Ten Steps to Effective Reading

1.  Look at all pictures in the chapter.

            Describe the pictures.

            What is going on? What are the people doing?

 2.  Look at the title of the article.

            Turn the title into questions.

            Use: who, what, where, why, when.

            Start to predict what the article is about.

 3.  Read the first and last paragraphs and topic sentences (first sentences) carefully.

            This will give you an overview of the topic.

 4.  Read the whole article without stopping. Look for the main ideas.

            No dictionaries.

            Use your guessing skills when you see new vocabulary.

 5.  Do the scanning exercise after the article. (This is usually the first one.)

            Read the question. Find the answer. Go to the next question. Read it. Find the

            answer. Next question…

 6.  Read the article for a second time all the way through for supporting details.

 7.  Read the article for a third time to check for supporting details.

 8.  Do the comprehension exercises that follow the article.

 9.  Do you agree/disagree with the main ideas? What is your opinion?

 10. Go back and study the discourse markers, the grammar issues, and vocabulary clues in the article.

 

 

 

Common Suffixes: Verb, Adjective, Adverb

Verb Suffixes Examples

-ize finalize
-en lengthen
-er discover
-ify satisfy
-ate celebrate

Adjective Suffixes Examples

-ate moderate
-ious serious
-al normal
-able lovable
-ible reversible
-ish foolish
-ile fertile
-y snowy
-ical medical
-ory exploratory
-less colorless
-(t)ive competitive
-ly weekly
-ful helpful

Adverb Suffixes Examples

-ly brightly
-ally historically

Common Suffixes: Nouns

Noun Suffixes Examples
-tion transportation
-sion extension
-dom freedom
-ence convenience
-ance acceptance
-ity reality
-hood neighborhood
-ery bravery
-ness kindness
-ment government
-ship friendship
-th warmth

Noun Suffixes for the fields of study
-ism realism
-logy biology
-ics politics

Noun Suffixes for people
-er waiter
-or actor
-ist scientist
-ee employee
-ian electrician
-ic mechanic

Common Stems

Stems                        Meaning                        Examples

-audi-                        hearing                        auditorium

-bio-                           life                                biology

-cap-                         chief, head                      capital

-cede-                       go, move                        intercede

-corp-                         body                               corporation

-dorm-                       sleep                                    dormitory

-dict-                         speak                                    dictation

-duc-, -duct-              lead, bring                        introduce

-fact-                         make,do                        factory

-manu-            hand                                    manuscript

-graph-            write, draw                        autograph

-ject-                        throw                                    project

-ling-                        language                        linguistics

-pos-                        put, place                        impose

-port-                        carry                                    transport

-son-                        sound                                    sonic

-spect-                        look at                         inspect

-ven,-vene-            come                                    intervene

-vid-, -vis-            see                                    video

-voc-                        call, speak                        vocal

 

 

Stems and Affixes;Here is a list of common prefixes. If you know there, it will help you understand new words.