytoguesswhatthemeaningofawordisbeforelookingup.

(4)Wheneveryoucomecrossanewwordinapassage,don’timmediatelystoptolookitupinthedictionary,thiscankillyourinterestandeveninterferewithyourcomprehension,becauseyouaresoconcernedwiththeindividualwordsthatyouarelessawareofthecontentwhichgivesthemmeaning.

(5)Mostwordsinthedictionaryhavemultiplemeaning,whenusingyourdictionary,youmustbeverycarefultoselectmeaningappropriatetothecontentinwhichyouhavefoundthewordsthatyouarelookingup.R62

.Inaword,usingadictionaryproperly,thestudentswillstorealargeamountofwordsthroughlookingupthedictionary.

.

Wordbuildingform

Root

AsweknowEnglishwordsderivedfromLatinandGreek.“Formanycenturies,LatinandGreekservedasinternationallanguagesinreligion,scienceandeducation.ThemodernscientistsorinventorsoftendrawonLatinorGreekrootwordsandusetheminnewcombinations.”R101Sowecanguessthemeaningofawordfromtherootforexample:

“Forexample:

(i)act(做，行为)----(ii)Audi(听)

actionn.行为，动作;audiencen.听众;

enactvt.制定扮演;auditoriumn.礼堂，讲堂

(iii)Bio(生命)

biologyn.生物学;

antibioticadj.抗生素的

Prefixes

studytheprefixhelpusunderstandandrememberwords,manywordsderivedfromLatinandGreekconsistofafamiliarrootandacommonprefix.aprefixisasyllable(orsometimestwosyllables)attachedatthebeginningofaword,forexample:

(i)表示“one”mono--,mon—(ii)表示“two”di—

monocyclen.单轮车;diaatomicadj:双原子的

monotonen.单调，无变dioxiden二氧化物

(iii)表示out/without/ex--

exitn.出口;

expensen.费用支出

Suffixes

Somewordsconsistofafamiliarrootandacommonsuffix.asuffixisasyllable(orsometimesservedsyllables)attachedattheendofawordtoaddsomethingtoitsmeaning,forexample:

(i)an(--ian,--en)表示行力者(ii)active表示主动的

history—historian历史学家;act—active活跃的；

music---musician音乐家invent---inventive有发明才能的

(iii)able(--idle)表示被动的

eat—eatable可食的;

move—movable可移动的R641-661

Ifstudentsknowanumberofcommonlyprefixes,rootsandsuffixes,theywilleasilyguessthemeaningofnewwordsintheirreading.

4.Readingspeed

TheunknownwordinCET-4passageisnottheonlyoneoftheessentialfactorsthathinderreadingcomprehension.Studentsshouldfinishthequestionsinasettime,sothespeedofreadingistheotherfactorthatinfluencesthetestingachievement.Therearetwobasicreadingskills(skimmingandscanning),theyarequiteoftenusedinreading.

Skimmingandscanning

Generallyspeaking,readersreadthematerialatthefirsttimetogetageneralimpressionofthetest(thefirstreadingiscalledskimming)andasecondtimeinordertofindtheimportantdetailsinthetest(thesecondreadingiscalledscanning).R68

Skimmingmeansthatapersoncanaccomplishatthefastestspeed.Itisusedwhenareaderwishestogetthegeneralexpressionquickly.Skimmingisdifferentfromaveragereading.Thestudentsleaveoutofthereadingmaterialandhaveclearideas.Skimmingrequiresthatreadersselectivelyomitsomepartsofthereadingmaterial.whenreadersskim,theyneedtogetthemainidea,butnotallofthedetailsoftheinformation.Skimmingisaveryusefulskill.Itwillhelpreadershaveabetterunderstandonthetopicinasettimeandhelpthemdothereadingbetter.

Scanningisanotherusefulskill,itisthetermusedtodescribeareadingprocessinwhichwearesearchingforcertainfactorsorinformation.Whenstudentsdoquestionsinreadingsection,theycancatchthekeywordinthequestionsandscanthespecificinformationinthepassage,andanswerthequestion.[10]R66-67

WhetherreadersscanorskimdependsonwhatkindoftexttheyarefacingintheCET—4.Inordertoimprovethespeedofreading,sometimesreaderscanusethistwomethodstogetherandpracticethemselvestobeanefficientreaderandsavethetimeinthetest.

