PART I CONTENT UPDATE

1. What are study skills?

A. Study skills according to Graham and Robinson (1984) are specific abilities which
students may use alone or in combination to learn the content of the curriculum on their
own.
B. Harris and Smith (1986) state that study skills are those that enable a person to gather
information and to organize it in such a way that requires analysis, interpretation, and
evaluation.
C. Klein, Peterson, and Simingten (1991) claim that the study skills are skills necessary for
acquiring critical information from a variety of text and media sources for differing
purposes and uses.
D. Study skills are skills related to gathering and using information.
2. What are the important study skills?
The following skills and strategies are considered important in reading and learning from a
variety of texts and media sources.
1. Establishing a mental set (framework) for studying.
2. Adjusting reading rate for different reading tools , reading types, and reading purposes
3. Previewing text
4. Skimming
5. Note-taking
6. Outlining
7. Interpreting graphic information (charts, graph, etc.)
8. Portraying ideas graphically (illustrating, mapping, charting)
9. Summarizing
3. Why do students need to learn study skills? Because
1. Mastery of effective and efficient study skills is important for learning in all content areas
of the curriculum.
2. Learning how to learn and how to access new information are the cornerstone of all lifelong
knowledge.
4. What tools can be used to aid study skills?
The tools for studying are the resources students must be able to use in order to apply their study
skills. These tools include standard library resources, such as dictionaries, thesaurus, the card
catalog, and various other reference works.
In studying, students need to:
1. Recall prior knowledge and prior experiences.
2. Organize information while reading.
3. Organize information after reading.
4. Synthesize and articulate new learning.
5. Learn vocabulary that labels important concepts, elements and relationships.
6. Produce or create something new and apply new information.

Study and
Thinking Skills
Dr. Ronald Candy S.

NOTES ON NOTE-TAKING
Note taking is an activity where you record in shortened form things you have read or heard for
future use.
Formats of Note-taking
The Cornell Method
The Outline Method
Note-taking through Graphics
SUGGESTIONS IN TAKING DOWN NOTES
Record
Revise
Fill in recall column
Recite
Review

FOUR RULES FOR WRITING A SUMMARY (Brown and Day, 1980)

Delete minor and redundant details

Combine similar details into categories and provide a label, then
Select main idea sentences when the author provides them or
Invent main idea sentences when the author is not explicit

NOTE ON OUTLINING
An outline is a short verbal sketch that show in skeleton form the pattern of ideas in text or a
draft prepared for speaking or writing often with main and sub-ideas highlighted by numbers and
letters.
TWO ACCEPTED OUTLINE
FORMATS
Roman and Arabic Number and
Letter System Title

I.
II.

Decimal Numbering System

Titl
e
1.
2.

A.
1.
2.
a.
b.
3

2.1
2.1.1
2.1.2
2.1.3
2.2
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.3

B.
III.
3.

The
PQ5R
Method
PQ5R is the mnemonic for
studying the kind of material
information and ideas from
balanced and flexible network

an effective student regulated approach to

assigned every day textbooks. Gaining new
a variety of different textbooks demands a
of study strategies.

Preview

Know where youre going first. You would never plunge in and try to cross rugged territory if
you could have in advance an accurate map of the region. Here is your mental map of a textbook
chapter: Examine the title. Read the introduction. Glance at the pictures, charts, and diagrams.
Read the wrap-up of the chapterthe summary and review questions.
Q

Question

Work through the chapter- one manageable section at a time. A section marked off with a bold
face or italic sideheading is likely to be the right size bite for you to
digest
Be a human question mark. Go into each section with a question in your mind. Turn headings,
and sometimes topic sentences, into questions. These should guide you to the main points.
R1

Read

Read to find the answer to your question and other important content. Unknown terms say,
STOP! LOOK UP! LEARN! Remove these roadblocks. Each pictorial aid is saying, This is
clearing up something important. Shift into back-and-forth reading for pictures, diagrams, and
charts. Shift your eyes (and thoughts) back and forth as needed from the printed words to the
pictorial aid.
Speed up and slow down as needed within the passage. Do stop-and-go reading. Thought time is
needed in addition to reading time. Reread as often as necessary. Do stop-and-go reading.
R2

