The Joy of Reading Leaves Men on the Shelf

(1) When it comes to reading habits, women are chapters ahead of men, a survey reveals today. The study of what Britons read – and when – found that 35% of men had not read a book for pleasure for five years or more, compared to only one in five women.

(2) The survey, conducted by Book Marketing Ltd, also reveals that while 47% of women claimed to have finished a book in the previous fortnight, only 30% of men could say the same. Reading habits differ markedly with age; whereas only 18% of those aged 15 to 24 had read a book in the week before they were questioned, the figure for people aged between 25 and 34 was 21%, and 41% for those over 55.

(3) Cookery books, with many titles linked to a television series, are the most popular type of book bought, although romantic fiction and puzzle books have the biggest volume of sales. For example, culinary titles were bought by 21% of those who purchased a book compared to 18% who bought a crime story or thriller, 12% who bought a romantic novel and 7% who bought a work of 20th-century fiction.

(4) A quick look around London book stores yesterday bore out some of the findings, with a range of cookery books, romantic works and thrillers on the bestseller racks. Also selling well were novels that had won literary prizes and what one bookseller called ‘trophy’ books, titles which look good on the bookshelf, but which tend to be more purchased than read.

(5) The finding that women are greater readers than men was supported by a quick survey of book buyers by this newspaper. “I think it’s because women are continually trying to change and improve themselves, and are more flexible and open to new experiences,” Liz Kay, a curator at the Tate Gallery, said. Tamsin Summerson, 22, said she was aware of the difference among her friends. “If you ask a man what book they’ve just read, they’re likely to have forgotten or they will change the subject. On the other hand, with a woman, you’re likely to get into a lengthy discussion about it.”

(6) But whichever sex you are, it is getting harder to be well-read. The number of books published in Britain has risen steadily in recent years, from just under 55,000 in 1987 to just over 95,000 today. Book prices have also risen from an average of £7.93 for a novel in 1991 compared with £8.99 today. Consumer spending on books has jumped from £755 million in 1985 to £1673 million.

2.3. Now read again more carefully and answer these questions.

1. Why has the writer used the expression ‘chapters ahead’?

2. In your own words explain the term ‘for pleasure’.

3. What does ‘the same’ in paragraph 2 refer to?

4. What does the word ‘markedly’ mean?

5. What does ‘the figure’ in paragraph 2 refer to?

6. What are ‘culinary titles’?

7. What does the phrasal verb ‘bore out’ mean?

8. Explain in your own words why ‘trophy books’ may be ‘more purchased than read’.

9. What do you understand by the adverb ‘steadily’?

10.Explain in your own words the term ‘consumer spending’.

11.Which word is used in the article for the conclusions drawn from the information collected in the survey?

2.4. Read the extract about oral reading and summarize each paragraph in one sentence.

One of the most commonplace instructional strategies in elementary and middle schools is that of oral reading. Virtually all teachers, at some point in the school day, engage in this activity, whether by reading aloud to the class or by having the students read to one another. Although some recent education theorists have challenged the efficacy of oral reading, its popularity in schools and classrooms is unchallenged.

The history of oral reading in the classroom is inextricably linked with the history of the culture that engendered it. Prior to the development of computers, television, and radio, reading was the predominant form of family entertainment. However, printed books were often scarce, and literacy rates were often low. Thus, families would gather around and listen to a book being read to them. Early classrooms were modeled after this phenomenon, and oral reading was such a part of academic life that schools were sometimes called blabschools. In these schools, students often read their lessons aloud simultaneously, even when the students had different lessons. At other times, all students read the same text aloud.

With the increasing availability of books, schools began using textbooks to teach reading in the classroom. By the nineteenth century, the focus had moved to teaching students ‘eloquent reading.’ Students were expected to recite stories, poems, and prayers for the class, and the teacher graded them on their articulation and pronunciation, as well as their abilities to recall what they had just read. This method persisted into the twentieth century and became known as the story method of instruction. Oral reading was such a focal point of instruction that philosopher William James stated “...the teacher’s success or failure in teaching reading is based...upon the oral reading method.”

However, as the twentieth century progressed, the effectiveness of oral reading was called into question. Education scholars in both Europe and the United States wondered exactly what oral reading was teaching students. With oral reading focusing excessively on pronunciation and dynamics, educators doubted that students were even able to comprehend what they were saying. One scholar quoted a study that claimed that eleven-twelfths of students did not understand what they were reciting when they read orally. Friedrich Froebel, a German education specialist, argued that oral reading inappropriately placed emphasis on expression, when the emphasis should be placed on process.

Also at this time, science was gaining increasing prominence, and across all fields researchers were placing a premium on empirical studies. Many long-standing beliefs and views were challenged, and educational theories were no exception. Behavioral scientists studied reading practices and determined that oral reading was no longer in fashion. In fact, they concluded that the only time students read orally was in school. Most individuals read silently, and this finding led many schools to change their methods to reflect this change.

