Speaking of reading comprehension, most English learners or even English teachers probably refer to various English tests in which several passages are arrayed, followed by masses of troublesome problems to be solved. Accordingly, reading comprehension seems to be a necessary task as well as an important aim in English teaching and learning. However, quite often it proves a hard time for students to break through those obstacles, that is, it is not easy to fulfill reading task or aim as satisfyingly as expected. As for the teachers, what situation are they supposed to be in? Obviously, how to help improve students’ reading ability is of great sense besides necessity and importance. The case is of the same hardship, though. Anyway, effective guidance works a lot. So, to design such a lecture of this kind as a guide in the students’ long-period reading march surely turns out to be greatly helpful.

Not casually did I choose a passage as my guiding reading material. As a matter of fact, it stood out finally after I read quite a few, comparing them carefully, though it possibly remains to be less perfect. Here is the original passage that I used to give a lecture on how to improve reading ability. More exactly, the lecture I mentioned appears to be more like some analyzation and conclusion after finishing doing so many reading comprehensions with students, of course it’s based on discussion with my all my reading-troubled students.

Why are so many people so afraid of failure? Quite simply because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes an experience that will lead to growth. We forget that failure is part of the human condition and that every person has the right to fail.

Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards. A mother describes her child’ s hastily-made table as “Perfect!” even though it doesn’t stand still. Another way is to shift（转移）blame. If John fails science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.

The trouble with failure-prevention devices is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world. The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time and that it’ s possible to enjoy a game even when you don’t win. A child who’s not invited to birthday party, who doesn’t make the honor roll on the baseball team, feels terrible, of course. But parents should not offer a quick consolations（安慰）, prize or say, “It doesn’t matter”, because the young should be allowed to experience disappointment—and be helped to master it.

Failure is never pleasurable. It hurts grown-ups and children alike. But it can make a positive（有益的）contribution to your life once you learn to use it. Step One is to ask, “Why did I fail?”

Don’ t blame someone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong, how you can improve. If someone else can help, don’t be shy about inquiring（咨询）. Success, which encourages repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure. You can learn from a bad party how to give a good one, from an ill –chosen first house what to look for in second. Even a failure that seems definitive can prompt fresh thinking, a change of direction. After 12 years of studying ballet a friend of mine applied for a profession company. She was turned down. “Would further training help?” she asked. The ballet master shook his head. “You will never be a dancer, “he said, “you haven’t the body for it.”

In such cases, the way to use failure is to take stock (鉴定) bravely asking, “What have I left? What else can I do?” My friend put away her shoes and moved into dance treatment center, a field where she’s both able and useful. Failure frees one to take risks because there’s less to lose. Often there is recovery（恢复）of  energy—a way to find new possibilities.

Everyone seeks to succeed and no one wants to experience failure. Doing reading tasks is not exception, so this passage is just meaningful for both teachers and students. Before getting down to reading, I inquired of them their answers to these questions: Do you enjoy reading? What do you read for? Their answers amused themselves besides me: “If not in English…If no tests following…I do.” The fact is that we have to read in spite of “ifs”. As for “what for?”, most of the students decided that they read just for the tests about the passage, or to be informed in something. Another fact is that they just failed to affirm their fulfillment after reading the given passage above within limited minutes.

Accordingly, another question arises: what problems block the way? Take it into meticulous consideration, and then probable list can be made like this:

1.cannot remember some basic words and phrases.

2.cannot guess the meaning of some new words.

3.cannot analyze compound or complex sentences

 

4.cannot decide what the main idea is or things like that.

 

How to solve these problems should follow the search for the exact answer to this question: What on earth do we read for? We need to think it over once again with more attention. The following conclusions finally came out after discussion.

First:. To get the information about what we read.

After reading the passage, what is left in our mind, or what is the main idea? At least there is a vague notion of failure, to be exact, the right attitude towards failure. Let’s suppose that some good sentences about failure impressed us a lot, then what are they? How many can you remember? Probably we need to skim through the passage again and get some sentences like these:

1…failure is part of the human condition and every person has the right to fail. 

2. The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything; no one can win all the time.

3. Success, which encourages repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure.

4. Even a failure that seems definitive can prompt fresh thinking, a change of direction.

5. Failure frees one to take risks because there’s less to lose.

What is the definition of so-called information? If we can be instructed or inspired by something in what we read, aren’t we getting information?! Apparently these sentences make a sense in our reading and understanding the main idea of this passage.

 

Second: To gain a further knowledge of English language.

As is well-known, reading is effective means to learn the typical way of dealing with that language. Since we are learning a foreign language, the more we read, the better we will know about it and the more properly we may use it in future

1.we can learn some new/excellent expressions we can use in our own writing

Paragraph 1:lead to
paragraph 2:describe…as…
Paragraph 3:leave…unequipped for life; make honor roll
paragraph 4:make a (positive) contribution to...
Paragraph 5: be shy about doing; in second; apply for; turn down; further training
paragraph 6: take stock; take risks

Of course, more can be found according to different views from different angles. No matter easy or hard, the examples are available in the passage for us to imitate so as to avoid possible misuse

 

2.we can also learn how to organize the structure of our passage

After analyzing one paragraph and meanwhile paying more attention to the structure of the whole passage , we certainly will have an idea about writing structure (this point will be detailed in another part)

Third: To finish some tests about the passage is another aim especially for the students.

These are some tests about the passage. Without the any guidance here, the students may take the same trouble as usual to decide the most probably suitable keys.

1.The second paragraph tells us _______

A. how a mother praised her children most

B. two ways of failure prevention

C. how to shift blame

D. parents should blame their children at the proper time.

2.Accoding to the author, what should a child know in the real world?

