IELTS

Academic Reading 4
[.]
How quickly can you read? Are you the sort of person who finishes
the daily newspaper before breakfast? Catches up with the gossip on
social media in mere minutes? Races through the latest bestseller in
a single sitting? Most of us manage to read about 200 words per
minute but in theory, we could train ourselves to digest
information faster.
Some companies selling speed-reading apps have claimed recently
they can help anyone exceed 1,000 words per minute. That means
you could read in around nine hours, and in a mere three-and-a-half.
Sound too good to be true? Some academics would agree. Whats
the truth about speed-reading, and can technology really help?
The theory behind all speed-reading techniques involves getting
words more efficiently to the fovea, a tiny section at the centre of
the retina that gives us the sharp vision we need to accurately
identify shapes, including letters. As we read, we shift our focus from
word to word an eye motion called a saccade. The trouble is that
sometimes the new word were focusing on isnt quite centred on
the fovea, which slows down our ability to recognise and read it.
Many speed-reading methods involve making sure that new words
are always in just the right place for the fovea to recognise. The
people behind a new app called Spritz realised that the easiest way

to do that is by flashing the words up, one after another, in the same
small box. By focusing on that box, the reader can identify each new
word without having to shift their gaze. For no extra effort, reading
becomes much faster.
Try Spritz for yourself, and you might agree with the companys
claims. But Sally Andrews, a professor of cognitive psychology at the
University of Sydney, says that effective speed-reading isnt quite
that simple. In an analysis published after Spritz hit the headlines this
year, she said that its the time it takes to comprehend words that
can slow us down. Unfamiliar and long words, in particular, take
more time to recognise and understand.
Spritz is asking us to process the written word at a similar pace to
how we do speech, Andrews told BBC Future. But if we fail to catch
a word in speech we can use other cues such as intonation or the
speakers hand gestures to fill in the gap and work out whats being
said. These cues are missing from the written words presented by
Spritz, which might make comprehension trickier.
But comprehension is not necessarily impossible, as fans of Spritz
might argue. This may be because Spritz readers are subconsciously
relying on their prior knowledge or experience to fill in any words
they miss. Providing the style of writing is familiar, a Spritz readers
brain might still have some ability to guess any missing words and
work out the meaning of a text. I would argue that what people are
doing is not actually understanding what the author has written but
picking up words and phrases, says Andrews. The more they know
already, the greater the degree of that fragmentary information
theyll pick up.

In fact, other speed-reading techniques also generally require the

reader to fill in the gaps they miss. PhotoReading, for instance, is a
trademarked system in which the reader takes multiple passes over
a book, starting with the chapter headings and adding more and
more detail with each pass. Andrews says that people using these
speed-reading techniques are only ever processing an incomplete
version of the text.
These techniques work for some people, but push them too far and
the gaps between the words you catch become so large that the
text becomes impossible to understand. Research suggests that
comprehension tends to drop drastically when people try to process
more than about 500 words per minute. In other words, there are
fundamental constraints on the speed at which we can take in new
information, says Andrews.
But perhaps reading isnt the only way to upload information to
the brain. In 2011 neuroscientists from Japan and the US claimed to
have found a way to enhance the digestion of basic knowledge. First,
they asked people to identify the differences between three subtly
different objects while their brains were scanned. Later on, the
scientists asked each person to repeatedly perform a different task
that without their knowledge recreated the same pattern of brain
activity. Afterwards, the volunteers were much faster at discriminating
that particular object from the other two than if they had trained
only by looking at the shapes. Crucially, the fact that the people
were unaware of the learning made it much more efficient, say the
researchers.

Of course, its a long way from recognising one object more quickly
to speeding up our ability to recognise every word in a lexicon.
Whats more, Takeo Watanabe, the researcher at Brown University in
Providence, Rhode Island, who led the study, says his team have not
yet tested their technique on learning that involves comprehension
rather than just object identification. But the technique should
theoretically lead to [an] enhancement in learning speed, while not
reducing the comprehension level, he says.
However, would-be speed-readers dont have to wait for
sophisticated brain training techniques to increase their reading rate.
They might be able to get a speed boost simply by improving their
spelling, says Andrews. People who are good spellers as well as
being good readers usually read information more effectively than
people who are good readers but poor spellers, she says. Spelling
might help us recognise and represent words in our heads. I call it
lexical quality.
So will impeccable spelling, smart technology and new knowledge
about the brain eventually allow us all to understand text at rates
above 500 words per minute? Thats the $64m question, says
Andrews. I dont have an answer.