The new preponderance of written texts also played a role in the history of oral reading. With the amount of printed material rapidly expanding, silent reading, which was more efficient, became the reading model of choice. For a number of years, oral reading was absent from many a classroom. But in time, new research and studies brought oral reading back to the curriculum.

Pressley's influential book ‘Verbal Protocols of Reading’ emphasizes the importance of oral reading, tracing its history back to the methods of Aristotle and Plato. In many ways, however, the new research reiterates what most teachers already know. For them, the necessity and effectiveness of oral reading was never in doubt.

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2.5. Read the extract and answer the questions.

How fast can you read?

The average college student reads everything at more or less the same speed of 200 to 300 words a minute. However, recent experiments have shown that a person can read 800 – 1,000 words and some researchers have noted even higher speeds (up to 1,200 words). To make this possible several techniques exist. These include skimming (to understand the main points), scanning (to pick out specific details), and intensive reading (to study and retain the maximum).

The good reader adapts the speed of reading to his purpose. He will judge what particular information is wanted, and how long the information will have to be retained. Unfortunately immediate human memory has the drawback that it retains only six to eight disconnected items. This means that information must be processed and organized at the same speed that it is received. The reader devises a mental scheme for rearranging items of information. At this moment he is thinking for himself of those parts of the sentence he has missed. Reading then becomes externally guided thinking. Slow word-for-word reading, on the other hand, presents several problems, especially for the language learner. Owing to attention to details the overall picture is lost and a lot of time is spent in looking up unknown words in the dictionary. Quite contrary to expectation, experiments have shown that fast reading has several advantages: comprehension is higher, the main ideas can be isolated and the student is not held up by unknown vocabulary and can be trained to read simplified texts from the start.

Answer the questions:

1. How fast does the average college student read?

2. What is the highest speed noted by some researchers?

3. How many reading techniques are mentioned in the text?

4. What are they?

5. What are the qualities of a good reader?

6. What drawback does the immediate human memory have?

7. How can fast reading be improved?

8. What problems are connected with slow word-for-word reading?

9. Does fast reading have any advantages for the language learner?

10. What conclusions can be drawn from the article?

11. Is the author against slow reading?

12. Do you agree with the author’s view?

13. What's your opinion?

14. Can you give some facts to support your argument?

15. How fast can you read in English (in Ukrainian)?

16. What reading techniques do you find most suitable?

17. In what way do you keep a record of the information you need? (files, cards, notes)

18. Can you read English texts very fast with comprehension?

19. Do you use the same techniques when reading a Ukrainian or Russian text?

20. Does the speed of reading depend on the type of text?

Task 3

3.1. Pre-discussion

You’re going to read about people who can’t read and write. Think about the topic of reading and writing using the questions below.

• In your country, are there many adults who can’t read and write?

• What are the reasons why some adults can’t read and write?

• What problems do adults have when they can’t read or write?

• How can adults get help with reading and writing?

3.2. The text on Literacy has six paragraphs, labelled A-F. Read the text and choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

List of Headings

I. Early mention of the problems

II. The link between adult and child literacy

III. A new attempt to improve literacy

IV. The great variety of reading material

V. Present levels of adult illiteracy

VI. Lack of progress

Write the correct number І-VI for each paragraph.

Paragraph Heading

LITERACY

(A) We live in an age when we are surrounded by information. Apart from information in notices, books and newspapers, we receive information in our email, from the Internet, and from text messages on our mobile phones. So it is ironic that with so much information available to us, more people than ever before are unable to access it because they are not able to read and write.

(B) Adult literacy is a very important, but often overlooked part of any basic education programme. Most programmes focus on children, but research and experience show that if children come from homes in which the adults have low literacy skills, those children will have a very high chance of becoming low-literate adults themselves.

(C) The number of illiterate adults in the world is now over 900 million, nearly equivalent to the population of India. Two out of every three of those adults are women. That shocking figure gets worse if you include individuals who are not completely literate, so they lack the level of skill required to be successful in the family, at work, and in the community.

(D) The international community has been calling attention to the problem of illiteracy for a long time. As early as 1948, education was among the basic human rights included in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. More recently, at a meeting of the World Conference on Education in 1990, it was stated that ‘illiteracy is a significant problem in all countries, industrialised and developing’. Delegates to the meeting agreed to try and reduce the adult illiteracy rate to one-half of its 1990 level by the year 2000, and to reduce the difference between male and female illiteracy rates. The goal was repeated at various conferences throughout that decade.

(E) However, by the end of the century statistical evidence showed that efforts to improve literacy were still failing. Although some progress had been made, 113 million children still remained out of school and although the overall numbers of literate adults had risen, many remained illiterate.

(F) At the beginning of the new millennium, an organisation called the World Education Forum published six education aims. These range from providing care and education in early childhood, to improving the quality of all aspects of education. One of its goals was a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women. In addition, in 2001 every member of the United Nations General Assembly voted to call the years 2003 to 2012 ‘the Literacy Decade’.

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 1693