Record

Jot down or mark important ideas. Make the key ideas stand out in some way so they will flag
you later. Use any combination of devices. Jot mini notes on a memo slip to be inserted between
related pages or in the books margin. Draw vertical line in the margin just to the left or right of
important content. Bracket key ideas. Underline or color-accent selectively. Now you wont have
to reread the entire chapter when you return to review it later. Make key ideas flag you.
R3

Recite

Students exclaim, Ive read the chapter twice, but I still cant remember it. Solve this problem
by using the most powerful technique know to psychologistthe technique of self-recitation. As
you complete a section or a paragraph, ask yourself, Just what have I learned here?
Look away from the book while you self-recite, or cover the passage with your hand or with a
convenient card (such as 5x8 index card). Can you recite the important points to yourself in
your own words? Now look back at the column of print, whenever you need to, and check your
accuracy. Knowing youre going to self-recite when you finish a section forces you to
concentrate while youre reading.
R4

Review

Add a last quick run through. Can you recall the broad chapter plan? Run through the chapter to
recall the plan. Next, run through it section by section, checking yourself once more on the main
points and the important subpoints. Use your cover card again. Make some quick reviews later
on from time to time. Long term memory does improve grades.

R5

Reflect

As you read a passage, turn on your critical thinking. Ask yourself: What does this all mean? Is
it true? How can I apply it? Reading and reflecting should be simultaneous and inseparable
built right into every step of PQ5R.
5. How helpful is scanning and skimming in reading?
Readers use different strategies based on what and why they are reading. To be an efficient
reader, students need to know when to read for full comprehension and when to use other
reading methods, such as scanning and skimming. Dorothy U. Seyler in his book Steps to
College Reading (2001) discusses the difference of the two, and gives guidelines on how to use
them.
Scanning involves searching materials for a particular piece of information. Instead of reading
every word on a page, readers move eyes quickly, searching for what is needed. You can scan
when you look up a word in a dictionary, or a phone number in the telephone directory. To be an
efficient reader, focus on finding just what you are looking for.
Guidelines for scanning
1. Understand the organization of the materials.
2. Stay focused on what you are looking for.
3. Use whatever clues are available to speed your search.
4. Confirm your information.
Skimming is a strategy for getting an overview of the ideas contained in a particular piece of
writing. When you scan, you look for specific information; when you skim, you overlook details
to learn just the gist or main ideas of the work.
Skimming is like scanning, though, in two important ways. First, both reading strategies depend
on your understanding of the organization of the work. Second, both strategies are alternative to
reading for full comprehension. Neither skimming nor scanning alone will produce success when
you are reading to learn, but both can make you more efficient if you use them appropriately.
When is skimming a useful reading strategy?
1. Skim some newspaper and magazine articles.
2. Skim some research materials.
3. Skim supplementary readings.
4. Skim to locate articles for an assignment.
5. Skim to preview a work before reading it carefully.
6. Skim to review a section or chapter after you have read it.
Reasons for skimming
1. As part of preparing to read.
2. As part of reviewing for test.
3. As an alternative to reading full comprehension, when a general familiarity is appropriate.
Guidelines for skimming
1. Establish your goal for skimming.
2. Identify the type of work and study its organization.
3. Skim newspaper articles by reading the first two paragraphs and then moving your eyes
quickly down the center of each column.
4. Skim magazine articles by reading the first one or two paragraphs and then skimming the
rest of the articles.

6. How do students improve reading efficiency?

Good reading strategies help you to read in a very efficient way. Using them, you aim to get the
maximum benefit from your reading with the minimum effort. This section will show you how to
use six different strategies to read intelligently.
Strategy 1. Knowing what you want to know
The first thing to ask yourself is: Why are you reading text? Are you reading with a purpose or
just for pleasure? What do you want to know after reading it?
Once you know this, you can examine the text to see whether it is going to move you towards
this goal.
An easy way of doing this is to look at the introduction and the chapter headings. The
introduction should let you know whom the book is targeted at, and what it seeks to achieve.
Chapter headings will give you n overall of the structure of the subject.
Ask yourself whether the book meets your needs. Ask yourself if it assumes too much or too
little knowledge. If the book isnt ideal, would it be better to find another one?
Strategy 2. Knowing how deeply to study the material
Where you only need to the shallowest knowledge of the subject, you can skim material. Here
you read only chapter headings, introductions and summaries.
If you need a moderate level of information on a subject, then you can scan text. Here you read
the chapter introductions and summaries in detail. You may then speed read the contents of the
chapters, picking out and understanding key words and concepts. At this level of looking at the
document, it is worth paying attentions to diagrams and graphs.
Only when you need detailed knowledge of a subject is it worth studying the text. Here it is best
to skim the material first to get an overview of the subject. This gives you an understanding of its
structure, into which you can fit the detail gained from a full, receptive reading of the material.
SQ3R is a good technique for getting a deep understanding of a text.
Strategy 3. Active Reading
When you are reading a document in detail, it often helps if you highlight, underline and
annotate it as you go on. This emphasizes information in your mind, and helps you to review
important points later.
Doing this also helps to keep your mind focused on the material and stops it wondering. This is
obviously only something to do if you own the document! If you own the book and find that
active reading helps, then it may be worth photocopying information in more expensive texts.
You can then read and mark the photocopies.
If you are worried about destroying the material, ask yourself how much investment of time is
worth. If the benefit you get by active reading reasonably exceeds the value of the book, then the
book is disposable.
These are three important steps to active reading:
1. Identify the authors main idea.
2. Identify the paragraph topics.
3. Note the supporting details.

