Reading Styles

Skimming - Reading rapidly for the main points

Scanning - Reading rapidly through a text to find specific information required

Extensive - Reading longer texts, often for pleasure and for an overall understanding

Intensive - Reading shorter texts for detailed information with an emphasis on precise understanding

Idenitify the reading skills required in the following reading situations:

Note: There is often not a single correct answer, several choices may be possible according to your reading purpose. If you find that there are different possibilities, state the situation in which you would use the various skills.

• The TV guide for Friday evening
• An English grammar book
• An article in National Geographic magazine about the Roman Empire
• A good friend's homepage on the Internet
• The opinion page in your local newspaper
• The weather report in your local newspaper
• A novel
• A poem
• A bus timetable
• A fax at the office
• An advertising email - so called "spam"
• An email or letter from your best friend
• A recipe
• A short story by your favourite author