On English reading ability and methods in CET

邵承龍

【Abstract】Reading is one of the most important approaches to accessing information and reading ability is the very basis on which high school students acquire a foreign language. This article focuses on the research of reading examination forms and contents to provide some strategies in senior high school English class. Thus， our studentsreading ability and testing skills.

【Key words】English CET; reading strategy; skills and methods

Survey among the high school students shows that both accuracy of reading comprehension and speed of it are not satisfactory， which is the common problem of most students. However， it is vitally highlighted not only in the old teaching program but also in the new curriculum criterion. And its always being focused in English class. Research shows that on the one hand， reading comprehension is closely in relation with studentsgrasp of vocabulary， reading habits as well as psychological quality. While on the other hand， reading effect is also influenced by reading skills and ways.

I. Testing objective of reading ability in CET

According to the CET syllabus requirements in reading comprehension， candidates should have eight skills as follows： to understand the main ideas， concrete information， conceptual meaning in the reading passages; to give relevant judgments， reasoning and expansion; to guess the meaning of new words from the context; to understand the overall structure of the passage and the relationship between sentences as well as between paragraphs; to understand the authors intention， opinion or attitude; to distinguish between argument and argument.

In CET English paper， reading comprehension part contains five short passages， each of which attaches four multiple-choice questions， thus， a total of 20 items with 2 points for each question， a total of 40 points. Each passage has about 400 words on average; therefore， it will take candidates about 45 minutes to read the passages and select the best answer from the four choices according to the questions based on the reading materials.

As can be seen from the above requirements， reading comprehension part of the examination of the entire examination plays a decisive role in the success. However， judging from the college entrance examination papers in recent years， most of the candidates were still very poor in reading comprehension. The main cause is that they have not mastered the appropriate reading skills， do not know an effective way to access the article information， and do not have the necessary examination skills. Reading is not a passive process， but a proactive activity， so a variety of reading skills cooperating with each other is required; reading is also a process of judging， reasoning， inducting and concluding. Therefore， reading ability and skills is the key to success.

Ⅱ. Ways and strategies to improve reading comprehension ability

Reading is an active process. The significance of an article is not the material itself， but results of readers communicative activities with the material. Readers combine what they have learned with what theyll learn so that they can have a complete understanding of the article. These extended mental activities not only decode the meaning of the word， but achieve a comprehensive understanding of the article as well. In order to improve reading ability， students must have integrated training in the following aspects：

2.1 The basic language skills

We know that it is very important to acquire certain knowledge of the language， especially in vocabulary， which is the very basis of language learning. If the vocabulary is limited， students are bound to encounter more new words in the process of reading， which not only affects the students reading speed， but also their reading comprehension quality.

Besides， its equally important to remember the English grammar and idioms. When reading an article， stundents often encounter a complex sentence structures and idioms， which happen to be the basis for solving a problem.

2.2 Read method

Some people always like reading the book with a pencil or fingers moving around on every line for fear of missing any of the words; some students read out loud; some students get used to translating while reading; some read the sentence once and once again to understand it; and some others just scan the passage impatiently. None of these are the correct reading habits and they go against the scientific laws of reading process.

There are three basic methods of reading： skimming， scanning and intensive reading. In the process reading an article， we should use different reading methods according to different purposes. In formal exams， for example， reading comprehension should be done in the following steps： first read the whole story with skimming to understand the gist; scan the passage to obtain specific information; intensively read to acquire some more detailed information and exact contents. For convenience， key words and sentences can be marked while reading the article to help students check and answer questions. After answering all the questions， they can quickly read through the full text， to determine whether the answer to each question is correct according to the passage， if time permits.

2.3 Reading Skills

The candidates are required by examination syllabus on reading comprehension section that they should possess six main abilities so as to understand the passage and grasp the authors intention in the reading process. Then， these skills can be improved in the following four aspects， so that candidates can make rapid and accurate choice within the stipulated time：

2.3.1 Ascertain the genre of article

Reading comprehension tests are made on the base of test syllabus and instructions， which requires that candidates should get familiar with common genres including argumentative， narrative， expository， and practical writing. And in recent years， there have been most argumentative passages， next to which are expository ones

The feature of argumentative passages is to analyze and comment on the objective things， which focus on argument and proof. The themes tend to be clear and highlighted at the beginning of the article， directing the authors views and attitudes. The following paragraphs provide supporting ideas to influence candidates thinking and judgment.

