CHAPTER

II

READING SKILL

DIRECTION:
 Follow the steps on this lesson!
 Focus on the lesson that is given progressively!
 Think about what you are Reading Skill
 Discuss the materials with your classmate in a group!
 Share your opinions to others!
 Do the task appropriated on the instructions!

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 CHAPTER - II
READING SKILL

A . READING FOR PLEASURE

R eading for Pleasure is therefore an essential Sector of this book s tudents must
begin to develop the habit of extensive reading become fun, happy, and well
study with a good atmosphere. This can only happen
opportunity to select their own materials.
if they are given the

Notice:
 HINTS THE READING FOR PLEASURE
For success in reading for pleasure, such:
1. Set a specific goal in your pleasure reading.
2. Make pleasure reading of your daily routine.
3. Plan to read a certain number of pages or for a certain amount of time every day.
4. Read for at least 30 minutes at one time so that you can become involved in your
book.
5. Choose a text book (text are small and lightweight), and carry it with you wherever
you go.
6. Read it whenever you have some free time.
7. Keep a journal. When you finish several chapters, write down your thoughts about
the book and about what you expect to happen next.
8. Talk to your friends or Parent about your book.
9. Keep a record of the book you read in the chart on the next page.
10. After you finish, fill in b l a n k response sheet.
11. Your teacher may ask you to meet for book conference when you have finished

Let’s think about:

1. Read f r e e l y
2. Find examples of good writing in English.
3. Learn n e w words.
4. Learn how English speakers use English.
5. Learn about the culture of English speakers.

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*) Example Text

Text-1

Once upon time, a man had a wonderful parrot. There was no other
parrot like it. The parrot could say every word, except one word. The parrot
would not say the name of the place where it was born. The name of the place
was Catano.
The man felt excited having the smartest parrot but he could not
understand why the parrot would not say Catano. The man tried to teach the
bird to say Catano, however the bird did not say the word.
At first, the man was very nice to the bird but then he got very angry.
“You stupid bird!” pointed the man to the parrot. “Why can’t you say the word?
Say Catano! Or I will kill you” the man said angrily. Although he tried hard to
teach, the parrot would not say it. Then the man got so angry and shouted to the
bird over and over; “Say Catano or I’ll kill you”. The bird kept not to say the
word of Catano.
One day, after he had been trying so many times to make the bird
say Catano, the man really got very angry. He could not bear it. He picked the
parrot and threw it into the chicken house. There were four old chickens for next
dinner “You are as stupid as the chickens. Just stay with them” Said the man
angrily. Then he continued to humble; “You know, I will cut the chicken for my
meal. Next it will be your turn, I will eat you too, stupid parrot”. After that he
left the chicken house.
The next day, the man came back to the chicken house. He opened
the door and was very surprised. He could not believe what he saw at the chicken
house. There were three death chickens on the floor. At the moment, the parrot
was standing proudly and screaming at the last old chicken; “Say Catano or I’ll
kill you”.

Cited in Beatrice S (1997)

 Guess the angels!

1. What is the title above?
2. What kind of the text!
3. What the text talking about?
4. What is the lesson?
5. Make the summary!

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B. READING TEXT STRATEGIES
Reading is not just understanding the words or the grammar. It is not just translating.
Reading is thinking for strategy to learn.

1. STRATEGY -1:
MARKING UP
When you are reading a text that contains many facts and ideas, it is helpful to
mark the important facts and ideas so that they stand out and can be used for
reviewing and remembering the material.

a) WHAT TO MARK IN A TEXT

You should select and make visually memorable only the most important
information or ideas, such as:
o The topic of the passage;
o The text statement;
o The Main idea;
o The supported idea;
o The Signals for overall pattern of the passage;
o The terms or points confused.

b) HOW TO MARK A TEXT

The following is a list of different kinds of marking that good students often
use. You should try out all of these techniques and then decide which ones
work best for you. Experienced readers develop their own personal style of
marking, usually a combination of various techniques, such:
o Underlining (in pencil / stabile and so on);
o Circling or making a box around words or phrases;
o Drawing lines or arrows from one part of the text to another;
o Writing a key word, date, or name in the margin;
o Making a star or arrow in the margin beside an important point;
o Making a question mark or exclamation point to express your reaction;
o Numbering points in a series.

