Books and Reading.

Books can fit almost every need, temper, or interest. Books can be read when you are in the mood; they don't have to be taken in periodic doses. Books are more personal and more impersonal than professors. Books have an inner confidence which individuals seldom show; they rarely have to be on the defensive. Books can afford to be bold, and courageou, and explanatory; they don't have to be so careful of boards of trustees, colleagues, and community opinion. Books are infinitly diverse; they run the gamut of human activity. Books can express every point of view; if you want a different point of view, you can read a different book. Reading is probably the most important skill you will need for success in your studies. You will have to read lengthy assignments in different subjects with varying degrees of detail and difficulty. If you you read inaccuratly, you will fail to understand some of the information and ideas you read. If you read slowly, you will have to spent too much time reading your assignments so that your other work may suffer.

Poor reading may be a problem for you, but it is not a hopeless one. Like other skills your abilty to read English rapidly and accuratly will depend upon a careful instruction and purposeful practice. You must continue to practise on your own to improve your reading skill.

Reading speed is determined in part by how many words your eyes can see at a single glance. Here is a comparison of three different readers and how many stops their eyes make.