Skimming text
In this lesson we’re going to focus on two important reading skills: skimming for the main idea and understanding how academic texts are organized.
In good academic writing, each paragraph talks about one main thing. Think of this main thing as a topic, and it’s usually mentioned in a sentence called the “topic sentence.” This topic sentence tells you what the paragraph is all about. Sometimes, it’s the first sentence, but not always. Finding and reading this topic sentence is vital because it helps you understand what the paragraph and the whole text are about. It’s like a map that guides you through the text, making it easier to understand academic stuff.
If there are any complex/technical words, they will be explained using a glossary.
skim read this text. ONLY read the first and last sentence. Give your self no more than 60 seconds to complete this task. Can you identify the topic sentence?
A Remarkable Beetle
A Introducing dung1 beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately
1,500 beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats2 in the cow
pasture. The beetles immediately disappear beneath the pats digging and
tunnelling and, if they successfully adapt to their new environment, soon become a
permanent, self-sustaining part of the local ecology. In time they multiply and within
three or four years the benefits to the pasture are obvious.
B Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat so they are sheltered from
predators such as birds and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and bury dung
in tunnels directly underneath the pats, which are hollowed out from within. Some
large species originating from France excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately
30 cm below the dung pat. These beetles make sausage-shaped brood chambers
along the tunnels. The shallowest tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish
species that buries dung in chambers that hang like fruit from the branches of a
pear tree. South African beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm below
the surface of the pat. Some surface-dwelling beetles, including a South African
species, cut perfectly-shaped balls from the pat, which are rolled away and
attached to the bases of plants.
C For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require a
variety of species with overlapping periods of activity. In the cooler environments of
the state of Victoria, the large French species (2.5 cms long), is matched with
smaller (half this size), temperate-climate Spanish species. The former are slow to
recover from the winter cold and produce only one or two generations of offspring
from late spring until autumn. The latter, which multiply rapidly in early spring,
produce two to five generations annually.
The South African ball-rolling species, being a sub-tropical beetle, prefers the climate
of northern and coastal New South Wales where it commonly works with the South
African tunneling species. In warmer climates, many species are active for longer
periods of the year.
Glossary
1. dung: the droppings or excreta of animals
2. cow pats: droppings of cows
The topic sentences
A. Introducing dung1 beetles into a pasture is a simple process:
approximately 1,500 beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh
cow pats2 in the cow pasture
B. Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat . . .
C. For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require
a variety of species with overlapping periods of activity.
| Using the information in the topic sentences only, decide in which paragraph (A, B or C) you would look in to find the following information: | Paragraph A, B or C? | |
| a) | different species of beetles | |
| b) | how the beetles get into the field | |
| c) | what happens at different parts of the year | |
| d) | what the beetles do inside the cowpat | |
| e) | information about climate and the beetles | |
Answers
| Using the information in the topic sentences only, decide in which paragraph (A, B or C) you would look in to find the following information: | Paragraph A, B or C? | |
| a) | different species of beetles | C |
| b) | how the beetles get into the field | A |
| c) | what happens at different parts of the year | C |
| d) | what the beetles do inside the cowpat | B |
| e) | information about climate and the beetles | C |
Skim reading can help you orientate yourself to the text. When you look at the questions, you can quickly get a rough idea where to look for the answers.
