Thursday, July 17, 2014
Challenge Problem of the Week
Alice organized a yard sale of her old books on Saturday and Sunday, and expected to sell an equal number of books on each day. However, due to heavy rains on Saturday she could sell only 20% of her books that day. She managed to sell the rest of them on Sunday. Had she sold 36 more books on Saturday, she would have met her expectation. Find the number of books she sold altogether.
a) 80
b) 90
c) 100
d) 120
e) 150
Friday, July 11, 2014
Long Reading Comprehension Main Idea Practice
Following the strategy posted in previous blog , find the main idea of the following passage.
What is the main idea of the passage?
Monday, July 7, 2014
Note-taking and Reading Strategy on Long Reading Comprehension : First Reading
Question: What is the main point of the passage?
a. Democracy is the most powerful tool for the betterment of the world.
b. Democratic rift is evident in Muslim-majority and low-income countries.
c. Democracy in many countries is in jeopardy and special concern is needed to remedy this problem
d. Though democracy in many countries is in crackdown, it is actually re-surging very fast.
e. United Nations is the soul responsible for maintaining the peace around the world.
- Read the first paragraph with special care. Typically first few lines are where the authors express their points.
- For the rest of the passages, read the first lines of each paragraphs.
- Lastly read the last few lines of the passage, where the authors sometimes give there points or crucial points.
- After finishing the initial reading, stop and think about what the author is saying.
- Take mental note or short writing note on your paper for each paragraphs.
- Put all the notes side by side and paraphrase the main idea in your brain( or in the paper very shortly).
Here is sample what I will read from long reading comprehension section. I will read the colored part and skim the rest of the part to locate anything surprising or big points.
P1: democracy diminishing
P2: democracy down in some countries and descriptions
P3: some folk's belief about democracy
P4: reform necessary to improve democracy
Prediction for Main point: democracy diminishing and reform needed to improve democracy
So, we got our main point from the initial reading ,and now we will match our paraphrased main idea with the answer choices. Next, eliminate the wrong choices.
So only answer choice C matches our prediction.