Step

Therearetwodifferentprocedurestofinishthereadingcomprehension:

(1)Readthewholepassage,thenstartansweringquestions,studentsmayskimthematerialsfirstandgetanoverallunderstandingofthematerials.Thedisadvantageofthismethodisthelackofclearpurpose,becausestudentsdonotpaymuchattentiontosomedetailswhentheyarereadingquickly.

(2)Gooverthequestionsquicklyandthenreadthewholepassagewiththesequestions.Thepurposeisclearanditislikelytosavetime,butbecauseofthelackofcomprehensionofthewholepassageitishardtogetthecorrectinformation.[11]R36

5.Themaintypesofquestionsandcountermeasures

Sometypesoftestinreadingcomprehensionisstandardandrelativelystable.Thispartincludesmainideas,inference(reasoning),judgment,vocabulary,paragraphofsentence,etc.

Howtojudgethetopicsentence

1)“thetopicsentencegeneralizesmoreinformationthananyothersentenceinthepassage

2)theauthorrepeatstheideaorthekeywords

3)somewordsinfertheinformationsuchas:inshort,resultin,.consequently,since,as,therefore,thus,but,however,Isuggest/thing/believe----,theconclusiontobedrawisobvious,etc.”[12]R43

Herearesomeexamplesfromformaltests:

Example:(fromCET-42001,1)

Formaldehyde(甲醛)gasinherkitchenwastwicethemaximumPriscillaOuchida‘s"energyefficient"houseturnedouttobeahorribledream.Whensheandherengineerhusbandmarriedafewyearsago,theybuilta$100,000,three-bedroomhomeinCalifornia.Tightlysealedtopreventairleaks,thehousewasequippedwithsmalldouble|paned(双层玻璃的)windowsandseveralotherenergysavingfeatures.Problemsbeganassoonasthecouplemovedin,however.Priscilla‘seyesburned.Herthroatwasconstantlydry.Shesufferedfromheadachesandcouldhardlysleep.Itwasasthoughshehadsuddenlydevelopedastrangeillness.

Expertsfinallytracedthecauseofherillness.Thelevelofallowedbyfederalstandardsforchemicalworkers.Thesourceofthegas?Hernewkitchencabinetsandwall|to|wallcarpeting.

……

Theproblemappearstobemoretroublesomeinnewlyconstructedhomesratherthanoldones.Backinthedayswhenenergywascheap,homebuildersdidn‘tworrymuchaboutunsealedcracks.Becauseofsuchleaks,theairinanaveragehomewasreplacedbyfreshoutdoorairaboutonceanhour.Asaresult,thepollutantsgeneratedinmosthouseholdsseldombuiltuptodangerouslevels.

Question:Thispassageismostprobablytakenfromanarticleentitled–

A.Energyconservation

B.Housebuildingcrisis

C.Airpollutionindoors

D.Trapsinbuildingconstruction

TheanswerisC.Generallyspeakingtherepeatedkeywordsalwaysshowthemainideaofthepassage,skimmingthepassagewecangetsomewordsrelatedtothedisease:

Suchas“eyeburned”,“throat…dry”“headache…couldhardlysleep”and“strangeillness”while“formaldehydegasinthekitchen,Wecanknowthatthisisthecauseofdiseaseaccordingtothecommonsenseandthefollowingparagraphoftenappears“indoorairpollution”“indoorenvironment”“apollutionscientist”andthe“thepollutions”somanywordsrelatedtoword“pollutionindoor”throughoutthewholepassage,sointhearticlethetopicsentenceis“airpollutingindoors”

Thistypeofquestion,themainideaofisthemostimportantcluetoanswerthequestion.Studentsshouldcatchthemainideaofthewholepassageandconcludetheinformationaccordingtotherepeatedkeywordsandmeanwhilepracticetheabilityofgeneralization.

Sentence—paragraphtype

Thisparttestswhetherastudentcanunderstandthecorrectmeaningofasentencethroughcontext.Followingquestionsisoftenadopted:

Thesentence“…”(Line…)meansthat…

Thesentence“…”implies?

Whatdoesthesentence“…”mean?

Thesentence“…”canbeparaphrasedas…

Thisofthefollowingisclosestinmeaningtothesentence“…?”