Note:
 Always preview a text before you read it and mark it. And always mark
in pencil so you can make changes if necessary.

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Example:
 Preview the passage on the next page and then read it carefully. Look at the way it has
been marked to identify the text, the pattern signals, and the supporting points.

THE HISTORY OF PIZZA

One of the most popular foods around the world today is pizza. Pizza restaurants are
popular everywhere from Beijing to Moscow to Rio, and even in the United States, the
home of the hamburger, there are more restaurants than hamburger places.

This worldwide love for pizza is a fairly recent phenomenon. Before the 1950s, pizza was
a purely Italian food, with a long history in southern Italy. The origins of pizza are somewhat
uncertain, though they may go back to the Greeks (pita bread) or even earlier. Under the
Roman Empire, Italians often ate flat circles of bread, which they may have flavored with olive
oil, cheese, and herbs. By about the year 1000 A.D. in the area around Naples, this bread
had a name: piece. This early kind of pizza lacked one of the main ingredients we associate
with pizza: the tomato.

He named his pizza "Haneut euy" after the queen, and that is what this classic kind of pizza
is still called today. Today, pizza has become so common in so many countries that its Italian
origins are often forgotten. Indeed, the global versions of pizza made with all kinds of
ingredients have little in common with the Neapolitan original, as anyone knows who has
tasted a pizza in Naples.

 Use your text marking in the passage to help you write the following information. Change
your marking if it does not indicate these points.
 Overall pattern of organization :
 Text statement :
 Supporting points (main ideas) :
 Paragraph 1 :
 Paragraph 2 :
 Paragraph 3 :

 Compare your work with that of another student. If you disagree, look back at the text and
explain your answers.

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2. STRATEGY - 2:
WRITING QUESTION

In addition to marking a text, write study questions and quiz questions:

 Before you read, use the title, headings and subheadings to form questions about the
text. This will help you focus your thinking.
 When you have finished reading and marking the text, write quiz questions about
the important facts and ideas to help reinforce your learning.

Example:
a. Read this study question based on the title of the passage below, which is the introduction
to a section of a sociology textbook.

 Study question:
How is this passage going to analyze urbanization?

b. Read the passage and look for the answer to the study question. Note facts and ideas
that have been marked in the text.

C. READING POWER SKILL

1. DEFINITION
READING POWER is a reading comprehension program that teachers at this school
are using to help students develop comprehension skills to become more powerful
readers and thinkers.

The five Comprehension Strategies, or Reading Powers, we are learning are:

1. CONNECT : What does the story remind me of?
2. QUESTION : What am I wondering about this story?
3. VISUALIZE : What pictures can I make in my head from this story?
4. INFER : What am I thinking about this story that isn’t actually written?
5. TRANSFORM : How has my thinking changed because of this story?

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 2. THE KEY OF IDEA

 Learning to read involves two distinct, yet equally important components:

 Decoding: the ability to read the words on the page with fluency and accuracy
 Comprehension: the ability to construct meaning from the text.
 Comprehension strategies need to be taught directly and explicitly so that
students can understand what thinking looks like and sounds like.
 Common language of these thinking strategies is essential for helping students
acquire the “Language of thinking” across the grades.
 Metacognition, or “awareness of thinking,” is an important component of this
program.
 We have two voices: a speaking voice and a thinking voice.
 Good readers pay attention to their thinking voice while they read.
 Teachers and parents can model their thinking voice while they read to and
with their children, to help teach and reinforce the strategies.

