Chapter 4 - The Second Level of Reading - Inspectional Reading

Question 1

Which level of reading is contained (and must be fully mastered) in the second level of reading Inspectional Read?

Answer 1

Elementary Reading

Question 2

What are the two types of Inspectional

Reading?

Answer 2

• Systematic Reading or Pre-reading

* Superficial Reading

Question 3

What are the five basic situational elements when reading?

Answer 3

• There is a book or other reading material
• There is your mind
• You don’t know whether you want to read it
• You don’t know whether it deserves an analytical reading (for information and insights)
• You have limited time

Question 4

What must you do to address the five basic elements to reading a new book?

Answer 4

Skim the book to decide whether the book requires a more careful reading and to basic info about the book should you decide not to read it again.

Question 5

The aim of skimming a book is to

Answer 5

• Discover the author’s main contention, • as well as what kind of book he has written.

Question 6

The first step in skimming a book?

Answer 6

• Look at title page, preface, subtitles and any author’s special angle on the subject
• Pigeonhole the book to place in similar category to other books

Question 7

The second step in skimming a book?

Answer 7

• Study the table of contents

* to obtain a general sense of the book’s structure, use as road map

Question 8

Detailed tables of content are not as common anymore due to publishers feeling that

Answer 8

Readers are more likely to want to find out what the chapters are about if the table of contents has less revealing/seductive chapter titles

Question 9

The third step in skimming a book?

Answer 9

Read the index. Make quick estimate of:
• the range of topics
• kinds of books/authors referenced
• crucial terms/passages that highlight the main points or departuring attitude

Question 10

The fourth step in skimming a book?

Answer 10

Read the dust jacket’s publisher’s blurb
• Most often, it summarizes the main points of the book
• If it contains mostly fluff, then perhaps so does the book

Question 11

The fifth step in skimming a book?

Answer 11

Look at the chapters that seem to be pivotal.

• Read their opening/closing (page) summary statements

Question 12

The sixth step in skimming a book?

Answer 12

Thumb through the book
• Read occasional parapgraph or two, and subsequent page or two
• Readthe last few pages or epilogue

Question 13

The second level of inspectional reading, superficial reading, is

Answer 13

when you are tackling a difficult book for the first time, read it through without ever stopping to look up or ponder the things you do not understand right away.

Question 14

Why should you do a superficial reading on your first reading of a difficult book?

Answer 14

You will be lost trying to do otherwise.
• You risk losing the big points while trying to understand the fine points
• You have a much better chance of understanding the difficult parts on a second reading (after a full reading)

Question 15

What reading speeds should be used during inspectional or superficial reading?

Answer 15

Ideally, reading at different speeds, knowing when to read fast and when to read slow

Question 16

Speed Reading should not be employed when reading sentences or paragraphs that require

Answer 16

long thought and comprehension, such as paragraphs and phrases that present new ideas, insights, and views.

Question 17

Speed Reading should be employed when reading sentences or paragraphs that contain

Answer 17

facts, fluff, or rhetorical flourish. It is not necessary to gain more then a general idea of the kind of facts/rhetoric that are presented, they can be returned to later if the needed.

Question 18

A good template for deciding between superficial inspectional/speed reading and analytical reading is the Declaration of Independence. Which kinds of reading can be used on which pages?

Answer 18

Analytical reading for the first page (if printed out), especially the first two paragraphs, and inspectional superficial reading for the following fact-filled and rhetorical pages.