Latihan Skimming

LATIHAN 1

Help Reading Comprehension - Applying for a Job

Skim the following job advertisements:

1.      Needed: Full time secretary position available. Applicants should have at least 2 years experience and be able to type 60 words a minute. No computer skills required. Apply in person at United Business Ltd., 17 Browning Street.

2. Are you looking for a part time job? We require 3 part time shop assistants to work during the evening. No experience required, applicants should between 18 and 26. Call 366 - 76564 for more information.
3. Computer trained secretaries: Do you have experience working with computers? Would you like a full time position working in an exciting new company? If your answer is yes, give us a call at 344-5487
4. Teacher Needed: Tommy's Kindergarten needs 2 teacher/trainers to help with classes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Applicants should have appropriate licenses. For more information visit Tommy's Kindergarten in Leicester Square No. 56
5. Part time work available: We are looking for retired adults who would like to work part time at the weekend. Responsibilities include answering the telephone and giving customer's information. For more information contact us by calling 6. University positions open: The University of Cumberland is looking for 4 teaching assistants to help with homework correction. Applicants should have a degree in one of the following: Political Science, Religion, Economics or History. Please contact the University of Cumberland for more information.

Comprehension Questions

Which position is best for these people? Now scan the text and choose ONLY ONE position for each person.

1.      Jane Madison. Jane recently retired and is looking for a part time position. She would like to work with people and enjoys public relation work. 

2.      Jack Anderson. Jack graduated from the University of Trent with a degree in Economics two years ago. He would like an academic position.  

3.      Margaret Lillian. Margaret is 21 years old and would like a part time position to help her pay her university expenses. She can only work in the evenings.  

4.      Alice Fingelhamm. Alice was trained as a secretary and has six years of experience. She is an excellent typist but does not know how to use a computer. She is looking for a full time position.

5.      Peter Florian. Peter went to business school and studied computer and secretarial skills. He is looking for his first job and would like a full time position.

6.      Vincent san George. Vincent loves working with children and has an education license from the city of Birmingham. He would like to work with young children. 

LATIHAN 2

Reading Comprehension - Looking for a Pen Pal

Skim the following information about different pen pals.

(1)   Mary, 24 years old, comes from Scotland and would like to find a pen pal who comes from East Europe. She likes playing the piano and listening to jazz music. She is interested in history but does not like discussing politics.

(2)   Kim Lee, 19 years old, comes from Seoul, South Korea. Kim loves travelling and hopes to visit Great Britain in the future. He would like a pen pal who is interested in discussing the differences between life in Europe and life in Asia. He loves listening to pop music and playing football in his free time.

(3)   Pietro, 42 years old, comes from Argentina. He is a businessman and would like to find a pen pal who is also a businessperson and lives in North America. He is married with three children and likes using the Internet in his free time.

(4)   Helga, 31 years old, comes from Germany and speaks French, English and Russian. She would like a pen pal who is interested in exchanging ideas about language learning. She does not like using computers for learning and believes that language learning can only happen in a classroom.

(5)   Jennifer, 18, comes from New Orleans in the United States. She is interested in discussing the political differences between East Europe and North America. She loves riding her horse, Jackie, and listening to jazz music. 6. Alessandro, 25 years old, comes from Rome. He is interested in finding a pen pal who speaks different languages and can exchange ideas on using the computer for learning purposes. He likes playing tennis and football in his free time.

Comprehension Questions

Which pen pal is best for these people? Choose ONLY ONE pen pal for each person.

1.      Petr Vladovic, 18, comes from Serbia and would like a pen pal who is interested in discussing the current political situation in the world. He likes jazz and playing tennis in his free time. The best pen pal for Petr would be --

2.      Tom Synder, 36, is a businessman from Toronto, Canada. He would like to find a pen pal from a different continent to discuss business practices and differences between his country and others. The best pen pal for Tom would be --  

3.      Olga, 32 years old, comes from Moscow, Russia. She is a historian and would like to find a pen pal who is interested in discussing the history of Russia before the communist regime. She is not interested in comparing different political systems. The best pen pal for Olga would be --

4.      Jack, 27, is from London. His favourite pastime is learning languages. He goes to evening German and French classes and uses his computer to improve his German and French by visiting Internet sites. The best pen pal for Jack would be --  

5.      Stuart, 22, is from Dublin. He loves travelling and wants to visit Asia in the near future and would like a pen pal who likes playing football and who can tell him about the differences between life in Asia and Ireland. The best pen pal for Stuart would be --  

6.      Elisabeth, 35 years old, comes from Sydney, Australia. She likes learning languages, but does not like using modern technology. She is interested in finding a pen pal who also enjoys learning languages in a traditional manner. The best pen pal for Elisabeth would be --  

LATIHAN 3

Reading skills for academic study: Skimming for gist

Read the first sentence of each paragraph in the following text.

THE PERSONAL QUALITIES OF A TEACHER

Here I want to try to give you an answer to the question: What personal qualities are desirable in a teacher? Probably no two people would draw up exactly similar lists, but I think the following would be generally accepted.

First, the teacher's personality should be pleasantly live and attractive. This does not rule out people who are physically plain, or even ugly, because many such have great personal charm. But it does rule out such types as the over-excitable, melancholy, frigid, sarcastic, cynical, frustrated, and over-bearing : I would say too, that it excludes all of dull or purely negative personality. I still stick to what I said in my earlier book: that school children probably 'suffer more from bores than from brutes'.

Secondly, it is not merely desirable but essential for a teacher to have a genuine capacity for sympathy - in the literal meaning of that word; a capacity to tune in to the minds and feelings of other people, especially, since most teachers are school teachers, to the minds and feelings of children. Closely related with this is the capacity to be tolerant - not, indeed, of what is wrong, but of the frailty and immaturity of human nature which induce people, and again especially children, to make mistakes.

Thirdly, I hold it essential for a teacher to be both intellectually and morally honest. This does not mean being a plaster saint. It means that he will be aware of his intellectual strengths, and limitations, and will have thought about and decided upon the moral principles by which his life shall be guided. There is no contradiction in my going on to say that a teacher should be a bit of an actor. That is part of the technique of teaching, which demands that every now and then a teacher should be able to put on an act - to enliven a lesson, correct a fault, or award praise. Children, especially young children, live in a world that is rather larger than life.

A teacher must remain mentally alert. He will not get into the profession if of low intelligence, but it is all too easy, even for people of above-average intelligence, to stagnate intellectually - and that means to deteriorate intellectually. A teacher must be quick to adapt himself to any situation, however improbable and able to improvise, if necessary at less than a moment's notice. (Here I should stress that I use 'he' and 'his' throughout the book simply as a matter of convention and convenience.)

On the other hand, a teacher must be capable of infinite patience. This, I may say, is largely a matter of self-discipline and self-training; we are none of us born like that. He must be pretty resilient; teaching makes great demands on nervous energy. And he should be able to take in his stride the innumerable petty irritations any adult dealing with children has to endure.

Finally, I think a teacher should have the kind of mind which always wants to go on learning. Teaching is a job at which one will never be perfect; there is always something more to learn about it. There are three principal objects of study: the subject, or subjects, which the teacher is teaching; the methods by which they can best be taught to the particular pupils in the classes he is teaching; and - by far the most important - the children, young people, or adults to whom they are to be taught. The two cardinal principles of British education today are that education is education of the whole person, and that it is best acquired through full and active co-operation between two persons, the teacher and the learner.

(From Teaching as a Career, by H. C. Dent, Batsford, 1961)