Translating the Passage

(.)



200

1000
(War and Peace) 9 (Moby
Dick) 3

(saccade)

(Spritz)

(PhotoReading)

500

.. 2011

500

Questions 1-4
Choose the appropriate letters A, B, C, or D.
Write your answers in boxes 1--4 on your answer sheet.
1. The best title for this passage is . . .
A. How to learn speed-reading.
B. Can we read superfast?
C. The truth about Spritz.
D. How to recognise words.
B Can we read superfast?.

 A How to learn speed-reading.

C The truth about Spritz.
Spritz
(PhotoReading)
D How to recognise words.

2. Andrews believes that
A. Spritz is useful but has some disadvantages.
B. Spritz helps some people develop effective speed-reading.
C. Most people who dont use Spritz avoid it because of its
disadvantages.
D. Spritz doesnt help anyone read effectively.
D Spritz doesnt help anyone read effectively.

I would argue that what people are doing
is not actually understanding what the author has written but picking
up words and phrases, says Andrews.
A Spritz is useful but has some disadvantages.

B Spritz helps some people develop effective speed-reading.

A
C Most people who dont use Spritz avoid it because of its
disadvantages.

3. Which of these factors does not affect speed reading?

A. ability to fill in gaps
B. word comprehension
C. speech
D. spelling
C speech
(do a speech)

But if we fail to catch a word in speech we can
use other cues such as intonation or the speakers hand gestures to
fill in the gap and work out whats being said.
(cue)
A ability to fill in gaps
. . . other speed-reading techniques also
generally require the reader to fill in the gaps they miss.
B word comprehension
. . . its the time it takes
to comprehend words that can slow us down.
D spelling
...They might be able to get a speed boost simply by
improving their spelling.

4. What did neuroscientists from Japan and the US discover in their

research?
A. People could be taught to distinguish objects more quickly
without actually seeing them.
B. People able to read quickly can discriminate selected objects
more effectively.
C. Being told what one is learning makes the learning process
much more efficient.
D. People who lack basic knowledge fail to differentiate objects.
A People could be taught to distinguish objects more quickly
without actually seeing them.

the
volunteers were much faster at discriminating that particular object
from the other two than if they had trained only by looking at the
shapes. Crucially, the fact that the people were unaware of the
learning made it much more efficient, say the researchers.
B People able to read quickly can discriminate selected
objects more effectively.
C Being told what one is learning makes the learning process
much more efficient.
. . . the fact that the people were
unaware of the learning made it much more efficient . . .
D People who lack basic knowledge are unable to
differentiate objects. C

Questions 5-7
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS
from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 57 on your answer sheet.
5. Who predicted their technique should eventually enable people
to read more quickly without decreasing understanding?
5) .. Takeo Watanabe ..
Takeo Watanabe ...the technique should
theoretically lead to [an] enhancement in learning speed, while not
reducing the comprehension level
6. Whats one speed-reading technique that requires the reader to
complete the gaps they miss?
6) .. PhotoReading ..

7. Who mentioned studies showing that effective reading is limited to

about 500 words per minute?
7) Sally Andrews
Research suggests that comprehension
tends to drop drastically when people try to process more than
about 500 words per minute.

Questions 8-10
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in the
reading passage?
In boxes 810 on your answer sheet write
TRUE
if the statement reflects the claims in the passage
FALSE
if the statement contradicts the claims in the
passage
NOT GIVEN if there is no such information given in the passage
8. Speed-reading requires the ability to recognise and understand
words quickly.
8) TRUE.
... its
the time it takes to comprehend words that can slow us down.
Unfamiliar and long words, in particular, take more time to recognise
and understand.
9. People will be able to read above 500 words per minute in the
future.
9) NOT GIVEN.
500
Thats the $64m question, says Andrews. I
dont have an answer.
the $64m question

10. People dont need sharp vision to identify shapes.

10) FALSE.
...that gives us the
sharp vision we need to accurately identify shapes, including letters...