D. READING STYLES
Helping Students Become Metacognitive

Good readers have busy brains when they read. Students will see that the brain
becomes filled as their metacognitive knowledge of their thinking develops,
demonstrating that good readers have many different things going on in their heads
while they read.

There are EIGHT styles of reading are:

1. READING ALOUD
In reading aloud that students will get experience in producing the sound as high as
speaker, which should be practice as many as possible including a good pronunciation.
It can use many contexts to try for reading aloud.

2. SILENT READING
Silent reading is reinforce sing the reader to find out the meaning of the words. This
reading is skill to criticize what is written, to discuss written meaning and to draw
inference and conciliation as well as to tell new ideas on text.

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3. READING FASTER
Reading faster used to improve speed and comprehension in reading. This skill sun
side with the main purpose of reading that is comprehension it depend on the kinds
of reading materials.
There are two important reasons for learning to read faster:

o You can read more in less time.

o You can improve your comprehension.

4. READING SEPARATE WORD

This way makes it hard to understand what you read because you must
remember each word as a separate piece of information. By the time you get
to the end of a sentence you may have forgotten the beginning.

There are two strategies for reading separate, such:

a) STRATEGY -1: CHECK YOUR READING HABITS

Certain habits can slow you down. Think about your own reading habits.

1) Do you try to pronounce every word as you read? Pronunciation is not

necessary for comprehension.
2) Do you usually move your lips while you read silently?
3) Do you follow the words you read with your finger or a pencil?
Following the words with your finger will also slow you down.
4) Do you translate into your native language as you read in English? Or
do you often write translations of words in the English text?
5) Translating into your native language takes time and prevents you
from concentrating on the ideas.
6) Furthermore, it interferes with your ability to think in English as you
read.

Note:
 If you answered yes to any of the questions, try to change the habits that
are slowing you down.

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 b) STRATEGY -2: READ MEANINGFUL PHRASES OR "CHUNKS"

Good readers in English "chunk" as they read. That is, they read meaningful
groups of words, which are much easier to remember than a lot of separate words.
Furthermore, when reading in chunks, they can form connections among the ideas
in the text and with information or ideas they know.

What is a meaningful phrase, or chunk?

 Good readers in English is a meaningful phrase because it makes sense alone.
 English chunk as is not a meaningful phrase because it does not make sense
alone.
 Readers generally divide up sentences in similar ways, though there may be
some differences.
 Faster readers tend to make longer phrases so they can take in more text at a
time.

Example:
 Each chunk / should be a phrase / that makes sense / by itself. (slower
readers)
 Each chunk should be a phrase / that makes sense by itself. (faster readers)

5. EXTENSIVE READING SPRINT

Slow reading is often a matter of habit. You read at a certain speed because
your eyes are used to moving across the page at that speed. Reading sprints
are an effective way to break that habit and force your eyes to move more
quickly. Sprints will help you in the same way that running sprints help runners
who want to increase their speed.

 THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR READING SPRINTS, AS FOLLOW:

1 . Mark with a pencil where you are now in your book.

2. Make a note of your starting time in the margin and read for five
minutes.
2. Write in the margin of your book the number of pages you have read.
3. Count ahead about the same number of pages as those you have just
read, and mark the place.
4. Try to read those pages in only four minutes.

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 5. Count ahead the same number of pages again, and mark the place as
you did before.
6. Mark your place in the book again. Make a note of the starting time
and read for five minutes without forcing yourself to read fast.
7. Count the number of pages you read this time. Compare this with the
number of pages you read the first time.

6. EXTENSIVE RATE PRACTICE

Follow the instructions below to calculate your reading rate in your extensive
reading book. Check your rate regularly (about once a week) and keep track
of your progress on the Extensive Reading Rate Progress Charts on the next page.
Note: Calculating extensive reading rate, as follow:

1. In Your Extensive Reading Book, Calculate The Average Number Of Words

Per Page

a. Turn to a full page in your book (preferably without a lot of dialogue

unless that is typical of your book).
b. Count the number of words in three lines and divide by 3 to get the
average number of words per line.
c. Count the number of lines on that page and multiply it by the number
of words per line to get the average number of words per page.

