How to use speed reading to go through newspapers or magazines? 1. You will not only save time, but also your focus will increase and you will have fun reading even the  uninteresting reports.

  2.  This plays to the advantage of the tired reader who wants to stay current but has very little time to read. Often all you need to understand a news piece is the first paragraph. Here the reporter will tell you what’s happening, who it’s happening to and where it’s happening.

Sometimes you don’t even need to read the entire paragraph because the first sentence or the first couple of sentences give you all the information. If you still have more time you can move on to step two.   3.Read the last paragraph. Some news pieces are follow-ups of events that were earlier reported. In such a situation, the first paragraph may not give you all the information you need.  4.  It’s usually in the last paragraph that the user is given the background information that leads to the story.

Read the “quotes” after you’ve read the first and last paragraphs and you still feel you need more information or have more time to play with, you can come into middle of the piece by reading the direct speech of the sources of the news item. In all forms of writing where quotations are used, the writer leads the reader into the quotes and then leads the reader out. This takes too much space and therefore, robs the reader out of some precious time.

   5. 

A. Read the first paragraph.[來源:學(xué)&科&網(wǎng)Z&X&X&K]

B. But the last paragraph will do the job.

C. The first paragraph may be not important at all.

D. Otherwise, you can stop reading.

E. Here are three techniques you can use.

F. So glide directly to the quotation marks and read what’s within them.

G. If you follow these steps, it’ s possible to get about 80 percent of a news piece.

Suppose you work in a big firm and find English very important for your job because you often deal with foreign businessmen.Now you are looking for a place where you can improve your English,espeually your spoken English.

Here are some information you need about English Language training.

Global English Centre

1.You work from 9:00am to 4:30pm every day which schools will you choose?

2.The 21st Century is different from the other three schools in that____.

3.You will probably prefer to go to the International House because it____.

4.If you take the evening programme at the International House,you will pay about___

5.The passage is most probably taken from_____.

Do you ever run out of great books to read? So what should I read next? Is fast-paced crime fiction your thing?

Try the new Patricia Cornwell book, Scarpetta （Putnam）. She is such an able writer and handles complex forensic（法庭的） intelligence with ease. You need to be prepared, though, for the world you're entering—this isn't for the faint of heart, let's say.

If peace is more your thing, try Mary Pipher's wonderful new book, Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World （Riverhead）. Mary is a lovely, comfortable writer who takes the reader through her personal awakening after reputation and fortune came her way. Even if you've never experienced life as a bestselling writer （as she has done, in her book years back, Reviving Ophelia）, you'll totally understand and sympathize with her renewed need for privacy, distance and quiet.

What if you want a straightforward, totally thrilling read with vivid characters, set about World War II? You cannot go wrong with Jim Lehrer's new novel, Oh, Johnny （Random House）, about a young Marine whose life is changed forever when he meets a woman on his way to war. His relationship with her lasts him through danger and hardship, and there's an impressive ending. See our interview with the productive novelist/newsman in the current issue of Reader's Digest （March, on stands now）, by the way, for insight into the very talented Mr. Lehrer and what interests him.

Well, what about something wickedly funny and totally offbeat? Does the name Carrie Fisher do anything for you? Try her vivid and new life in Hollywood and elsewhere, Wishful Drinking （Simon & Schuster）. Be prepared for humor as sharp as knives.

1. What does the writer want to tell us by the underlined sentence?

A. The world is complex and hard.           B. Scarpetta is a thriller.

C. The fiction is hard to understand.     D. Society is hard to fit into.

2.Which of the following is true of Mary Pipher?

A. She is an adventurous writer.    B. She doesn’t care about fortune.

C. Her books normally sell well.   D. She can help you achieve writing skills. 

3. To get further information about Jim Lehrer, you may________.

A. go to Reader’s Digest issued in March     B. go to Random House

C. analyze the characters in Oh, Johnny     D. read the novel Oh, Johnny

4.Which book isn’t directly based on the writer’s own life?__________________

A. Seeking Peace.             B. Reviving Ophelia.

C. Wishful Drinking.            D. Oh, Johnny.

For a 400-year-old art form, opera had a bad fame: overweight actresses singing the words which were hard to understand in one of those romantic languages you were supposed to learn in high school. And with tickets costing as much as $145 a performance, operagoers also had a certain appearance in people’s mind: rich, well-dressed and old.

But now opera companies around the country are loosening their ties and kicking off their shoes in an attempt to keep opera alive and take it to a younger and not so wealthy audience.

Opera producers have found that to attract this crowd, they need to associate opera with the common people. That means no formal suits, old-styled theatre or bank-breaking ticket prices. And because young people don’t or won’t come to the opera, companies are bringing the opera to them, giving performances in such usual places as parks, libraries and public schools.

The Houston Grand Opera’s choice is the public library, where it performs “mobile operas”, shortened versions of child-friendly operas. This summer’s production is Hansel & Gretel. By performing smaller versions of large productions, producers are able to make people interested while keeping costs at a reasonable level. The San Francisco Opera, which will be celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is staging Cinderella free of charge, keeping costs down by employing students from its Young Artists’ Training Program.

1.Which is the main idea of this passage?

A. Opera is famous for its long history.

B. Opera is only performed for rich people.

C. Opera companies are trying to keep opera alive.

D. Young people are not interested in opera.

2.The underlined phrase in the second paragraph means _________.

A. breaking up the old rules            B. changing the dresses

C. making the audience at ease      D. advertising themselves

3.Opera companies prefer to perform short versions because _________.

A. they can be performed in public libraries                   

B. short versions are easy to perform

C. it is hard to find long versions

D. they can make people interested

4.The San Francisco Opera employs students in order to _________.

A. celebrate its 75th anniversary

B. reduce the cost

C. attract young people

D. make Cinderella popular

5. From the passage we can infer that _________.

A. the tickets for opera are very expensive

B. opera is performed in a difficult language

C. opera is not so popular an art form today

D. students enjoy performing opera very much