How to Improve English Reading Ability for Senior High School Students

【Abstract】Although the questions and scores of English in college entrance examination often change， reading always accounts for a large proportion （nearly 1/3 of the total score）， which illustrates the importance of our reading ability in English learning. Therefore， in the English learning process， we must pay particular attention to the cultivation and improvement of our reading ability. Bellowing is my personal experience for English reading ability improvement， hoping it will be helpful for other students.

【Key words】high school students； English reading ability； methods

1. Accumulation of vocabulary

As the saying goes “One cant make bricks without straw.” in English learning， especially for the reading part， no matter how smart we are， without certain vocabulary accumulation， we may even cant understand the subject， let alone give the correct answer. Therefore， we must strengthen the memory and accumulation of English vocabulary in learning process.

“Great oaks from little acorns grow.”， if we want to learn English well， we must lay a good foundation of vocabulary. In the process of English learning， some students complain that teachers only pay attention to the explanation of language points while neglecting vocabulary teaching， while some of them do not pay attention to vocabulary learning， complaining that English words are hard to remember but easy to forget. So， we should pay attention to vocabulary learning andaccumulation， using different methods for different words thus to grasp the word totally. Ill introduce two important methods. First one is association. For example， when to learn and to memorize “employ”， we can link it to its other forms of “employer”， “employee”， “employment”， “unemployment” and “unemployed”. In this way， remembering one word is equivalent to remember six words together， not only reduce the burden of memory， but also grasp the difference of each words， improving the learning efficiency. The second one is affixs derivation. Such as “build建造” （re-build重造）， “create創造”（recreate重新创造）， “regular定期的” （irregular不定期的）， “possible可能的” （impossible不可能的）， may be impossible. By using this method， we can learn new words more easily from the word formation of those common words， thus greatly increase our vocabulary. After mastering vocabulary knowledge and memory methods， we should also attach great importance to the examination of the vocabulary knowledge， and truly achieve good vocabulary foundation.endprint

2. Specific Reading Guidance

There are two kinds of reading， fast reading and extensive reading. Fast reading generally contains small title or form， we should first look at the subject， then directly to find the answer in the article， which is not only high accuracy but also time-saving. Extensive reading is much more difficult， which makes us fear of it， sometimes even give it up. Here we can learn the reading skills through sloving several kinds of common subjects.

Firstly， for the main idea subject. Generally every article has a theme， which is usually the first or the last paragraph， and the topic sentence is the first or second sentence. As long as we understand the topic sentence in the theme paragraph， we can grasp the main ideas of articles， and solve problems quickly and accurately.

Secondly， for the word guessing subject. There are always word guessing subjects in the college entrance examination， including underlined word and sentence meaning guessing. Generally speaking， if the underlined word is a pronoun， we can find answers in this sentence or in the sentence before the underlined one， and if the underlined one is a word that we are not familiar with or is one sentence， then we should find answers after this sentence.

Thirdly， for the logical reasoning subject. In order to solve it better， we must read carefully to find the context， then analyze the relationship between sentences and find answer according to the conjunctions in the context. When mastering the correct problem solving method， the reading speed and correct rate will be greatly improved， truly achieve the “multiplier” effect.

3. Strengthen Time-limited Reading Training

After mastering the reading method， we should timely exercise. We can choose some narrative， argumentative， expository and popular science articles to practic， which have different difficulty levels. At the same time， the practice time must be limited. For fast reading， we must control in 2-3 minutes， and 7 minutes for extensive reading， otherwise we can not achieve the effect of training.

4. Select some Extra-curricular Reading Materials to Develop Reading Interest

It is difficult to improve our reading ability rely solely on the learning and practice in school. As we have tight time but heavy task， we have no more for extracurricular reading， so we can ask our teacher spare one English class one week for extracurricular reading practice. The reading materials should be carefully selected to ensure abundant styles and contents. In this way， we will gradually interested in reading and develop our reading sense， cultivate and Improve our ability of reading.

5. Summary

Though English reading comprehension is very difficult， as long as we cultivate enough interests in reading， strictly demand ourselves to make a good vocabulary foundation， classify different types of reading subjects and grasp their specific solving methods， as well as doing enough training and exercise， we can continue to improve our reading ability and get a high score in the English exam.

作者簡介：王若歆（2001.09-），女，汉族，辽宁锦州人，渤海大学附属高级中学学生。endprint