READ BETTER, R EMEMBER M ORE Second Edition Elizabeth Chesla ® NEW YORK READ BETTER, R EMEMBER M ORE Second Edition Elizabeth Chesla Copyright © 2000 Learning Express, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by LearningExpress, LLC, New York. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chesla, Elizabeth L. Read better, remember more / Elizabeth Chesla. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Rev. ed. of: How to read and remember more in 20 minutes a day. 1st ed. ©1997. ISBN 1-57685-336-5 (pbk.) 1. Reading comprehension 2. Reading (Adult education) I. Chesla, Elizabeth L. How to read and remember more in 20 minutes a day II. Title. LB1050.45.C443 2000 428.4'3—dc21 00-058787 Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Second Edition For Further Information For information on LearningExpress, other LearningExpress products, or bulk sales, please call or write to us at: LearningExpress® 900 Broadway Suite 604 New York, NY 10003 Visit LearningExpress on the World Wide Web at www.LearnX.com Introduction: How to Use This Book vii Pre-Test 1 Section 1: Setting Yourself Up for Reading Success 11 1 Pre-Reading Strategies 13 2 Getting the Facts 21 3 Using the Dictionary 29 4 Determining Meaning from Context 41 5 Putting It All Together 49 Section 2: Getting—and Remembering—the Gist of It 55 6 Finding the Main Idea 57 7 Finding the Supporting Ideas 67 8 Highlighting, Underlining, and Glossing 79 9 Taking Notes and Outlining 91 10 Putting It All Together 99 Section 3: Improving Your Reading IQ 107 11 Recognizing Organizational Strategies 109 12 Distinguishing Fact from Opinion 123 13 Recording Your Questions and Reactions 131 14 Visualizing to Remember 141 15 Putting It All Together 153 Section 4: Reader, Detective, Writer 161 16 Word Choice and Point of View 163 17 Determining Tone 175 18 Finding an Implied Main Idea 183 19 Putting It in Your Own Words 191 20 Putting It All Together 201 Post-Test 209 Appendix A: Additional Resources 219 Appendix B: CommonPrefixes, Suffixes, and Word Roots 225 Index 239 CONTENTS [...]... skills is to get off the sidelines and become an 13 14 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE active reader This doesn’t mean you should work up a sweat while reading, but it does mean that you should be actively involved with the text whenever you read To become an active reader, it helps to think of reading as a dialogue where you talk with the writer, Be an Active Reader not a one-way conversation where you just... ideas to come Using the headings and other reading aids, list the three main topics covered in Chapter 2 Answers Asking Questions Find the Facts Remember the Facts 20 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE I N S HORT Pre-reading strategies will help you better manage, comprehend, and remember what you read These strategies include: • Breaking the text into manageable tasks • Reading the pre-text • Skimming ahead and... solid foundation for reading success Strategies to help you remember what you read are also included in each chapter CHAPTER Reading success depends upon your active participation as a reader This chapter will show you how to use pre-reading strategies to “warm up” to any reading task T 1 P R E -R E A D I N G S T R AT E G I E S he difference between a good reader and a frustrated reader is much like... section Otherwise, you lose the benefits you’d get from starting and stopping Perhaps you can read ten pages, take a five minute stretch, and then read ten more You might do the same for the other 20 pages tomorrow 15 16 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE Use Existing Section Breaks Writers will often help you learn and remember information by dividing the text into manageable chunks for you Page through this... prepare for reading tasks Just as athletes enhance their performance by stretching before they go out on the court or field, active readers can significantly increase how much they understand and remember if they take a few minutes to “stretch” before they read Here are three pre-reading strategies that will dramatically improve your chances of reading success: 1 breaking up the reading task 2 reading the... news or read about current issues in a magazine It is therefore very important that you be able to understand the facts and information conveyed in these texts What will you be expected to remember and know? What do you want to remember and know? Asking a series of who, what, when, where, why, and how questions will help you get these facts so that you can remember them 21 22 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE. .. and ideas, you’re far more likely to remember them In addition, repetition is the key to mastery So the more you pre-view (skim ahead) and review Read Aloud (jump back) information, the more you seal key If your attention starts to words and ideas in your memory Each time you fade while you’re reading skim ahead and jump back, you strengthen your or the material gets diffiability to remember that material... on the sidelines A good reader is always actively engaged in the reading task Frustrated readers, on the other hand, think of reading as a passive “sideline” task, something that doesn’t require their active participation As a result, they often have difficulty understanding and remembering what they read Perhaps the most important—and most basic—thing you can do to improve your reading skills is to get... each section? 17 18 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE 3 What two things should you do to improve your chances of reading success? 4 What are the chapters in Section 1 about? Answer If you’re at all uncertain about the correct answers to this practice exercise, re -read the pre-text When you find the sentences that have the answers, underline them SKIM AHEAD AND JUMP BACK Another important pre-reading strategy... that will improve their quality of life 23 24 READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE 1 2 3 4 What happened? Who did it? When? What did it show? Answers 1 A study was conducted 2 Pathman Marketing 3 1998 4 People will spend money on products to improve their quality of life REMEMBER THE FACTS Asking who, what, when, where, why, and how questions makes your reading process more active and enables you to find the facts . Data Chesla, Elizabeth L. Read better, remember more / Elizabeth Chesla. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Rev. ed. of: How to read and remember more in 20 minutes a day carefully, you should be able to understand—and READ BETTER, REMEMBER MORE viii remember much more of what you read by the end of one month of study. The 20