Good readers are flexible in their reading attack. Unlike the plodder, who reads consistently at 200 words per minute, or the superficial reader, who may read everything rapidly, well-trained readers have the capacity to adjust their speed to the material.
Everyone has an overall reading speed, but it will vary during a specific reading task depending on what is being read at the moment. As an example, during a relatively hard drive, with hills, curves, and a mountain pass, you might need three hours for the total trip, averaging about 35 miles per hour. However, in actual driving, you may slow down to no more than 15 miles per hour on some curves and hills, while on relatively straight and level sections you may drive up to 50 miles per hour. In short, there is no set rate which the good reader follows inflexibly in reading a particular selection, even though he has set himself an overall rate for the total job.
Base your rate adjustment on:
Your purpose. What do you want to get from the material?The nature and difficulty of the material.The amount of previous experience you have had with this subject.
Your reading purpose:Circumstances will determine why you are reading and how much you have to get out of your reading. For example, a chapter may have been assigned in class, or you may be gathering material for a speech, or you may need to develop a critical analysis of a passage from Shakespeare. Be conscious, not only of these general purposes, but also of your specific purposes while reading each section of the assignment.
To "get the gist," read very rapidly, jot down notes.To understand general ideas, read fairly rapidly, take notes listing those ideas.To get and retain detailed facts, read at a moderate rate, taking notes including general ideas and details.To locate specific information, skim or scan at a rapid rate.To determine value of material, skim at a very rapid rate.To preread or postread, scan at a fairly rapid rate. Summarize mentally, out loud, or in writing.To build general background, read rapidly; notes should sketch the overall picture.To read for enjoyment, read rapidly or slowly, depending on what you want. This is the time to relax.
Notetaking and difficulty of material: Reading involves an overall adjustment in rate to match your thinking ability. Obviously, overall level of difficulty depends on who's doing the reading. While Einstein's theories may be extremely difficult to most laymen, they may be very simple and clear to a professor of physics. For most of us, taking notes while readinghelps us to find out what's there, get the overall picture, and fill in the details without becoming lost.
Other tips -
Decrease speed when you find the following:
An unfamiliar word not made clear by the sentence. Try to understand it from the way it's used; then read on and return to it later. Underline the word in the text so you can find it again quickly, and then write it in your notes along with the meaning.Long and involved sentence and paragraph structure. Slow down enough to enable you to untangle them and get an accurate idea of what the passage says. Then rephrase it more simply in your notes.Unfamiliar or abstract ideas. Look for applications or examples which will give them meaning. Demand that an idea "make sense." Never give up until you understand, because it will be that much easier the next time. Write a question in the margin and ask your professor, tutor or a classmate. Detailed, technical material. This includes complicated directions, abstract principles, materials on which you have scant background. Rephrase it in your notes. Material on which you want detailed retention. The key to memory is organization and recitation. Speed should not be a consideration here.
Increase speed when you find the following:
Simple material with few ideas new to you. Move rapidly over the familiar; spend most of your time on the few unfamiliar ideas.Unnecessary examples and illustrations. These are included to clarify ideas. If not needed, move over them rapidly.Detailed explanation and elaboration which you do not need.Broad, generalized ideas. These can be rapidly grasped, even with scan techniques.
Skip that material which is not suitable for your purpose. Even though the author may have had a reason for putting down what he did, his reason for writing was not necessarily the same as your reason for reading.
Remember to keep your reading attack flexible. Shift gears from selection to selection. Use low gear when the going is steep; shift into high when you get to the smooth parts. Remember to adjust your rate within a given article according to the type of road you are traveling and to your purposes in traveling it. Most important, remember: Reading this paper hasn't done you any good. Not yet. You must practice these techniques until a flexible reading rate becomes second nature to you.
Always, always take notes on what you read.
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