ПрезентацияDeveloping reading skills: identifying specific facts and details, structure and organizational patterns, making inferences

Lecture III"Developing reading skills: identifying specific facts and details, structure and organizational patterns, making inferences" TOEFL exam will ask you to do this in three different ways:1. By identifying a specific fact or detail mentioned in the passage.2. By identifying information that was not specifically mentioned in the passage.3. By identifying the place in the passage where specific information can be found.Identifying Specific Facts and Details

The idea behind these questions isn’t for you to memorize everything in the passage. Rather, these questions test (1) how carefully you read and (2) your ability to know where to look for specific information within a passage.Identifying Specific Facts and Details Many people are afraid of snakes, but most snakes aren’t as dangerous as people think they are. There are more than 2,500 different species of snakes around the world. Only a small percentage of those species are poisonous, and only a few species have venom strong enough to kill a human being. Furthermore, snakes bite only 1,000–2,000 people in the United States each year, and only ten of those bites (that’s less than 1%) result in death. Statistically, many other animals are far more dangerous than snakes. In fact, in this country, more people die from dog bites each year than from snakes.How many species of snakes are there worldwide?a. between 1,000–2,000b. less than 100c. less than 2,500d. more than 2,500 The best way to find this information is to 1) use the key words from the question as your guide. In addition, you can 2) use the structure of the passage to help you find the correct information.
1. Look for key words in the question to tell you exactly what information to look for in the passage.2. Think about the structure of the passage and where that information is likely to be located.To find specific facts and details, use these two guidelines:
When writers write, they generally use one of several basic organizational patterns. These basic patterns help writers organize their ideas effectively. The four most common patterns are:■ chronological order■ order of importance■ comparison and contrast■ cause and effectRecognizing Structure and Organizational Patterns


When writers use time to organize their ideas, it is called chronological order. They describe events in the order in which they did happen, will happen, or should happen. Much of what you read is organized in this way. Historical texts, instructions and procedures, and essays about personal experiences usually use this structure as the overall organizing principle. CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER Passages organized by chronology provide us with lots of clues to help us follow the passage of time.They use transitional words and phrases to guide us through the text. The transitions help us see when things happened and in what order and help us follow along when the passage shifts from one period of time to another. Transitional words and phrases keep events linked together in the proper order.CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER Here is a list of some of the most common chronological transitions:first, second, third, etc. before after next nowthen when as soon as immediately suddenlysoon during while meanwhile laterin the meantime at last eventually finally afterwardCHRONOLOGICAL ORDER This organizational pattern arranges ideas by rank instead of time. That is, the first idea isn’t what happened first; it’s the idea that’s most or least important. Writers can start with the most important idea and then work down the line to the least important. Or they can do the opposite: start with the least important idea and buildup to the one that’s most important.ORDER OF IMPORTANCE Organizing ideas from most important to least important puts the most essential information first. Newspaper articles, for example, generally use this structure. They begin with the most important information (who, what, when, where, and why about the event) so readers don’t have to read the whole article to get those facts.When writers move from least to most important, they save their most important idea or piece of information for last. Writers often use this approach when they are presenting an argument. That’s because this kind of structure is usually more convincing than a most-to-least organization. And, as the saying goes, writers often “save the best for last” because that’s where “the best” often has the most impact. In other words, the writer’s purpose helps to determine the structure he or she uses.ORDER OF IMPORTANCE Transitions are very important for this organizational pattern, too. Here’s a list of the most common transitions writers use with the order of importance structure. Most of these work for both most-to-least important and least-to-most important patterns:first and foremost most importantly more importantly moreoverabove all first, second, third last but not least finallyORDER OF IMPORTANCE When you show how two or more things are similar, you are making a comparison. When you show how two or more things are different, you are contrasting them. This technique gives you a way to classify or judge the items you are analyzing. By placing two (or more) items side by side, for example, you can see how they measure up against each other.How are they similar or different? And why does it matter?COMPARISON AND CONTRAST Whenever an author is comparing and contrasting two or more items, he or she is doing it for a reason.There’s something the author wants to point out by putting these two items side by side. For example, we could compare the French Revolution and the American Revolution to show how they both overthrew monarchies to create a free republic.COMPARISON AND CONTRAST One of the keys to a good comparison and contrast is strong transitions. It’s important to let readers know when you are comparing and when you are contrasting. As a reader, it’s important to watch for these transitions.Here are some words and phrases that show similarity:similarly in the same way likewise like in a like manner just as and also bothThe following words and phrases, on the other hand, show difference:but on the other hand yet however on the contrary in contrast conversely while unlikeCOMPARISON AND CONTRAST Another common organizational pattern is cause and effect. A cause is a person or thing that makes something happen (creates an effect). An effect is an event or change created by an action (or cause). A passage about cause explains why something took place. You might ask, for example, “What caused the Industrial Revolution?”A passage about effect, on the other hand, explains what happened after something took place. What happened as a result of the Industrial Revolution? How did it affect the economy? Daily life? Education?CAUSE AND EFFECT Just as certain key words indicate whether you’re comparing or contrasting, other key words indicate whether things are causes or effects. Here is a partial list of words and phrases that indicate cause and effect:WORDS INDICATING CAUSE:because (of) created (by)since caused (by)WORDS INDICATING EFFECT:therefore sohence consequentlyas a resultCAUSE AND EFFECT Familiarity with organizational patterns can help you in several ways as you prepare for and take the TOEFLexam. Once you recognize an organizational pattern, you can anticipate what’s ahead. This often makes it easier to understand and remember what you read. It also makes it easier to find specific information in the text for those specific fact/detail questions.When you know the structure of a passage, you can also make better decisions about where to insertnew information. For example, read this passage:HOW THIS CAN HELP YOU ON THE TOEFL EXAM The current measure used to calculate poverty levels was introduced in 1963. At that time, the poverty line for a family of two adults and two children was about $3,100. In 1992, there were 36.9 million people, or 14.5 percent of the U.S. population, with incomes below the poverty line. (1) A proposed new way of measuring poverty levels would take into account the effects of work related expenses such as transportation and child-care costs. (2) By including these costs, fewer people in families receiving cash welfare would fall under the poverty line while a greater percentage of people in working families would be categorized as poor. Specifically, people in families receiving cash welfare would make up 30 percent of the poor under the new measure, compared with 40 percent under the current measure. (3) In contrast, people in working families would make up 59 percent of the poor under the new measure, compared with 51 percent under the current measure. (4) The following sentence can be added to this passage:The new measure would have two important effects.Where would this sentence best fit in the passage? Choose the number to indicate where you would add the sentence to the passage.a. (1)b. (2)c. (3)d. (4)Because the sentence to insert clearly sets up a cause/effect structure, it gives you a strong clue about where it best belongs. The sentence will make the most sense if it comes right before the passage discusses the effects of the new measure. Therefore, the best answer is choice b—at the beginning of the second paragraph.