2. Time Your Reading

a. Open your book and mark your place on the page you are now
reading. Before you begin to read, write in the margin the exact time
you start reading. Read comfortably for about ten or fifteen minutes.
Write the exact time you finished.
b. Calculate the number of minutes you read:

3. Calculate Your Reading Rate

a. Count the number of pages you read, including parts of pages.

b. Find the total number of words you read by multiplying the number of
pages by the number of words per page.

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 4. Calculate Your Reading Rate (words per minute) by dividing the total
number of words you read by the number of minutes.

5. Turn To The Extensive Reading Rate Progress Charts On The Next Page.

Write the date and your reading rate.

7. Reading Rate Table Or Map

Most of the passages are 900 words long. To determine your reading rate in
this table, find the time and lo cat io n et c. T hat is closest to your reading.
Then look across to find your reading rate. For instance, if you read the
example passage.

8. Reading Longer

Like a paragraph, a longer passage focuses on a single topic, expresses a

general idea about topic, follows a pattern of organization, and uses signal
words and phrases to indicate supporting ideas.

Example:

HUMAN RESPONSES TO DISASTER

Catastrophic events, such as natural disasters and major terrorist attacks, are extremely
traumatic' for the people involved. In these situations, where one's own and others' physical
safety is threatened, feelings may range from fear, to horror or helplessness. Studies of
catastrophe survivors have taught psychologists how individuals who have undergone such
traumas and losses respond to these circumstances. Such research is difficult: Ethics prevent
psychologists from creating disastrous events in order to study their effects on volunteer subjects.
The only way to study these events is to be on the scene after the catastrophe, getting the story
from the survivors while it is fresh on their minds. From these stories, psychologists have theorized
that responses to extreme natural and human-caused disasters occur in five stages.
They appear to function automatically, without conscious' control of their thinking or
reacting. Later, they may not remember these moments or their actions. When there has been
no warning at all of the disaster—as in an earthquake or the September 11, 2001 attacks in
New York.

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  QUESTION
1. Compare your work with that of another pair of students.
2. If you disagree, explain your answers and look back at the passage to
check your work.
3. Finding the Thesis Statement in Newspaper and Magazine etc.

E. READING COMPREHENSION

Reading is a very complex task involving many different skills. In this chapter, you will
learn to use some essential reading skills for what and why…?

R
eading is certainly important activity for extending one’s knowledge of the
language (Patel, 2008:114). De Boer and Dolman, consider that reading
involves the comprehension and interpretation of ideas symbolized by the
written or printed page. Reading is the devolvement or creative construction
of meaning in response to external stimuli, usually written words. Reading is the process to
get, to understand, to catch the content of the reading (Nun an, 1991:72). According to
Brown (2004:185), reading is what the reader does to get the meaning he needs from
textual sources. Reading also is the process of acquiring and authors meaning, interpreting,
evaluating, and effecting upon those meaning.

Beatrice S. and Linda Jeffries (1996:2) state that Reading comprehension involves
specific thinking processes. The units in Part II are designed to provide focused
instruction in the reading skills based on these processes. Greater awareness of the
relation between cognitive process and reading skills will help students apply the
skills when they are reading. Each unit is organized as a series of exercises, simple
at first and then gradually more complex.
Thinker (1975:5) states that reading comprehension is not just reading with
a loud voice, but also to establish and understand the meaning of words, sentences,
and paragraph sense the relationship among the ideas.
Every class hour should include some exercises, preferably with students
working in pairs. When you read, you use many different skills. You need to work
on them one at a time.

