3.1. Skimming: Get the Map
Build a map of a text in two minutes, so you know where to look later.
The short version
Skimming means reading for the shape of a text, not the detail.
It should take about two minutes per text.
You end up with a map: what each paragraph is for.
You are not answering questions yet.
Why you cannot read every word
Sixty minutes for forty questions is about ninety seconds each, and some of that goes on typing or choosing the answer. Reading three texts carefully first would use the whole hour. Skimming buys you the map without the cost.
What skimming actually is
Skimming is not fast reading. It is reading a small, chosen part of the text: the title, and the first sentence of each paragraph. Those sentences usually say what the paragraph is about.
Step by step
- 1Read the title
It tells you the topic and often the writer's angle on it.
- 2Read the first sentence of each paragraph
Nothing else. Not the second sentence, not the end of the paragraph.
- 3Note two or three words for each paragraph
Say what the paragraph does, not what it says. History, how it works, problem. That is your map.
Try it on this text
Read the title, then the first sentence of each of the three paragraphs. Stop there. Do not read the rest yet.
The swimming pond at Hollin Green opened in July 2016 on the site of a paddling pool that the council had filled in after closing it in 1998. Unlike a lido, it uses no chlorine. A local trust raised £240,000 for the works, most of it from a single grant, and the council agreed to a 25-year lease on condition that the trust pays every running cost. The pond stays clean because its water is pumped through a planted margin. Reeds, rushes and a bed of gravel around the edge take up the nutrients that would otherwise feed algae. Swimmers use a deep central area that is kept free of plants. One pump moves the whole volume of the pond through the margin about once every two days. In a hot week the trust closes the pond for a morning so that the margin can catch up, and a lifeguard tests the water before opening each day. The pond does not suit every swimmer. Because there is no chlorine, visitors must shower before entering, and anyone with an open cut is turned away. Numbers are capped at 120 people in the water at one time, so on a warm weekend a queue forms by 10.00. The trust's manager, Ruth Ashby, says that a second pond would double the maintenance bill without doubling the income, since entry is free for residents. For now the answer to a queue is a wait, not a bigger pond.
Quiz time1 question
One question, using only the sentences you skimmed.
What does each paragraph do?
Use only the first sentence of each paragraph. Match the paragraph to its job.
Tips
- Label the job, not the topic
Money is a topic. How it was paid for is a job. Jobs are what send you back to the right paragraph later.
- Do not stop at a hard word
You are looking at shape. An unknown word in a first sentence rarely changes what the paragraph is for.
- Keep it to two minutes
If skimming turns into reading, you have lost the time it was meant to save.
Recap
Skimming means the title and the first sentence of each paragraph.
You finish with a map of what each paragraph does.
It should take about two minutes, and you answer nothing yet.
Next: how to find the one line an individual question turns on.