Skimming and scanning - 1

If you’re taken an English exam you’re going to encounter different reading tasks that will require either Skimming,  Scanning or reading the whole text. It’s important that you know what this mean in order to do the task correctly. 

You probably regularly read newspapers, magazines, adverts, letters, emails, instructions and blogs. Without realizing it, you use strategies when you do that. You might have got in the habit of using some strategies that don’t really work well for you.

Practice these steps.

Step 1: Think about it.

• What kind of text is it? What's the subject?
• What do I know about the subject?
• What is the purpose of the text?
• What do I want or have to find out?
• What do I have to do with the text?

Step 2: Decide what to do.

• I'll skim (glance over it).
• I'll scan (look for specific information).
• I'll read the whole text..