In exposition articles， the objective nature of things， features， shape， form and function are introduced and explained. Compared with the arguments， it does not attempt to influence the readers thinking， but completely describe the objective things without personal feelings.? ?Exposition is written using methods of defining， giving examples， analysis of cause and effect， sub-categories and contrast.

While reading the exposition articles， candidates must grasp the main idea and the authors way of explaining things.

In short， candidates should read the articles of different genres with different reading skills. At the same language level， reading skills play a more significant role.

2.3.2 Reading materials must have a theme that is central topic. As is regulated， reading is to understand the theme of a passage. And theme is often shown in the form of a topic sentence which generally comes at the beginning or the end of a paragraph. Therefore， we must first find out the topic sentence. Then， developing sentences that give supporting ideas can be found around the topic sentence because topic sentences and developing sentences in the paragraph are indispensable. Thus， the theme or the main idea of the paragraph is easily found out when we spot the topic sentence. However， its not so easy to find the topic sentence in actual reading， especially when reading the paragraph without exact topic sentence.

2.3.3 Focus on the discourse structure model and transitional words

As is known， the ideological framework of the proposition was mainly based on the selected passage and any passage or paragraphs should have a topic sentence. With topic sentences， discourse can be fatherly developed because discourse structure model and content are arranged after the topic sentence. Hence， mastering discourse structure model contributes to help us grasp the main idea of the passage.

Transitional words build up the relationship between sentences and paragraphs in many ways. They are function words or signal words reminding candidates to think about what will be read.

Ⅲ. Master examination skills in CET reading

To improve speed and accuracy of solving reading comprehension problems，? ? you must be familiar with the following aspects：

3.1 Steps of solving problems

When answering reading comprehension questions， some candidates are uncertain which should come first： to read the passage or to read the questions. It actually doesnt matter as different people have different habits. Thus， you can do whichever first as you like. And you should know some common ways of solving such problems as follows：

3.1.1 Read the passage first， and then answer questions about the passage one by one and refer to the passage in case the candidates come across some difficulties. But such method is only fit for those who have better memory and higher level in reading comprehension. Otherwise， The game is not worth the candle for it will take some time to read and understand the passage， and some of the contents can be forgotten. Thus， they cant do all the questions correct and waste some valuable time.

3.1.2 Read the questions first and then read the passage with these questions as reminders. The advantage of this method is that the candidates have definite goal， with which they can save some more time. While it also has some disadvantages that you dont know the structure， theme and details. Thus， they will have to waste a lot of time seeking the needed information in the passage.

3.1.3 Have a fast reading of the passage to obtain the overall impression of it and then read the questions. With the method of scanning， candidates find out the relevant sentences with questions. The answer is obviously lying around them. This is a better way to answer the reading comprehension questions in which candidates know the genre theme and structure of the passage. Thus， candidates can clarify the theme and details of the passage to ensure the accuracy of answers.

3.2 Question Types

In the CET English reading part in recent years， you can find a passage followed with four or five questions （suppose the four types are existed.） which are generally arranged as follows： asking about the main idea comes first; next is one asking about details and then some about vocabulary phrases or sentences; and last comes one about reasoning judge or the authors views and attitudes.

Getting familiar with the types and the order of various questions， candidates know how to read the passage and find out the answers.

3.3 Methods of answering questions

Like answering other questions in the paper， the methods of answering reading comprehension questions are mainly direct mothed and exclusion method. The former is suitable for the candidates who can directly find reason out the answers and then make the right choice， while the latter one is suitable for those who can check the four choices with the cooperation of questions and the passage， removing all interference choice to get the right answer.

Another common approach to answering the reading comprehension questions is to converse sentence patterns and meanings. To increase the difficulty， the questions are often proposed using different words and sentences. So candidates should learn to converse to do better in answering the questions.

Ⅳ. Conclusions

Reading is psychological and mental activity referring to candidates ability and quality requirement which is a complex process in which input of information cooperates with output. So we not only focus on how many passages to provided for the students but we focus more on how well theyll read these passages.

References：

[1]Walter R. Borg， Applying Educational Research. Longman. 1981

[2]Peter， E.Drucker. The Effective Executive. NY：New York UP 1996

[3]Hang，baobong，ed， English Teach It Better. Shanghai： East China Normal university press， 1993.