Example:(fromCET-42002,1)

ForanincreasingnumberofstudentsatAmericanuniversities,Oldissuddenlyin.Thereasonisobvious:thegrayingofAmericameansjobs.Coupledwiththeagingofthebaby-boom(生育高峰)generation,alongerlifespanmeansthatthenation‘selderlypopulationisboundtoexpandsignificantlyoverthenext50years.By2050,25percentofallAmericanswillbeolderthan65,upfrom14percentin1995.Thechangeposesprofoundquestionsforgovernmentandsociety,ofcourse.Butitalsocreatescareeropportunitiesinmedicineandhealthprofessionsandinlawandbusinessaswell."Inadditiontothedoctors,we‘regoingtoneedmoresociologists,biologists,urbanplannersandspecializedlawyers,"saysProfessorEdwardSchneideroftheUniversityofSouthernCalifornia‘s(USC)SchoolofGerontology(老年学).

……

Question:“…oldissuddenlyin”(line1,Paragrah1)mostprobablymeans“---“

AAmericanhassuddenlybecomeanationofoldpeople

Bgerontologyhassuddenlybecomepopular

CmoreelderlyprofessorsarefoundonAmericancampuses

Dwinningthetrustoftheelderlytopromotetheirowninterests.

TheanswerisB,Astothistypeofquestionwecangetthecluefrom(line3,paragraph1)

“Couplewiththeagingofthebaby–boom(生育高峰)generation,alongerlifespanmeansthatthenation’selderpopulationisboundtoexpandsignificantlyovertheneat50years”SofromthissentenceweknowthatAmericanoldpopulationhassuddenlyincreased.Thistypeofquestion,wecangetitscluearoundthesentence,andfindmoresupportingideas.

Main—ideatype

Eachpassagehasitscentralidea.Theexpressionstodecidemainideasareasfollowing:

Themainideaofthepassageis…...

Thepassagedealsmainlywith……

Thetitlewhichbestexpressestheideaofthepassageis……

Themainideaofthepassagemaybebestexpressas……

Thepassageismainlyconcernedwith….Thepassageillustrates……

Whatisthemainidea/subject/purpose/topicofthepassage?

Thepassageisabout……

Theauthor’spurposeinwritingthispassageis…

Theparagraphcouldbeentitled…

Whichofthefollowingbestsumsupthewholepassage?

Thereareseveraltestingitems:

Example:(fromCET-4,2002,6)

Mostepisodesofabsent-mindedness—forgettingwhereyouleftsomethingorwonderingwhyyoujustenteredaroom-arecausedbyasimplelackofattentionsaysSchacter.“You’resupposedtoremembersomethingbutyouhaven’tencodeditdeeply.”

……

Visualcuescanhelppreventabsent-mindednesssaysSchacter.“Butbesurethecueisclearandavailable”hecautions.Ifyouwanttoremembertotakeamedication(药物)withlunchputthepillbottleonthekitchentable—don’tleaveitinthemedicinechestandwriteyourselfanotethatyoukeepinapocket.

Anothercommonepisodeofabsent-mindednesswalkingintoaroomandwonderingwhyyou’rethere.Mostlikelyyouwerethinkingaboutsomethingelse.“Everyonedoesthisfromtimetotime”saysZelinski.Thebestthingtodoistoreturntowhereyouwerebeforeenteringtheroomandyou’lllikelyremember.

Question:Whatisthepassagemainlyabout?

Atheprocessofgradualmemoryloss

Bthecauseofabsent---mindedness

Ctheimpactoftheenvironmentonmemory

Dawayofencodingandrecalling

TheanswerisB,thisisthemainideatype;thefirstsentenceismainideaofthepassage

“Mostepisodesofabsent—mindedness–forgettingwhereyouleftsomethingorwonderingwhyyoujustenteredaroomarecausedbyasimplelackofattention,saysSchacter,‘Youaresupposetoremembersomething,butyouhavenotencodeitdeeply’"“soitissoeasytocatchtheanswerBifwefindthetopicsentence.Buttopicsentencedoesn’talwaysappearinthefirstsentenceinthepassage.Sometimesitappearsintheendofthepassageorinthemiddleofthepassage,evensomepassagehasn’tthetopicsentence.Sounderthiscondition,thestudentshouldtheconcludethetopicsentencebyhimselfaccordingtocontentofthepassage.

Vocabularytype

Thistypemainlytestsstudent’sabilitytoguessthemeaningofacertainwordinspecialcontext,and.studentsshouldhavealargevocabulary,butthatisnotenough,theyshouldlearntousesomemoremethodstoinfer:

AToinferthroughcontext

BToinferthroughanalogy

CToinferthroughwordformation

Aaveragepatternsareasfollowing:

Inline…,theword“…”means…

Theword“…”inthepassagemeans…

Theword“…”(Line)couldbestbereplacedby…

Whichofthefollowingpairsaresynonyms?