Making InferencesThe key to drawing the right conclusions (making the right inferences) is the same as the key to finding the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words. You have to look for clues in the context.1) WORD CHOICE2) DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

WORD CHOICEThe writer’s word choice (also called diction) can reveal an awful lot about how he or she feels about the subject.By looking closely at word choice, you will find clues that can help you better understand the text. Wordchoice clues can come in the following forms:■ particular words and phrases that the author uses■ the way those words and phrases are arranged in sentences■ word or sentence patterns that are repeated■ important details about people, places, and things WORD CHOICETo see how word choice reveals the writer’s attitude, read the two sentences below:A: A school uniform policy would reduce disciplinary problems.B: A school uniform policy would minimize disciplinary problems. DENOTATION AND CONNOTATIONEven words that seem to mean the same thing have subtly different meanings and sometimes not-so-subtle effects. For example, words slim and thin. If you say your aunt is thin, that means one thing. If you say she is slim, that means something a little bit different. That’s because slim has a different connotation than thin.Connotation is a word’s suggested or implied meaning; it’s what the word makes you think or feel. Slim and thin have almost the same denotation—their dictionary definition—but slim suggests more grace and class than thin. Slim is a very positive word. It suggests that your aunt is healthy and fit. Thin, however, does not. Thin suggests that your aunt may be a little bit too skinny for her health. Thin and slim, then, have different connotations. So the word you choose to describe your aunt can tell others a lot.
1. What strategies can be applied to identify specific facts and details?2. What are organizational patterns that any author uses?3. What is a chronological order? What transitions can an author use to show a chronology of events?4. What is an order of importance? Where can we meet such an organizational pattern?5. What is a comparison/contrast? What is the difference between them? Name their transitional words. 6. What is a cause/effect? What is the difference between them? Name their transitional words.7. What strategies can be applied to make inferences?QUESTIONS TO BE DISCUSSED: