The following article was written by the well-known African-American comedian and TV star Bill Cosby, He grew up in poor circumstances at a time when opportunities for African-Americans in the United States were very limited. (This situation improved after the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s) Despite these limitations, Mr. Cosby was successful. After becoming well known, he returned to college and carried a doctorate in education. Over the years, he has been awarded over 100 honorary degrees by universities in recognition of his cultural contributions and service. He is the holder of the second highest number of honorary degrees in the United States. He and his wife suffered a horrifying and public tragedy in 1997 when their son was robbed and murdered on a freeway in Los Angeles. In spite of this terrible loss, they have moved forward, and Bill launched a new TV show characterized by his unique humor. From what you now know about the author's background, why do you think he chose an informal style to present his information?
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How to read faster
When I was a kid in Philadelphia, I must have read every comic book ever published. (There were fewer of them then than there are now.)
I zipped through all of them in a couple of days, then reread the good ones until the next issues arrived.
Yes, indeed, when I was a kid, the reading game was a snap.
But as I got older, my eyeballs must have slowed down or something! I mean, comic books started to pile up faster than my brother Russell and I could read them!
It wasn't until much later, when I was getting my doctorate, I realized it wasn't my eyeballs that were to blame. Thank goodness. They're still moving as well as ever.
The problem is, there's too much to read these days, and too little time to read every word of it.
Now, mind you, I still read comic books. In addition to contracts, novels, and newspapers; screenplays, tax returns, and correspondence. Even text- books about how people read. And which techniques help people read more in less time.
I'll let you in on a little secret. There are hundreds of techniques you could learn to help you read faster. But I know of three that are especially good.
And if I can learn them, so can you-and you can put them to use immediately.
They are commonsense, practical ways to get the meaning from printed words quickly and efficiently. So you'll have time to enjoy your comic books, have a good laugh with Mark Twain, or a good cry with War and Peace. Ready?
They'll give you the overall meaning of what you're reading. And let you cut out an awful lot of unnecessary reading.
1. Preview---If It's Long and Hard
Previewing is especially useful for getting a general idea of heavy reading like long magazine or newspaper articles, business reports, and-nonfiction books.
It can give you as much as half the comprehension in as little as one-tenth the time. For example, you should be able to preview eight or ten 100-page reports in an hour. After previewing, you'll be able to decide which reports (or which parts of which reports) are worth a closer look.
Here's how to preview: Read the entire first two paragraphs of whatever you've chosen. Next read only the first sentence of each successive paragraph, Then read the entire last two paragraphs.
Previewing doesn't give you all the details. But it does keep you from spending time on things you don't really want--or need--to read. Notice that previewing gives you a quick, overall view of long, unfamiliar material. For short, light reading, there's a better technique.
2. Skim---if It's Short and Simple
Skimming is a good way to get a general idea of light reading---like popular magazines or the sports and entertainment sections of the paper.
You should be able to skim a weekly popular magazine or the second section of your daily paper in less than half the time it takes you to read it now.
Skimming is also a great way to review material you've read before.
Here's how to skim: Think of your eyes as magnets. Force them to move fast. Sweep them across each and every line of type. Pick up only a few key words in each line.
Everybody skims differently.
You and I may not pick up exactly the same words when we skim the same piece, but we'll both get a pretty similar idea of what it's all about.
To show you how it works, I circled the words I picked out when I skimmed the following story. Try it. It shouldn't take you more than ten seconds.
My brother (Russell) (thinks monsters) (live) in our (bedroom) (closet at night). But I told him (he is crazy).
“Go and (check) (then),” he said.
(I didn’t want to). Russell said (I was chicken).
“Am not,” I said.
“Are so,” he said.
So (I told him) the monsters were going (to eat him) at (midnight). He started to cry. (My Dad came in) and (told) the monsters (to beat it). Then he (told) us to (go to sleep).
“If I hear any more about monsters,” he said, (“I’ll spank you.”) We went to (sleep fast). And you (know something?) They (never did) (come back.)
Skimming can give you a very good idea of this story in about half the words---and in less than half the time it'd take to read every word.
So far, you've seen that previewing and skimming can give you a general idea about content---fast. But neither technique can promise more than 50 percent comprehension, because you aren't reading all the words. (Nobody gets something for nothing in the reading game.)
To read faster and understand most-if not all-of what you read, you need to know a third technique.
3. Cluster-To Increase Speed and Comprehension
Most of us learned to read by looking at each word in a sentence-one at a time.
Like this:
My-brother-Russell-thinks-monsters...
You probably still read this way sometimes, especially when the words are difficult. Or when the words have an extra-special meaning-in a poem, a Shakespearean play, or a contract. And that's O.K.
But word-by-word reading is a rotten way to read faster. It actually cuts down on your speed.
Clustering trains you to look at groups of words instead of one at a time---to increase your speed enormously. For most of us, clustering is a totally different way of seeing what we read.
Here's how to cluster: Train your eyes to see all the words in clusters of up to three or four words at a glance.
Here's how I'd cluster the story we just skimmed:
(My brother Russell) (thinks monsters) (live in) (our bedroom closet) (at night.) (But I told him) (he is crazy.)
(“Go and) (check then,”) (he said.)
(I didn’t want to.) (Russell said) (I was chicken.)
(“Am not,”) (I said.)
(“Are so,”) (he said.)
(So I told him) (the monsters) (were going to) (eat him) (at midnight.)(He started to cry.) (My Dad came in) (and told the monsters) (to beat it.) (Then he told us) (to go) (to sleep.)
(“If I hear) (any more about) (monsters,” he said,) (“I’ll spank you.”)
( We went) (to sleep fast.) (And you) (know something?)
(They never did) (come back. )
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
Here's how to go about it. Pick something light to read, Read it as fast as you can. Concentrate on seeing three or four words at once rather than one word at a time. Then reread the piece at your normal speed to see what you missed the first time.
Try a second piece. First cluster, then reread to see what you missed in this one.
When you can read in clusters without missing much the first time, your speed has increased. Practice fifteen minutes every day and you might pick up the technique in a week or so. (But don't be disappointed if it takes longer. Clustering everything takes time and practice.)
So now you have three ways to help you read faster. Preview to cut down on unnecessary heavy reading. Skim to get a quick, general idea of light reading. And cluster to increase your speed and comprehension.
With enough practice, you'll be able to handle more reading at school or work---and at home---in less time. You should even have enough time to read your favorite comic books and War and Peace!
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