Common Reading Mistakes & Solutions

📌 Example Question:

"The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean on Earth, covering more than 63 million square miles."

🔹 Common Mistake:

Student reads the entire paragraph slowly instead of scanning for "largest ocean".

💡 Solution:

Look for keywords ("largest," "deepest," "63 million").

Scanning Tip:

When scanning, your eyes should move quickly across the text looking for specific information. Focus on numbers, capitalized words, and key terms related to what you're looking for.

Your Turn: Identify Mistakes and Solutions

"Mount Everest stands at 29,032 feet (8,849 meters), making it the tallest mountain above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas on the border between Nepal and China."

If you were asked to find the height of Mount Everest, what would be the most efficient reading strategy?
Read the entire passage carefully from beginning to end
Scan quickly for numbers (29,032 and 8,849) which likely indicate height
Skip the passage and guess based on prior knowledge
Which of these is a common mistake when trying to locate specific information in a text?
Reading the entire passage word-by-word instead of scanning for key information
Looking first at headings and section titles to narrow down where the information might be
Focusing on capitalized words, numbers, and dates when searching for specific facts
What's the best solution for improving your scanning efficiency?
Always read at a steady pace regardless of what information you're looking for
Look for keywords related to the information you need (names, dates, numbers, capitalized terms)
Memorize the entire text so you don't need to scan it again