REASONS FOR READING

You have a 6-page train timetable and you want to find out what time the Manchester train leaves London. Then you....

• read the table in detail starting at page 1

• flick through the pages until you locate the information you need

• read the text quickly from start to finish to get a general idea of the content

Answer explanation

At times, it is not necessary to read the whole text as we only need to find specific information. e.g. our list of contacts

You're flicking through a magazine and come across an article with an interesting title, so you....

• read the article quickly to see if the content might be something you want to read

• read the article in detail, stopping at every unknown word and looking it up in a dictionary

• read the article to see if there are any interesting facts or dates

Answer explanation

Sometime we just need to read a text quickly to get a generl idea of the content

Your friend offers you some chocolate, but you want to check if it has any nuts because you're allergic, so you...

• read the label in detail to know everything about the product

• read the label quickly trying to find specific components of the product

• read the label quickly to have a general idea of how the product was made

Answer explanation

At times, we need to locate specific information in the text, so we look for key words and details

You receive an email from an old friend who you haven't heard from in a long time, Your friend gives you a few details of his life, but you want to understand if he's happy or not. So you....

• read the email quickly to find specific words/details.

• read the text carefully to get a general idea of his feelings

• read the email carefully trying to make inferences about your friend's mood

Answer explanation

Sometimes, we need to interpret the writer's feelings by carefully analysing what's in the text

Your grandmother has given you her secret recipe for a cake she always makes. It's quite complicated, but you know it will be worth it. Then you...

• read it in detail to make sure you don't forget something

• read it quickly for specific words/details

• read it in detail, and note down grammatical structures and vocabulary

Answer explanation

There are some texts that requires readers to fully understand its content, but no grammatical o lexical knowledge is ncessary

As a teacher, you have to plan a lesson for next week. You have a long text that you would like to use with your advanced students, so you....

• read it in detail and note down grammatical structures and vocabulary

• read the text quickly to get a general idea of it.

• read it in detail to make sure you don't forget anything

Answer explanation

As learning resources, texts are rich in vocabulary and grammar that can be analysed. Depending on the text genre, some grammatical structures and lexical sets are more common

You've just received a contract for a new job, so you...

• read it quickly to know the correct number of clauses

• read it intensively checking that your personal information and other words are spelt correclty

• read it throughly, focusing on the details

Answer explanation

In long texts, it is important to focus on the details so that we can fully understand them

A newspaper article you're reading has a few unknown words, so you...

• stop and every unknown word and look it up in the dictionary

• skip the sentences with unknown words

• guess the meaning of the unknown word and do your best to understand

Answer explanation

Unless we are focused on language development, we won't need to stop and look up words in the dictionary. Instead we use our knowledge of the topic and context to guess the meaning of words.