Chapter 1. Reading Skills Pre-Test

Since very early in life, you have been actively forming schemas--organized clusters of knowledge and information about particular topics. The topic can be almost anything--an event, an object, a situation, or a concept. For example, consider the schema you have for a typical kitchen. It probably includes food, a refrigerator, a toaster, sink, cabinets, silverware, and so forth. You started forming your kitchen schema early in life by gradually identifying the common elements first in your own kitchen, then in other people’s kitchens. Over time, these common elements became associated and organized into a cluster of knowledge, producing the working schema you have for a kitchen.

I am sitting at a small pine table, facing east toward the Sangre de Cristo foothills. My “view” has a horse tank that needs filling, a white fence with a small robin’s-egg-blue gate, a birdbath in terra-cotta with some of its figurines knocked off, a bright yellow garden hose I will use to fill the horse tank and the birdbath, an overgrown garden plot, a bucket lying on its side, my small dog, Maxwell, soaking in the early spring sunlight like an optimistic sunbather on a chilly beach day. When it warms up and that yellow hose has thawed out, I will fill the horse tank. When I warm up, I will tell you what I know about letting yourself write.

(1) Problems in absorbing new information arise when distracting thoughts, background noises, and other interruptions sidetrack your attention. (2) Television is one common culprit. (3) Rather than studying in front of the tube, locate a quiet study space that’s free from distractions so you can focus your attention. (4) If distracting thoughts are competing for your attention, start your study session by reading aloud part of what you need to study (Hertel and Rude, 1991).

In most cases, we can get all the vitamins we need through a balanced diet. Vitamin A, for example, is found in orange produce, such as sweet potatoes and carrots, and in deep green vegetables. Citrus fruits and juices are abundant sources of vitamin C. All the vitamin A and D we need can be obtained from fortified dairy products. Vitamin B is plentiful in vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole-grain foods. Because many foods are fortified with vitamins, vitamin deficiencies are rare in our society, even among people who don’t watch their diets. That’s no excuse for not eating, right, however, since poor nutrition may deprive you of other nutrients you may need to maintain your health.

Franchising is an agreement in which one business grants another business the right to distribute its products or services. The terms of the agreement are spelled out in a signed, legal franchise contract, which formally states the obligations of the two parties. The company granting the license to use its knowledge and identity is called the franchisor. The individual buying the license is the franchisee.

Anaerobic (literally “without oxygen”) exercise involves short bursts of intense muscle activity. Examples of anaerobic (or “nonaerobic”) exercises are sprinting, some forms of weight training, calisthenics such as push-ups and sit-ups (which usually allow rest periods between repetitions), and periodic bursts of strenuous activity in baseball and other sports (such as running to first base after hitting the ball). The intensity or all-out effort required by anaerobic activities can only be sustained for perhaps two or three minutes before muscle fatigue sets in.

Many of us think of sugar in terms of table sugar, or sucrose, which is used in food preparation and to sweeten foods and beverages. Yet dietary sugars occur naturally in a wide variety of foods, including fruits, vegetables, and milk. Lactose is the form of sugar found in milk and milk products. Maltose is found in legumes and cereals, while glucose and fructose are sugars found in honey and fruits, respectively.

In most cases, we can get all the vitamins we need through a balanced diet. Vitamin A, for example, is found in orange produce, such as sweet potatoes and carrots, and in deep green vegetables. Citrus fruits and juices are abundant sources of vitamin C. All the vitamin A and D we need can be obtained from fortified dairy products. Vitamin B is plentiful in vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole-grain foods. Because many foods are fortified with vitamins, vitamin deficiencies are rare in our society, even among people who don’t watch their diets. That’s no excuse for not eating, right, however, since poor nutrition may deprive you of other nutrients you may need to maintain your health.

The first year of the moose’s life is remarkable not only for rapid growth. It’s also one of the few periods of sociability in the animals’ lives. Cow moose are fiercely devoted mothers and have earned a reputation as one of the most protective of all wild creatures. In the face of danger, this otherwise docile creature will flare her mane and drop her ears. If a bear or other potential predator threatens her calf, she could charge and slash out with her forelegs. Needless to say, this information serves as a warning to the would-be moose photographer: Give the mother moose wide clearance.

Miguel Chico’s godmother Nina was a practical woman. The otherworldly side of her came to the surface before her son’s death, and she explored it with the care and precision she used to prepare the annual income tax accounts of various business firms in town.

Money and cards fascinated her and Fortune followed her, if not abundantly, certainly with cheer. But it was not until her children were well into adolescence that she looked casually over her shoulder one day and recognized a greater power smiling at her from behind Fortune’s face. This same power that would take away her son began training her early on to endure, rather than resign herself to, the deprivation.

(1) Astronomers have inherited many useful concepts from antiquity. (2) For example, ancient mathematicians invented angles and a system of angular measure that is still used to denote the positions and apparent sizes of objects in the sky. (3) For example, to locate stars, we don’t need to know their distances from Earth (which are all different). (4) All we need to know is the angle from one star to another in the sky, a property that remains fixed over our lifetimes.

Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys’ front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets--but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.

The end of a relationship can be a healthful outcome. When people are incompatible, when efforts to preserve the relationship have faltered, ending it can offer partners a chance for happiness with someone else. On the other hand, troubled relationships can often be salvaged, sometimes by the couple themselves working on their differences, sometimes with the help of a professional counselor.

Miguel Chico’s godmother Nina was a practical woman. The otherworldly side of her came to the surface before her son’s death, and she explored it with the care and precision she used to prepare the annual income tax accounts of various business firms in town.

Money and cards fascinated her and Fortune followed her, if not abundantly, certainly with cheer. But it was not until her children were well into adolescence that she looked casually over her shoulder one day and recognized a greater power smiling at her from behind Fortune’s face. This same power that would take away her son began training her early on to endure, rather than resign herself to, the deprivation.

Though, strictly speaking, there can be no absolutely passive reading, many people think that, as compared with writing and speaking, which are obviously active undertakings, reading and listening are entirely passive. The writer or speaker must put out some effort, but no work need be done by the reader or listener. Reading and listening are thought of as receiving communication from someone who is actively engaged in giving or sending it. The mistake here is to suppose that receiving communication is like receiving a blow or a legacy or a judgment from the court. On the contrary, the reader or listener is much more like the catcher in a game of baseball.

A human fetus develops at the mother’s body temperature. At birth, most newborns experience a drop in temperature, and their bodies must quickly do something about it. In fact what they do is the same thing a hibernating mammal does as it rouses itself from its winter “snooze.” During hibernation, body temperature is low. In order to move about and take care of itself once awake again, an animal that has been hibernating must raise its body temperature.

Most animals digest food extracellularly. Animals take food into a body cavity that is continuous with the outside environment and then secrete digestive enzymes into that cavity. The enzymes act on the food, reducing it to nutrient molecules that can be absorbed by the cells lining the cavity. Only after they are absorbed by the cells are the nutrients within the body of the animal.

Historically, there have been three types of grants: categorical grants, block grants, and general revenue sharing. Categorical grants are made for specific purposes defined by Congress, such as library construction, child welfare, adoption assistance, and bridge and road construction. Categorical grants can be used only for the purposes stated in the legislation that creates and funds the program, and state and local decision makers thus have little discretion in how the grant money is spent. As of 1995 there were 618 categorical grants, the largest number of categorical grant programs in history. Among the more recently approved are the Drug Abuse Prevention and Education Relating to Youth Gangs program (approximately $12 million per year), the Emergency Community Services for the Homeless program (about $19 million per year), and the AIDS Education program (about $14 million per year).

Block grants allow appropriated funds to be used in broad policy areas such as job training, health, and public housing. Congress establishes the areas in which the funds are to be used, and state and local officials determine how the money is actually spent. Today there are sixteen block grants in the areas of education, health and human services, housing, criminal justice, job training, and transportation. Mainly because of the consolidation of smaller categorical grants, more block grants were approved during the Reagan administration than during any previous administration. President Bush continued the trend with his proposal to create a $20 billion block grant by consolidating a number of existing grant programs, and President Clinton in his 1996 budget proposal called for combining 271 categorical grant programs into a few block grants. However, the only additional block grant approved in 1996 was the one that replaced the AFDC program.

General revenue sharing (GRS), created by the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972, distributed approximately $6 billion annually to state and local governments until 1980 and about $4 billion annually to local governments thereafter until the program was terminated in 1986. These monies were allocated with almost no “strings” attached to nearly 39,000 local governments: the recipient governments could use GRS money for any purpose as long as they did not spend it in a discriminatory manner.

Generalized anxiety disorder is like the dull ache of a sore tooth--a constant, ongoing sense of uneasiness, distress, and apprehension. In contrast, a panic attack is a sudden episode of extreme anxiety that rapidly escalates in intensity. The most common symptoms of a panic attack are a pounding heart, rapid breathing, breathlessness, and a choking sensation. The person may also sweat, tremble, and experience lightheadedness, chills, or hot flashes. Accompanying the intense, escalating surge of physical arousal are feelings of terror and the belief that one is about to die, go crazy, or completely lose control. A panic attack typically peaks within 10 minutes of onset and then gradually subsides. Nevertheless, the physical symptoms of a panic attack are so severe and frightening that it’s not unusual for people to rush to an emergency room, convinced that they are having a heart attack, stroke, or seizure.

A human fetus develops at the mother’s body temperature. At birth, most newborns experience a drop in temperature, and their bodies must quickly do something about it. In fact, what they do is the same thing a hibernating mammal does as it rouses itself from its winter “snooze.” During hibernation, body temperature is low. In order to move about and take care of itself once awake again, an animal that has been hibernating must raise its body temperature.