You do not need every word to understand the meaning of what you read. In fact, too much emphasis (强调) on separate words both slows your speed and reduces your comprehension.
First, any habit which slows down your silent reading to the speed at which you speak or read aloud, is inefficient. If you point to each word as you read, or move your head, or form the words with your lips, you read poorly. Less obvious habits also hold back reading efficiency (效率). One is "saying" each word silently by moving your tongue or throat; another is "hearing" each word as you read.
These are habits which should have been outgrown long ago. The beginning reader is learning how letters can make words, how written words are pronounced, and how sentences are put together. Your reading purpose is quite different, which is to understand meaning.
It has been supposed that up to 75% of the words in English sentences are not really necessary for expressing the meaning. The secret of silent reading is to find out those key words and phrases which carry the thought, and to pay less attention to words which exist only for grammatical completeness.
An efficient reader can grasp the meaning from a page at least twice as fast as he can read the page aloud. He takes in a whole phrase or thought unit at a time. If he “says" or "hears" words to himself, they are selected ones, said for emphasis.
小题1:This passage is mainly about ______.
A．improving eye movement
B．reading more widely
C．changing poor reading habits
D．reading as fast as you can小题2:Saying each word to yourself as you read _____.
A．improves comprehension
B．increases reading speed
C．gives too much emphasis
D．reduces reading efficiency小题3:Your reading purpose should be _____.
A．to understand all the words
B．to make fewer eye movements
C．to understand meaning
D．to understand the grammatical structures小题4:While reading, efficient readers usually _____.
A．move their eyes quickly
B．take in whole phrases or thought units
C．point at key words
D．read only important points for speed
