reading skills

file:///E:/%E6%96%B0%E8%A7%86%E9%87%8E%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD/%5B%E6%96%B0%E8%A7%86%E9%87%8E%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD%E6%95%99%E7%A8%8B_1~4%E5%86%8C_%E5%90%AC%E8%AF%B4%E6%95%99%E7%A8%8B%26amp;%E8%AF%BB%E5%86%99%E6%95%99%E7%A8%8B%5D.NHCE_1/Pages/images/spot.gifreading skills" TITLE="新视野大学英语Unit3-B reading skills" />  Reading for the Key Ideas in Sentences

    Although a sentence may give a great deal of information, it usually offers one key idea. Readers must be able to find key ideas in order to understand sentence meanings clearly. 
    Here is how to find key ideas in sentences:
    1. Ask who or what the sentence is about.
    2. Ask what the person or object is doing or what is happening to the person or object.
    3. Learn to separate minor details from the main idea. Many words in sentences describe things about the subject of the sentence and merely add details around it. If you ask when, what kind, where or why, you will find details. As a result, it is easier to see the key idea. Here is one example from Passage A:
    On one occasion a fight broke out at a beach party, with everyone punching and shoving. (Para. 9)
    Key idea: A fight broke out. 
    You see that the key idea of this sentence is: "a fight broke out", as this tells us about what and what is happening. All the other information is about where, when and in what way the fight broke out.
    Of course, you cannot always easily decide which details are simply descriptive and which add much to the key idea. However, the starting point for determining the key idea in a sentence is finding who or what the sentence is about and what the person or object is doing.

file:///E:/%E6%96%B0%E8%A7%86%E9%87%8E%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD/%5B%E6%96%B0%E8%A7%86%E9%87%8E%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD%E6%95%99%E7%A8%8B_1~4%E5%86%8C_%E5%90%AC%E8%AF%B4%E6%95%99%E7%A8%8B%26amp;%E8%AF%BB%E5%86%99%E6%95%99%E7%A8%8B%5D.NHCE_1/Pages/images/spot.gifreading skills" TITLE="新视野大学英语Unit3-B reading skills" />  Reading for the Key Ideas in Sentences

file:///E:/%E6%96%B0%E8%A7%86%E9%87%8E%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD/%5B%E6%96%B0%E8%A7%86%E9%87%8E%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD%E6%95%99%E7%A8%8B_1~4%E5%86%8C_%E5%90%AC%E8%AF%B4%E6%95%99%E7%A8%8B%26amp;%E8%AF%BB%E5%86%99%E6%95%99%E7%A8%8B%5D.NHCE_1/Pages/images/stoped.gifreading skills" />
  The particular reading skill introduced for this unit is reading for the key ideas in sentences. We are reading for information and the ability to find out the key ideas of sentences is of great importance to us. 
    To find out the key idea of a sentence, we have to remember the three important points mentioned in your textbook:
    1. Ask who or what the sentence is about.
    2. Ask what the person or object is doing or what is happening to the person or object.
    3. Learn to separate minor details from the main ideas. Many words in sentences describe things about the subject of the sentence and merely add details around it. If you focus on the key idea of a sentence only, just ignore the details as they just help support the key idea but not the key idea of the sentence. 
    Here, we would pick up some sentences from Passage A to find out the key ideas of the sentences.

   1) He was severely crippled and very short, and when we walked together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare. (Para. 1, Passage A)
Key idea: He was crippled.

   2) It was difficult to coordinate our steps — his halting, mine impatient — and because of that, we didn't say much as we went along. (Para. 2, Passage A)
Key idea: It was difficult to coordinate our steps.

   3) When I think of it now, I am amazed at how much courage it must have taken for a grown man to subject himself to such shame and stress. (Para. 5, Passage A)
Key idea: I am amazed at his courage.

     In finding out the key ideas for sentences, it is of primary importance to separate the key ideas from the details which would tell us about when, what kind, where. These are important only in the sense of supporting the key idea, but they are not the key idea of a sentence.