INTERNALTIONALENGLISHLANGUAGETESTINGSYSTEMACADEMICREADINGTEST1TIMEALLOWED:1hourNUMBEROFQUESTIONS:40INSTRUCTIONSWRITEALLYOURANSWERSONTHEANSWERSHEETThetestisin3sections:ReadingPassage1ReadingPassage2ReadingPassage3Questions1–13Questions14–26Questions27–40Remembertoanswerallthequestions.Ifyouarehavingtroublewithaquestion,skipitandreturntoitlater.READINGPASSAGE1Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions1–13whicharebasedonReadingPassage1below.IMPROVINGREADINGSPEEDItissafetosaythatalmostanyonecandoublehisspeedofreadingwhilemaintainingequalorevenhighercomprehension.Inotherwords,anyonecanimprovethespeedwithwhichhegetswhathewantsfromhisreading.Theaveragecollegestudentreadsbetween250and350wordsperminuteonfictionandnon-technicalmaterials.Agoodreadingspeedisaround500to700wordsperminute,butsomepeoplecanreadathousandwordsperminuteorevenfasteronthesematerials.Whatmakesthedifference?Therearethreemainfactorsinvolvedinimprovingreadingspeed:(1)thedesiretoimprove,(2)thewillingnesstotrynewtechniquesand(3)themotivationtopractice.Learningtoreadrapidlyandwellpresupposesthatyouhavethenecessaryvocabularyandcomprehensionskills.Whenyouhaveadvancedonthereadingcomprehensionmaterialstoalevelatwhichyoucanunderstandcollege-levelmaterials,youwillbereadytobeginspeedreadingpracticeinearnest.Understandingtheroleofspeedinthereadingprocessisessential.Researchhasshownacloserelationbetweenspeedandunderstanding.Forexample,incheckingprogresschartsofthousandsofindividualstakingreadingtraining,ithasbeenfoundinmostcasesthatanincreaseinratehasbeenparalleledbyanincreaseincomprehension,andthatwhereratehasgonedown,comprehensionhasalsodecreased.Mostadultsareabletoincreasetheirrateofreadingconsiderablyandratherquicklywithoutloweringcomprehension.Someofthefactswhichreducereadingrate:(a)limitedperceptualspani.e.,word-by-wordreading;(b)slowperceptualreactiontime,i.e.,slownessofrecognitionandresponsetothematerial;(c)vocalization,includingtheneedtovocalizeinordertoachievecomprehension;(d)faultyeyemovements,includinginaccuracyinplacementofthepage,inreturnsweep,inrhythmandregularityofmovement,etc.;(e)regression,bothhabitualandasassociatedwithhabitsofconcentration(f)lackofpracticeinreading,duesimplytothefactthatthepersonhasreadverylittleandhaslimitedreadinginterestssothatverylittlereadingispracticedinthedailyorweeklyschedule.Sincetheseconditionsactalsotoreducecomprehensionincreasingthereadingratethrougheliminatingthemislikelytoresultinincreasedcomprehensionaswell.Thisisanentirelydifferentmatterfromsimplyspeedinguptherateofreadingwithoutreferencetotheconditionsresponsiblefortheslowrate.Infact,simplyspeedingtherateespeciallythroughforcedacceleration,mayactuallyresult,andoftendoes,inmakingtherealreadingproblemmoresevere.Inaddition,forcedaccelerationmayevendestroyconfidenceinabilitytoread.Theobvioussolution,thenistoincreaserateasapartofatotalimprovementofthewholereadingprocess.Awellplannedprogrampreparesformaximumincreaseinratebyestablishingthenecessaryconditions.Threebasicconditionsinclude:1.Eliminatethehabitofpronouncingwordsasyouread.Ifyousoundoutwordsinyourthroatorwhisperthem,youcanreadslightlyonlyasfastasyoucanreadaloud.Youshouldbeabletoreadmostmaterialsatleasttwoorthreetimesfastersilentlythanorally.2.Avoidregressing(rereading).Theaveragestudentreadingat250wordsperminuteregressesorrereadsabout20timesperpage.Rereadingwordsandphrasesisahabitwhichwillslowyourreadingspeeddowntoasnail'space.Furthermore,theslowestreaderusuallyregressesmostfrequently.Becausehereadsslowly,hismindhastimetowanderandhisrereadingreflectsbothhisinabilitytoconcentrateandhislackofconfidenceinhiscomprehensionskills.3.Developawidereye-span.Thiswillhelpyoureadmorethanonewordataglance.Sincewrittenmaterialislessmeaningfulifreadwordbyword,thiswillhelpyoulearntoreadbyphrasesorthoughtunits.Poorresultsareinevitableifthereaderattemptstousethesamerateindiscriminatelyforalltypesofmaterialandforallreadingpurposes.Hemustlearntoadjusthisratetohispurposeinreadingandtothedifficultyofthematerialheisreading.Thisrangesfromamaximumrateoneasy,familiar,interestingmaterialorinreadingtogatherinformationonaparticularpoint,tominimalrateonmaterialwhichisunfamiliarincontentandlanguagestructureorwhichmustbethoroughlydigested.Theeffectivereaderadjustshisrate;theineffectivereaderusesthesamerateforalltypesofmaterial.Rateadjustmentmaybeoveralladjustmenttothearticleasawhole,orinternaladjustmentwithinthearticle.Overalladjustmentestablishesthebasicrateatwhichthetotalarticleisread;internaladjustmentinvolvesthenecessaryvariationsinrateforeachvariedpartofthematerial.Asananalogy,youplantotakea100-milemountaintrip.Sincethiswillbearelativelyharddrivewithhills,curves,andamountainpass,youdecidetotakethreehoursforthetotaltrip,averagingabout35milesanhour.Thisisyouroverallrateadjustment.However,inactualdrivingyoumayslowdowntonomorethan15milesperhouronsomecurvesandhills,whilespeedingupto50milesperhourormoreonrelativelystraightandlevelsections.Thisisyourinternalrateadjustment.Thereisnosetrate,therefore,whichthegoodreaderfollowsinflexiblyinreadingap