Read in thought groups

When we read, our eyes make small stops along the line of text. Poor readers make many more fixations (eye stops) than good readers. Not only does this slow you down, but it inhibits comprehension because meaning is easier to pull from groups of words rather than from individual words or even single letters.

Try to read in phrases of three or four words, especially in complete clauses（从句） and prepositional phrases（介词短语）. To develop the habit of reading in phrases, you may use a “/” to mark off phrases and to group them into group thoughts. Read the following sentences by dividing them into phrases, or thought groups.

Example 1

(A + B) x C = Y

               A + (B x C) = D

Example 2

If your team does its job well, your manager will speak kindly about your group.

Reading skill practice

Read the following sentences by dividing them into phrases, or thought groups,using a “/” to mark them off~

Practice 1  She left the bedroom a ridiculous mess, the comforter on the floor,  the dress tossed aside. I strip off the comforter, the blanket, sheets, and pillows. Once she starts feeding coins into laundry machines, she’ll appreciate the years of clean clothes I’ve provided for free.

       Practice 2“All right,” he says, and carries the smelly package. As we walk back, he tells me about migrations of eels to the Sargasso Sea:how eels come down Dalmatian rivers and swim across the editerranean and then the whole Atlantic, until they reach the warmSargasso Sea. Here they lay their legs, and then the baby eels swim back to the native rivers of their parents.