Passage 3: Many people think that all reading is alike. Noth…
Passage 3: Many people think that all reading is alike. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are four kinds of reading. The first kind of reading we will call elementary reading. This is the level where one is learning to read for the first time. The student sees a collection of black marks on white paper and learns what sounds those marks indicate. The second is called inspectional reading. Inspectional reading is characterized by its special emphasis on time. When reading at this level, the student has the elementary type mastered and applies those skills to reading within a set time to complete an assigned amount of reading. This kind of reading is frequently referred to as skimming. The classic example of inspectional reading is taking a timed reading test. The third kind of reading is called analytical reading. It is thorough reading and so is not limited according to time. In this type, the reader is trying to understand a text fully. One professor has been reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet for twenty-five years. He is still uncovering new meanings. The fourth level of reading is called synoptical reading. Some refer to this level as comparative reading. When reading synoptically, the reader reads many books, not just one, and places them and their ideas in relation to one another. By doing this, the reader can compare and contrast authors’ ideas about a particular topic and then evaluate those ideas as to merit. For example, if one wants to understand the idea of liberation in the history of African-American thought, he must read the works of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois, and Cornel West. Which of the following best restates the main idea of this passage?