Why does a clerk in a store go away and leave you when your reply to her offer to help is. "No, thank you. I'm just looking"? Both you and she know that if you aren't sure what you want, you are not likely to find it. But suppose you say in stead. "Yes, thank you. I want a pair of sun glasses." She says, "Right this way, please." And you and she are off-both eager to look for exactly what you want.

　　It's quite the same with your studying. If you chose a book at random, "just looking" for nothing in particular, you are likely to get just that-nothing. But if you do know what you want, and if you have the right book, you are almost sure to get it. Your reasons will vary; they will include reading or studying "to find out how". A good student has a clear purpose or reason for what he is doing.

　　This is the way it works. Before you start to study, you say to yourself something like this. "I want to know why Stephen Vincent Benet happened to write about America. I'm reading this article to find out." Or, "I'm going to skim this story to see what life was like in medieval England." Because you know why you are reading or studying, you relate the information to your purpose and remember it better.

　　Reading is not one single activity. At least two important processes go on at the same time. As you read, you take in ideas rapidly and accurately. But at the same time you express your own ideas to yourself as you react to what you read. You have a kind of mental conversation with the author. If you expressed your ideas orally, they might sound like this: "Yes, I agree. That's my opinion too." or "Ummmm, I thought that record was broken much earlier. I'd better check those dates," or "But there are some other facts to be considered!" You don't just sit there taking in ideas-you do something else, and that something else is very important.

　　This additional process of thinking about what you read includes evaluation it, relating it to what you already know, and using it for your own purposes. In other words, a good reader is a critical reader. One part of critical reading, as you have discovered, is distinguishing between facts and opinions. Facts can be checked by evidence. Opinions are one's own personal reactions.

　　Another part of critical reading is judging sources. Still another part is drawing accurate inferences.

　　16. If you cannot remember what you read or study, __ .

　　A. it is no surprise.　　　　　　　　　　　

　　B. it means you have not really learned anything

　　C. it means you have not chosen the right book.　　

　　D. you realize it is of no importance.

　　17. Before you start reading, it is important __ .

　　A. to make sure why you are reading　　B. to relate the information your purpose

　　C. to remember what you read.　　　　D. to choose an interesting book.

　　18. Reading activity involves __ .

　　A. only two simultaneous processes.

　　B. primarily learning about ideas and evaluating them critically.