Transcript Ten Steps to Improving College Reading Skills

Ten Steps to Improving
College Reading Skills
Fifth Edition
John Langan
With modifications by Laura
Kirklin
© 2008 Townsend Press
Reading ML # 8
Chapter One/ Part I:
Vocabulary in Context
Context clues help you figure out the meanings
of unfamiliar words in your reading.
There are four common types of context clues:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Examples
Synonyms
Antonyms
General Sense of the Sentence or Passage
One Type of Context Clue:
Examples
A sentence may contain an example
or examples of an unfamiliar word.
What do you think the word initiative
means in the cartoon?
A. anger
B. will power C. ability to take charge
HERMAN: © Jim Unger/Dist. by Newspaper Enterprise Association
Initiative means “ability to take charge.”
In the cartoon, the woman “takes charge” by
selling the man’s car.
Selling the car is an example of taking
charge, or initiative.
Part II
A Second Type of Context Clue:
Synonyms
A synonym is a word that means
the same—or almost the same—
as another word.
What do you think the word terminate means
in the cartoon?
Which word in the cartoon is a synonym for
terminate?
© Randy Glasbergen. www.glasbergen.com
In the cartoon, the word end is a synonym
that helps you understand that terminate
means “end.”
“My doctor said that smoking could terminate
my life. But I told him, ‘Everybody’s life has
to end sometime.’ ”
Part III
A Third Type of Context Clue:
Antonyms
Another context clue is an antonym—
a word that means the opposite of
another word.
Antonyms are often signaled by words and
phrases such as however, but, yet, on the
other hand, and in contrast.
What do you think amplifies means
in the cartoon?
Which word in the cartoon is an antonym
for amplifies?
Copyright 2001 by Randy Glasbergen. www.glasbergen.com
In the cartoon, the antonym lowers helps
you figure out that amplifies must mean
“increases.”
“It’s a special hearing aid. It lowers criticism
and amplifies compliments.”
Part IV
A Fourth Type of Context Clue:
General Sense of the Sentence
Sometimes you need to look carefully
at the entire sentence (or even the
sentence before or after) in which
an unfamiliar word appears.
There may be clues within the sentence
that help you figure out the word.
Based on the context clues in the
cartoon caption, what do you think
alleviate means?
Copyright 2006 by Randy Glasbergen. www.glasbergen.com
If the patient wants to look and feel better,
what would he want the prescription
to do to his aches and pains?
The patient’s words strongly suggest that
alleviate means “lessen.”
“I’d like a prescription that will alleviate my aches
and pains and also make me younger and thinner.”
Chapter Review
In this chapter, you learned the following:
 To save time when reading, you should try to figure out the meanings
of unfamiliar words. You can do so by looking at their context—the
words surrounding them.
 There are four kinds of context clues: examples (marked by
words like for example, for instance, including, and such as);
synonyms (words that mean the same as unknown words);
antonyms (words that mean the opposite of unknown words);
and general sense of the sentence (clues in the sentence or
surrounding sentences about what words might mean).
 Textbook authors typically set off important words in italic or
boldface and define those words for you, often providing examples
as well.
The next chapter—Chapter 2—will introduce you to the most important of all
comprehension skills, finding the main idea.