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Strive for success in English learning by grasping the reading skills
on the basis of background knowledge
以知识争先，靠阅读取胜
Chongqing Yucai (No. 20) Middle School Chen Qingyong
Step I. Warming up
1. Greetings with the students.
Today I feel it a great pleasure of mine to stand here and discuss how to strive for success in English learning with you. I know you are good at learning English. There are so many students here hoping to get something useful for your study. Everyone wants to be successful , especially in the English learning. But how can we succeed? We must try our best to grasp the reading skills on the basis of background knowledge.
2. What are you doing these days and what’s your experience of learning English well?
It is almost three years since most of us began to learn English. I’m sure that you have found out your own way of leaning it. The most important English exam is coming. Are you ready for it? Can you tell me what you are doing with it and what your experience of learning English is? When we are talking about English learning, we mean listening, speaking, reading and writing. Among these skills, reading is the most important thing we must do every day. You can keep reading at least one passage each day. It’s very helpful for your English study.
(Get some students to tell us something about their own English study. Guide the students to tell us something about English reading.)
Step II. The importance of reading English.
It’s very important for us Chinese students to know some basic knowledge of English through learning English grammar such as the language points in each unit. But reading is even more important. It’s an important way of learning a foreign language. So far, we have learned a lot about English basic knowledge. But can you remember all the language points given by your teachers and learned by yourselves? Maybe yes, maybe no. But if you keep on reading more and more by your heart, you will find it’s yes to remember at least most of them. Because while you are reading, you are sure to put all the language points into practice. It’s really helpful for us to get more new information and you will be able to talk with the foreigners from the English speaking countries, so that you can know more about the world. In the examination, we usually meet with Closet (20ponits), Missing words (20 points) and Reading Comprehension (30 points) , altogether 70 points, which stand for almost the half of the exam paper. In the listening test, there are still two passages for to listen which accounts for 18 points. As we know, they still have something to do with your reading comprehension. Nowadays, you are being tested how much and how well you can read. If you can do well in reading, you will feel it easier to strive for success in the English learning, and the English exam as well.
Step III. Requirements for the students’ Reading Comprehension.
When you are reading, you are required to:
1. Grasp the main idea of the reading and the corresponding facts and details.
2. Understand both the specific details and the abstract concepts.
3. Understand not only the meaning of the words and expressions, but also the deep meaning including the writer’s purpose and feeling.
4. Reason and judge by understanding the whole passage as well as each paragraph, even each sentence.
5. Guess the meaning of new words and expressions according to the context, the background knowledge and your experience
Step IV. Have a discussion about how to do well in the reading comprehension.
We have done many reading comprehensions. What do you usually do with them?
(Guide the students to follow the rules below.)
Step V. Rules for reading
While you are doing reading comprehension, don’t fail to remember the following rules:
① Keep the questions on your mind, mark where necessary.（针对性原则）
Before you read a passage, you should look through the questions first of all. Keep the questions in your mind. Make sure what you are wanted to find, and then read it. It’s important to mark where you find it useful and necessary, so that you can find the answers to the questions quickly and easily.
②Get better understanding of the whole passage, not some certain parts of it. (整体性阅读原则)
Sometimes you cannot find out the main idea of the passage in the first several sentences or paragraphs. But don’t worry about it, just go on with it until you finish reading the whole. Then you can get the right information to the questions.
③ Try to find out the key (most important ) sentences. (把握主题句原则)
Usually, there is a key sentence in each paragraph, that’s the most important one. Sometimes it lies at the beginning, it also can go to the end of the paragraph. It is one of the most important ways to improve your reading skill. If you are able to find out thekey sentences, you will get a better understanding of the whole passage.
④ Guess the meaning of the new words in a right way. （词义猜测的原则）
It’s very common that you will meet with some new words and expressions while reading. But don’t be afraid of them, try to guess the meaning of them according to the context, the background knowledge and with the help of word building. Especially, you must pay attention to the words which have quite different meanings. Such as “fire”. It has two meanings. AS we know, we can’t learn all the Chinese words, but we still can read the story in Chinese.