Asusedinthepassage,thephrase“…”suggest…

Theexpression“…”iscloseto…

Thedefinition“…”appliestowhatkeywordinthepassage?

Thepassageusedtheword“…”toreferto…

Theword“…”issupposedtomakeonethink…

Whichofthefollowinghastheclosestmeaningto…?

Example:(fromCET-42003,1)

Newtechnologylinkstheworldasneverbefore.Ourplanethasshrunk.It’snowa“globalvillage”wherecountriesareonlysecondsawaybyfaxorphoneorsatellitelink.And.ofcourse,ourabilitytobenefitfromthishigh-techcommunicationsequipmentisgreatlyenhancedbyforeignlanguageskills.

Deeplyinvolvedwiththisnewtechnologyisabreedofmodernbusinesspeoplewho

haveagrowingrespectfortheeconomicvalueofdoingbusinessabroad.Inmodern

Markets,successoverseasoftenhelpssupportdomesticbusinessefforts

Overseasassignmentsarebecomingincreasinglyimportanttoadvancementwithinexecutiveranks.Theexecutivestationedinanothercountrynolongerneedfearbeing“outofsightandoutofmind.”Heorshecanbesurethattheoverseaseffortiscentraltothecompany’splanforsuccess,andthatpromotionsoftenfolloworaccompanyanassignmentabroad.Ifanemployeecansucceedinadifficultassignmentoverseas,superiorswillhavegreaterconfidenceinhisorherabilitytocopebackintheUnitedStateswherecross-culturalconsiderationsandforeignlanguageissuesarebecomingmoreandmoreprevalent(普遍的).

……

Theemployeepostedabroadwhospeaksthecountry’sprincipallanguagehasanopportunitytofast-forwardcertainnegotiations,andcamshavetheculturalinsighttoknowwhenitisbettertomovemoreslowly.Theemployeeatthehomeofficewhocancommunicatewellwithforeignclientsoverthetelephoneorbyfaxmachineisanobviousassettothefirm.

Question:Inthispassage“outofsightandoutofmind”(line2,para3)probablymeans---

Abeingunabletothinkpropertyforlackofinsight

Bbeingtotallyoutoftouchwithbusinessathome

Cmissingopportunitiesforpromotionwhenabroad

Dleavingallcareandworrybehind

TheanswerisC.Fromline5.Intheparagraph3,itisobviousthat“promotion”oftenfollowsoraccompaniesanassignmentaboard”explainedthe“outofsightandoutofmind”.AboutAthepassagedoesnotmention.aboutBitissuperficialtotheanswer.AboutDitdoesgowiththe“globalvillage”sotheanswerchoseC

Sohavingalargevocabularyisthebasicofquickreading

Tohavelargevocabulary,thestudentsshouldreadagreatdealofreadingmaterials,suchas;Magazine,newspaper,Ads……

Thetypeofauthor’sattitude

Mostwritersexpecttomodifyourattention,actions,thoughts,orknowledgeinsomewaywiththeirwriting.Averagepatternareasfollow:

Whatisthetoneofthispassage?

Whichofthefollowingbestdescribetheauthor’stoneinthispassage?

Whatistheauthor’sattitudetowardthepassage?

Theauthor’spurposeinwritingthepassageisto---

Thetoneofthepassagecanbebestdescribed----

Howdoestheauthorseemtofeelabout--?

Example:(fromCET-42003,1)

Question:Whatistheauthor’sattitudetowardtohigh—techcommunicationequipment?

A.criticalB.prejudicedC.indifferentD.positive

TheanswerisD,thisisanargumentarticle.Theauthorarguedabouttheimportantofforeignlanguageinthetradebusiness.Inthefirstparagraphhementionedthatthefax,phone,satelliteetcandadvancedcommunicationwaysthatmakethedistancebetweennationsthroughouttheworldshorter,andthehumanbeing“benefitfromthishigh—tech”andtheword“help”“support”thatshowtheauthor’sattitudeispositive.

Inordertogetthiskindofanswer,thestudentsshouldlearnsomerelatedwordswhichexpresstheauthor’sattitude.forexample:negative(否定的)，positive(肯定的)，critical

,objective,neutral(中立的),indifferent(漠不关心的)，support(支持的)，doubtful(怀疑的)

Inferencetype

Thepurposeofreadingisnotonlytounderstandtheoriginalbuttoreasonaccordingtowhattheauthorsays.Thecommoncluesinclude:

Theauthorimpliesthat…

Itcanbeeasilyguessedthat…

Theauthorseemstobeinfavorof(against)…

Wecaninfer(assume)that…

Wecanlearnfromthepassagethat…

Itcanbeconcludedfromthepassagethat…

Whichofthefollowingcan(not)beinferredfromthepassage?