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Here are SIX important skills you will work on, as follow:

1. PRE-READING
Before you start reading, find out something about what you will read. Then you
can start thinking about the subject. You will be able to read faster and with
more understanding.

2. ASKING QUESTIONS AS YOU READ

This keeps your mind on what you read. Asking questions helps you pay attention.
It also helps you to remember what you read.

3. GUESSING WHAT NEW WORDS MEAN

It takes too much time to look up every new word. And if you stop, you may
forget what you are reading. Use the whole sentence or paragraph to guess
words.

4. FINDING THE TOPIC AND MAIN IDEA

The topic and the main idea let you know what is important. To find the topic
and the main idea ask two questions:

 What is this about?

 What does the writer want to say about this?

5. UNDERSTANDING PATTERNS IN ENGLISH

A pattern is a way of putting ideas together. If you find the pattern. You can
understand more. You will also remember more.

6. USING THE SIGNAL OF WORDS

Some words are like signposts on a highway. They tell you what direction the
writer is going. And they help you to follow the writer's ideas. Signal words also
help you guess what you will read about.

INSTRUCTION

 Discuss with your friends!

 Prepare the media such: Paper etc.…
 Make the examples!

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F. READING APPROACH STRATEGIES

1. General Strategy Reading Passages

1) Be familiar with the directions
2) Do not spend too much time reading the passages.
3) Do not worry it a reading passage is on a topic that you are unfamiliar with.
4) Never leave any questions blank on your answer sheet.

2. Strategy For Reading Comprehension Questions

1) Skim the reading passage to determine the main idea and overall organization of
ideas in the passage.
2) Look ahead at the questions to determine what types of the questions you must
answer.
3) Find the section of the passage that details with each question.
4) Read the part of the passage that contains the answer carefully.
5) Choose the best answer to each question from the four answer choices listed in your
test book.

3. Profile Of A Proficient Reader

A good reader is metacognitive—aware of and able to use and articulate the
following strategies in order to interact with the text and enhance meaning. Good
readers read a lot of stories and books.

Look!

1. Make Connections.
2. Ask Questions.
3. Visualize.
4. Determine Importance.
5. Draw Inferences.
6. Analyze and Synthesize.
7. Monitor Comprehension.

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4. Understanding The Passage For Reading Question

a) MAIN IDEA
All most every reading passage on the TOEFL test will have a question about the
main idea of passage, such a question maybe worded in a variety of ways. Since
TOEFL passage are generally written in a traditionally organized manner, it is
not difficult to find the main idea by studying the topic sentence, which is most
probably found at the beginning of a paragraph.

Example:
The passage-1.
Basketball was invented in 1891 by a physical education instructor in spring field.
Massachusetts, by the name of James Naismith. Because of the terrible weather in
winter, his physical education students were indoors rather than outdoor.
They really didn’t like the idea of boring, repetitive exercise and figured out a team
sport that could be played indoors on a gymnasium floor, that involved a lot of
running, that kept all team members involved, and they did not allow the tackling and
physical contact of American-style football.

Cited by: (TOEFL test book)

The question:
What is the main idea of this passage?
a. The life of James Naismith
b. The history of sport
c. Physical education and exercise
d. The origin of basketball

Notice:
How to find main idea question?
 Read the first line of each paragraph!
 Look for a common theme or idea in the first line!
 Pass your eyes quickly over the rest of passage to check that you really have found
the topic sentence!
 Eliminate any definitely wrong answer and choose the best answer from the
remaining choices!

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b) STATED DETAIL QUESTIONS
A stated detail question asks about one piece of information in the passage
rather than the passage as a whole. The answers to these questions are generally
given in order in the passage, and the correct answer is often a restatement of
what is given in the passage.