⑤ Try to read fast on the basis of well understanding. (在理解的前提下，快速阅读的原则)
It’s right to try to read fast. But if you can’t understand what you are reading, It’s no use to read fast. The most important thing about reading fast is to remember the most important information. When you are reading you’d better use your eyes instead of your hands. It’s good for you to read at a right speed you think possible.
Step VI. Discuss while doing comprehension, what kinds of questions they often meet and what they usually do with them.
What kinds of questions you often meet with while you are reading. And what do you usually do with them?
There are 6 kinds of questions the students often meet. They are questions about the main idea, the details, the messages and the numbers. They are also questions about reasoning and guessing the meaning of the words and expressions.
Step VII. Reading skills for different kinds of questions.
How can we do well in the reading? What should we do with each kind of the questions?
1. Questions about the main idea. （主旨大意题）
When you meet with this kind of question, you should find out the main idea of a paragraph or the whole passage. We can do with it in different ways. You can find out the main idea at the beginning or you can go to the end of a paragraph or a passage and find it. Make sure what the writer most likely to tell you., trying to find out the corresponding facts and details.
【Model 1】(2000’ Anhui)
Most people have flown a kite or have seen one ride and dip (下降) in a strong spring wind . Not so many people know that kites were first made in China thousands of years ago. The ancient（古代） Chinese were making and flying kites even before they were writing.
A long time ago, the Chinese made kites to use in wars（战争）. They would fly these war kites in the dark.. The kites were fixed(固定) so that they made strange sounds. Men who were at war with them would hear these sounds and run away. They thought those strange sounds were made by gods (神) in the sky.
The ancient Chinese also flew kites to bring good luck and to make their crops grow rich and tall. Sometimes they tied long strings （细绳）and hooks (钩子) to their kites. Then they would fly the kites over water, letting the hooks hang down to catch fish.
The Chinese use sticks, strings and paper for their kites. Some of these kites look like animals or trees. Others look like birds or houses.
1.The main idea of the first paragraph(段落) is that .
A. kites were first made in China
B. most of us have flown or seen a kite
C. the ancient Chinese were making kites before they were writing
D. the ancient Chinese were good at making kites
2.What is the best title （标题）of the passage?
A. Lucky Kites B. Strange Kites C. Beautiful Kites D. Chinese Kites
This passage tells us something about Chinese kites. It answered when kites started, how useful the kites were in the old times, how they were made and what they were like.
No.1. There are three sentences in the first paragraph. The first sentence tells that kites are not strange to us. The second tells that kites were first made in China. The third tells that kites were made by Chinese even before they could write. So we can find out the main idea of the first paragraph is “A. Kites were first made in China.”
No.2 After reading the whole passage, it’s easy to find “D Chinese Kites” the best title of the passage. A B C can’t show all that the writer has written.
【Exercise 1】
Everyone needs friends. We all like to feel close to someone. It is nice to have a friend to talk. laugh, and do things with. Surely, there are times when we need to be alone. We don’t always want people around. But we would feel lonely if we never had a friend.
No two people are just the same. Sometimes friends don’t get along well. That doesn’t mean that they no longer like each other. Most of the time they will make up and go on being friends.
Sometimes friends move away. Then we feel very sad. We miss them very much. But we can call them and write to them. It could be that we would even see them again. And we can make new friends. It is surprising to know them.
The first paragraph(段)tells us .
A. none need friends B. we always need friends around us
C. making friends is the need in people’s life D. we need to be alone
Here are three paragraphs. It’s no need for you to read all the three paragraphs. You can only read through the first one, because the question is only about the first paragraph. It tells that everyone needs friends. “A. none need friends” is wrong. Sometimes we need to be alone, so “B. we always need friends around us.” is not right. But we would feel lonely if we never had a friend. “D. we need to be alone” is wrong, too. “C. making friends is the need in people’s life.”
2. Questions about details（细节理解题）.
To tell the readers the main idea, the writer certainly will give us a lot of facts and examples., so that it becomes an essay. For a narration(记叙文), it’s very important to find 5 w’s and 1 h. They are “what, who, when, where, why and how”.
