Unit One Efficient Reading Lesson 1 Developing Your Reading Efficiency Graduate students are pressed for time because so many activities demand their valuable time. One of the best ways to handle the demands and pressures of university life is to e more efficient—to get more done in less time. Many students think that the only way to e more efficient is to read faster. This is, however, not the case. Reading efficiency means more than saving time by reading rapidly. Reading effectively includes understanding the ideas the writer is trying to send anizing those ideas logically to remember them. Your reading efficiency will increase as you develop techniques that improve your comprehension and retention. These in turn will enable you to use your time most economically. Analyzing Your Reading Efficiency Are you an efficient reader? Here are some questions that will help you assess your reading efficiency. Answer Yes or No to the questions provided. Do you set goals and time limits for yourself at the beginning of each reading study session? 2. Do you have particular questions in mind when you begin to read an assignment? 3. Do you try to understand the author’s ideas instead prehending the literal meaning of each word? 4. Do you pay attention to the paragraphs and how they anized? 5. While reading, do you try to predict or anticipate what the writer will say next? 6. Are you on the alert to words and phrases that signal change or continuation in thought? 7. Do you sort out more and less important details as you read? 8. When you meet a new word, do you try to figure out its meaning from the way it is used in the sentence? 9. Do you regularly use underlining, summary notes, and marginal notations to identify important information? 10. When you finish reading an assignment, do you take a few minutes to review what you have read and the writer’s purpose of writing? 11. Do you find reading an easy and enjoyable task? If you answer