Example:
The passage-2.
Flutes have been around for quite some time, in all sorts of shapes and sizes and
made from a variety of materials. The oldest known flutes are about 20.000
years old; they were made from hollowed-out bones with holes cut in them. In
addition to bone, older flutes were often constructed from bamboo or hollowed-
out wood.
The question:
According to the passage, the oldest flutes…
a. Had holes cut in them
b. Were made of metal
c. Were made 200.000 years ago
d. Had a complicated set of leavers and pads
Notice:
How to find stated detail question?
1. Choose a key word in the question!
2. Skim the appropriate part of the passage for the key word!
3. Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully!
4. Look for the answer that restates an idea in the passage!

c) UNSTATED DETAIL QUESTIONS

Sometimes you will be asked in the reading comprehension section of the TOEFL
test to find an answer that is not stated or not mentioned or not true in the
passage. This type of question really means that three of the answers are stated,
mentioned, or true in the passage while one answer is not.

Example:
The passage-3.
The Florida Keys are a beautiful chain of almost 1.000 coral and Limestone
Island. These island form an arc that heads first southwest and then west from the

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 mainland. U.S. highway I called the Overseas Highway, connects the main islands
in the chain.

THE QUESTION:
Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the Florida Keys?
a. The Florida keys are a chain of islands
b. The Florida keys are contain coral and limestone
c. The Florida keys are in the shape of an arc
d. The Florida keys are not all inhabited

Notice:
How to find unstated detail question?
1. Choose a key word in the question!
2. Scan the appropriate part of the passage for the key word!
3. Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully!
4. Look for the answer that are definitely true according to the passage! Eliminate
those answers!
5. Choose the answer that is not true or not discussed in the passage!

d) IMPLIED DETAIL QUESTIONS

Some questions in the reading comprehension section of the TOEFL test will require
answer that are not directly stated in the passage. To answer questions correctly,
you will have to draw conclusions from information that is given in the passage.

Example:
The passage-4.
The number of rings in a tree can be used to determine how old a tree really is.
Each year a tree produces a ring that is composed of one high-colored wide band
and one dark-colored narrow band. The wider band is produced during the spring
and early summer, when tree stem cells grow rapidly and become larger. The
narrower tree band is produced in fall and early winter, when cell grower is much
slower and cell do not get very large. No cells are produced during the harsh winter
and summer months.
Cited by: (TOEFL test book)

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 The question:
It is implied in the passage that if a tree has 100 wide bands and 100 narrow
bands, then it is…?
a. A century old
b. Two countries old
c. Fifty years old
d. Two hundred years old

Notice:
How to find implied detail question?
1. Choose a key word in the question!
2. Scan the passage for key word related idea!
3. Read the sentence that contains the key word or idea carefully!
4. Look for the answer that could be true, according to that sentence!

e) VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT QUESTIONS

On the TOEFL test you will sometimes be asked in determine the meaning of a
difficult word or expression, a word or expression that you do not know. In this case,
the passage often gives you a clear indication of what the word or expression
means.

Example:
The passage-5.
A line in passage…
… She has a large geranium growing in a pot in the corner of her apartment …
The question:
A “Geranium” is probably which of the following.
a. A soda
b. A chair
c. A fish
d. A plant

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 Notice:
How to find vocabulary in context question?
1. Find the word or expression in the passage!
2. Read the sentence that contains the word carefully!
3. Look for context clues to help you understand the meaning!
4. Choose the answer that the context indicates!

f) “WHERE” QUESTIONS
Sometimes the final question in reading passage will ask you to determine where
in the passage a place of information is found. The answer choices will list possible
location for that information.
Example:
The passage-6.
The word “capitol” are confused in spelling and in meaning by a lot of people who
try use them. Both their spelling and meanings are quite closely related. A ‘capitol”
is location of the center of government, while a “capitol” is the actual building where
the government officials building is located in Washington, D.C. which is the capitol
city of the United States.
Cited by: (TOEFL test book)
The question:
Where in the passage does the author define the word “capitol”?
a. Line 1-2
b. Line 3
c. Line 4
d. Line 6-8

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