【Model 2】(1999’ Nangjing )
I have always been interested in making things. When I was a child, I enjoyed painting(绘画), but I also liked making things out of clay(粘土). I won a prize (奖) for one of my paintings when I was fourteen. That may be why I went to art school four years later. But I studied painting at first, not pottery(制陶). I like being a potter because I like to work with my hands and feel the clay. I’m happy working by myself and being near my home. I don’t like mass-produced things, for they are made by machines and are all the same. I think crafts (手工艺) are very important and craftspeople make things cleverly with hands. They make our lives colorful. When I left school, I got some money. I hope to become a full-time craftswoman. This workplace is small. But I wish to move to a larger one next year.
1. From the passage we are sure that the writer is a .
A. student B. teacher C. man D. woman
2. The writer got into art school because of .
A. liking to make things B. enjoying working nearby
C. a prize won when young D. a wish to be a potter
No. 1 The passage tells that the writer has left school, so the writer can’t be a student. It tells that the writer likes being a potter, it doesn’t tell us the writer will be a teacher. Here is a sentence “I hope to become a full-time craftswoman”. We know the writer isn’t a man but a woman. D is right.
No. 2 Why did the writer go to art school. In the passage the writer has already told us “I won a prize (奖) for one of my paintings when I was fourteen. That may be why I went to art school four years later.” That’s why she chose to go to art school. C is right.
【Exercise 2】
In a history class, the teacher asked Sam some questions, but he couldn’t answer any of them. Then the teacher decided to ask him a few very easy ones.
“What is California（加利福尼亚）?” she asked.
Sam thought for a moment and answered, “A city.”
“No, a state（州）,” the teacher became a little angry and said. But she tried not to show it. “Who was the first president（总统）of the U.S.A?” she asked again.
Sam thought for a long time, but said nothing. The teacher got very angry and said in a loud voice, “George Washington!” (the name of the first president of America) Sam then walked to his seat.
“Come back!” the teacher said. “I didn’t tell you to go.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Sam said. “I thought you had called the next student.”
The history teacher got very angry because__________.
A. Sam gave a wrong answer to her second question
B. the question was too hard to answer
C. the student didn’t know the answer to the first question
D. Sam couldn’t answer her second easy question
This story happened between a history teacher and a student Sam. The teacher asked two questions for Sam to answer. One is “What is California?”, the other is “Who was the first president of the USA?” Sam answered the first question, but the answer was wrong, the teacher got only a little angry, not very angry. So “C. the student didn’t know the answer to the first question” is wrong. The teacher decided to ask Sam another easy question. But “Sam thought for a long time, but said nothing.” “A. Sam gave a wrong answer to her second question” is not right. The two questions are both easy, so “B. the question was too hard to answer.” is wrong. “D. Sam couldn’t answer her second easy question” is right.
3. Questions about reasoning and judgement. （推理判断题）
Usually we can’t find out the answer in the reading in a straight way. We must make conclusion according to the facts and information in the passage. We can’t make a conclusion with our own experience, or we will make a mistake in doing so.
【Model 3】
A man would be away for some time. He said to his son, “ If anyone asks for me, tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea.” But he was still afraid that his foolish son might forget his words, so he wrote them down on a piece of paper and gave it to his son. The boy put it into his pocket and read it every day.
Four days passed , but no one came. The boy thought the paper would be no more use for him, so he burnt it. The next afternoon, however , a visitor came to see his father and asked, “Where is your father?” The boy quickly looked for the paper in his pockets. He couldn`t find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it and said, “No more.” “No more? When did it happen?” “Burnt last night.” was the boy`s answer.
A man came to visit the boy’s father on .
A. the second day B. the third day
C. the fourth day D. the fifth day
This is a very funny story. It tells us that how foolish the boy is. But how can we get the right answer. The writer has told us that “Four days has passed, but nobody came to visit the boy’s father. The next afternoon, a visitor came.” When did the visitor came? We must know “The next afternoon” is the next afternoon after 4days, that is on the fifth day. D is right.
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