A. He should be equipped for life.

B. No one can be best all the time at everything.

C. No parents should offer quick consolations.

D. He can get pleasure from failure as well as success.

3.The underlined word “prompt” in the fifth paragraph can be best replaced by

A.  improve  B.  prevent  C.  continue  D.  cause

However, to finish those tests about the passage does not seem easy. Why? Just suppose we understand the whole passage, what tests can frighten us? How to deal with the tests about the passage as correctly as possible may get a little easier with the help of the following tips:

1.be sure about the main idea and details of the passage, the more proper, the better.

2.figure out what the tests are about.

3.try to think following the author without being interrupted or troubled by your own ideas or imagination.

 

Till now, it seems to be about time to get to the very point, that is, How can we improve our reading ability at all? Here are my suggestions that are concluded after reading, thinking and inquiring.

First: Words and phrases come first and then basic knowledge of English sentences.

If you have no hand you can't make a fist, so without accumulation of those seemingly boring language points, no further improvement can be mentioned. For any students of any difference, learning by heart step by step remains prior all the time.

If the first tip is in general, the following ones from the second on are just special for reading

Second: Learn to catch/hold the proper meaning of some expressions

1.for the familiar words which need guessing their new meaning in the context.

E.g. 1). …Protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed.  The word underlined here doesn’t mean “知识”but “知道、明白”.

2)…one way is lower standards.   The word here is no longer an Adjective but a Verb whose meaning is related to low

The following words and expressions underlined all have different meanings and in need of being decided their proper one in the context.3). She was turned down. （拒绝）4)…encourages the repetition of old behavior. （过去的）5)…leave a child unequipped for life.（使…处于某种状态） 6) …be helped to master it .(动词.征服,控制)/ the ballet master shook his head.(名词.大师)

2.to get the meaning of new words with the help of Word Formation.

E.g. the new word. hastily-made can be related to well-made since they are formed in the same way, and in this way the word ill-chosen is not hard to understand. Take unequipped for another example , it surely can be associated with equipped and then equip and equipment. Owing to the word formation, words like console (v.) pleasurable (adj.) repetition (n.) recovery (n.) possibility (n.) will not be strangers for us as long as we have idea about consolation（安慰）pleasure (n.) repeat(v.) recover (v.) possible (adj.)

3.to guess the meaning of some new words in the context.

What if some really “strange” words disturb the reading process? No choice but to turn to the context. After all, it’s impossible for us not to be afflicted by these blocks, or else how to get new information with repetition of old words or expressions running always in our reading materials? Just as it goes in this passage: Success, which encourages repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure. How to guess the meaning of some new words in the context can be visualized in virtue of the following examples in some way.

E.g 1) The trouble with failure-prevention devices is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world.  According to the content in former paragraph (two ways to prevent failure) we can suppose the word “devices” have the similar meaning with “ways or methods or means”

2) Even a failure that seems definitive can prompt fresh thinking, a change of direction.  Fresh thinking and a change of direction should be the result caused by failure, so prompt probably has similar meaning with “cause”.

Third: Learn to analyze the “long” sentences(compound or complex)

Due to the characteristics of English itself, this widely-used language offers many “long” sentences in our reading materials, as a result, another task appears to be fulfilled with much patience. In actual fact, if we can figure out those compound or complex sentences, reading will be much easier.

E.g.1…because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes an experience (that will lead to growth.).

2.Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge (that they have failed.)

3.The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time and that it’s possible to enjoy a game even when you don’t win.

4.Success, which encourages repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure.

Those lines or brackets in the long sentences are just helpful hints for deciding where we can take a breath safely. The decision where to stop is a decisive influence in catching the idea the sentence carries.

 

Fourth: Learn to analyze the structure of paragraphs

Take this paragraph for example.

Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. topic sentence  One way is to lower standards.supporting sentence one A mother describes her child’s hastily-made table as “perfect!” even though it doesn’t stand still.in detail  Another way is to shift (转 移) blame.supporting sentence two If John fails science, his teacher is unfair or stupid in detail 

This is typical structure of English paragraph. Topic Sentence needs supporting by one or two sentences demonstrated by some specific examples. We can “copy” it in our own writing.

Fifth: Learn to find out the connection between paragraphs

Although one passage is made up of several paragraphs, it just impresses readers as a unit. What works? Some relation seems invisible, but it does exist. Usually what we need to do is search out the responders to the beginning of every paragraph. This kind of fine-spun relation is probably based on the content or one sentence or even one word. Let’s try it out one paragraph by another.

1. “Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. ”in Paragraph Two means to respond to the truth “We forget that failure is part of the human condition and that every person has the right to fail.” in Paragraph One.

2.“The trouble” in Paragraph Three is just caused by parents’ two ways of failure prevention in Paragraph Two.

3.“Failure is never pleasurable” of Paragraph Four comes from the feeling of “experiencing disappointment” in Paragraph Three.

4.“Don’t blame someone else.” in next paragraph is trying to answer the question “why did I fail?” in the former paragraph.

5.“In such cases…” in last paragraph is related to the example of the writer’s friend who experienced failure.

 

To sum up, English learning is a long process to build up powerful ability, of which reading turns out very important, because it’s closely associated with speaking and writing. It certainly needs much time and effort to be on the way, reading enjoyably. It is such an experience as begins with hardship and ends with achievement. All in all, practice makes perfect, and gradual progress is being made while reading attentively. Sometimes right attitude also helps. As the passage told us: Failure is never pleasurable. But it can make a positive contribution to your life once you learn to use it. Improving reading ability is in the same way.

                             （本文获2005年中国教育学会论文评选三等奖）