Whatdoesthearticle(passage)sayabout…?

Thepassagesuggeststhat…

……

Example:(fromCET-42003,6)

Onaverage,Americankidsages3to12spent29hoursaweekinschool,eighthoursmorethattheydidin1981.Theyalsodidmorehouseholdworkandparticipatedinmoreofsuchorganizedactivitiesassoccerandballet(芭蕾舞).Involvementinsports,inparticular,rosealmost50%from1981to1997:boysnowspendanaverageoffourhoursaweekplayingsports;girlsloghallthattime.Allinall,however,children‘sleisuretime

droppedfrom40%ofthedayin1981to25%

……

Thechildrensampledspentaquarteroftheirrapidlydecreasing"freetime"watchingtelevision.Butthat,believeitornot,wasoneofthefindingsparentsmightregardasgoodnews.Ifthey‘respendinglesstimeinfrontoftheTVset,however,kidsaren‘treplacingitwithreading.Despiteeffortstogetkidsmoreinterestedinbooks,thechildrenspentjustoveranhouraweekreading.Let‘sfaceit,who‘sgotthetime?

Question:Wecaninferfromthepassagethat—

A.extracurricularactivitiespromotechildren’sintelligence

B.mostchildrenwillturntoreadingwithTVsetsswitchedoff

C.effortstogetkidsinterestedinreadinghavebeenfruitful

D.mostparentsbelievereadingtobebenefittochildren

TheanswerisD,thisistheinferencetype.Wecangettheinformation“despiteeffortsgetkidsmoreinterestedinbooks,thechildrenspentjustoveranhouraweekreading”Theword“despite”inthissentenceshowsthat:thereasonwhyparentstrytogetkidsmoreinterestedinbookisthattheythinkitisbenefitforkidstoread.

Thistypeofquestionsdoesn’tallowthestudentshavethemselves’opinions.Thestudentshouldtrytokeeptheopinionstogetherwiththeauthoranddistinguishthefactandtheopinionsinthepassage.

6.Theorganizationsofpassage

Theorganizationofthereadingpassageplaysanimportantroleinreadingcomprehension.Theauthor’swayofarrangingthematerialtoexpresshisorherpurposeiscalledthepurposeoforganization.Studentsneedtorecognizetheorganizationthatauthorarranged,thenstudentscanthinkalongwiththeauthorandunderstandthepassagebetteraswellastogetthecorrectanswer.[13]R112

7.Personalfactorsthatinfluencereadingrate

Thebackgroundknowledge

Takingaboutthebackgroundknowledge,atfirstthestudentsshouldknowanimportantconcept.Thatistheschematheory.Accordingtotheschematheory,alloftheknowledgeinourbrainarearrangedintosomeunits,andtheseunitsaretheschema,theyplayanimportantpartinthereadingprocess,theycancausepeopletothinkmoresomethingthatareassociatedwiththereadingmaterial,andthinkthematerialdeeperSoinaword,theschemaisthegeneralideasabouttheworld,peopleliveintheworldandgettheknowledgefromtheirexperienceandarrangetheseexperienceaccordingtothesettingandsetupaschematicnetinthebrain.Sothestudentswhostoretheschemamorethanothersandmorecompletethanothers,theirwaysofthinkingwillbemoreactiveandtheabilityofcomprehensionwillbestronger,thentheefficiencyofcomprehensionwillbefaster.[14]R33Viceverse,theefficiencyofthecomprehensionwillbeslower.AstheabovementionedthetypeofCET—4passagesincludeargumentation,exposition,andnarration.Sotheamountsofbackgroundknowledgeinfluencethereadingcomprehensionandreadingspeed.Ifyouunderstandthebackgroundknowledgeofapassage,youwillfinditquiteunderstandableandeasyenoughtoread.Ontheotherhand,ifyouknownothingaboutthepassage.Itwouldbeextremelydifficultandconfusedwiththedevelopmentofsociety,thenationsintheworldbecomecloserthanbefore.TherearesomanynationsspeakingEnglishand“languageisareflectionofculturelanguageandcultureareinseparable.”[15]R101SomeCET-4readingcomprehensionsarerelatedtosomewesterncountries’culture(culturemeansthetotalwayoflifeofpeopleincludingthepatternofbelief,customsobjects,institutionstechniquesandlanguagesthatcharacteri