If we are to help students develop reading skills in a foreign language, it is important to understand what is involved in the reading process itself. If we have a clear idea of how “good readers” read, either in their own or a foreign language, this will enable us to decide whether particular reading techniques are likely to help learners or not.
In considering the reading process, it is important to distinguish between two separate activities: reading for meaning (or “silent reading”) and reading aloud. Reading for meaning is the activity we normally engage in when we read books, newspapers, road signs, etc.; it is what you are doing as you read this text. It involves looking at sentences and understanding the message they convey, in other words, “making sense” of a written text. It doesn’t normally involve saying the words we read, not even silently inside our heads; there are important reasons for this, which are outlined below.
Reading aloud is a completely different activity; its purpose is not just to understand a text but to convey the information to someone else. It is not an activity we engage in very often outside the classroom; common examples are reading out parts of a newspaper article to a friend, or reading a notice to other people who can’t see it. Obviously, reading aloud involves looking at a text, understanding it and also saying it. Because our attention is divided between reading and speaking, it is a much more difficult activity than reading silently; we often stumble and make mistakes when reading aloud in own language, and reading aloud in a foreign language is even more difficult.
66. The purpose of the author is to( )
A. introduce reading skills
B. explain reading process
C. decide whether particular reading skills are likely to help learners
D. emphasize silent reading
67. The underlined word “stumble” in Para 3 means ( )
A. falling B. speaking in a hesitating way
C. walking with heavy movements D. being shy
68. We can infer from the passage that the author will( )
A. explain why we needn’t say the words when reading for meaning
B. summarize the two reading activities
C. dwell on reading aloud
D. insist that guess work should be important in both reading aloud and reading for meaning
69. In daily life, reading aloud is( )
A. frequently used
B. absolutely important
C. less involved than reading silently
D. more involved than reading silently
70. We can conclude that ( )
A. to understand a sentence, you have to read all the words in it
B. silent reading involves looking at a text and saying the words silently to yourself
C. there is no difference between reading in one’s own language and in a foreign language
D. reading silently is easier than reading aloud