7. What is main idea?

The main idea:
Is the subject or major argument of a speech or composition
Is the theme, or the concise statement of the main points
Involves reducing text to its gist
8. How does a reader grasp the main idea of a selection?
1. Determine the topic of the text. Use the title to predict the topic.
2. Ask yourself, What about the topic is discussed? to point out the focus of the topic.
3. Review the title to hypothesize about the writers pattern of text organization. Generally, the
rhetorical pattern chosen showcases the main idea and the supporting ideas.
Doing the three steps given will help the readers to come up with a main idea even prior to the
reading of the actual text. The formula to construct or state the main idea is:
mi= p + f + t

Where
mi = main idea
p = pattern of organization
f = focus of discussion
t = topic
Read the entire selection to confirm if the main idea you have predicted matches the writers
main idea. If there is a mach, the purpose of your reading is to look for the support ideas. Jot
down all the important notes that relate to the main idea. However, if there is a mismatch
between your main idea and the writers main idea, revise or change your hypothesis before you
gather the support ideas.
4. Evaluate the notes you have written, and synthesize the ideas you gathered from steps 1- 4 to
summarize the informational text in two or three sentences. The formula for summary of an
expository text is:
Set= mi + si + (sd)

Where
Set = summary of expository text
mi = main idea (p + f + t)
si = support idea
sd = support detail
As visual organizer, readers may prepare a diagram shown below
Topi
c

Focus
:

Main
Idea:
Study and
Thinking Skills
Dr. Ronald Candy S.

Support Idea 1

Support Idea 2

Support Idea 3

Study and
Thinking Skills
Dr. Ronald Candy S.

Strategy 4. How to study different sorts of material

Different sorts of documents hold information in different places and in different ways. They
have different depths and breadths of coverage. By understanding the layout of the material you
are reading, you can extract useful information much more efficiently.
Reading Magazines and Newspapers:
These tend to give a very fragmented coverage of an area. They will typically only concentrate
on the most interesting and glamorous part of the topicthis helps them to sell copies! They will
often ignore less interesting information that may be essential to a full understanding of a
subject. Typically areas of useful information are padded with large amount of irrelevant waffle
or advertising.
The most effective way of getting information from magazines is to scan the contents tables or
indexes and turn directly to interesting articles. If you find an article useful, then cut it out and
file it in a folder specifically covering that sort of information. In this way you will build up set
of related articles that may begin to explain the subject.
Reading Individual Articles
Articles within newspapers and magazines tend to be in three types:
News Articles: Here the most important information is presented first, with information
being less and less useful as the article progresses. News articles are designed to explain
the key points first, and then flesh tem out with detail.
Opinion Articles: Opinion articles present a point of view. Here the most important
information is contained in the introduction and the summary, with the middle of the
article containing supporting arguments.
Feature Articles: These are written to provide entertainment or background on a subject.
Typically the most important information is in the body of the text.
If you know what you want from an article, and recognize its type, you can extract information
from it quickly and efficiently.
Strategy 5. Reading whole subject documents
When you are reading an important document, it is easy to accept the writers structure of
thought. This can mean that you may not notice that important information has been omitted or
that irrelevant detail has been included. A good way of recognizing this is to compile your own
table of contents before you open the documents. You can then use this table of contents to read
the documents in the order that you want. You will be able to spot omissions quickly.
Strategy 6. Using glossaries with technical documents
If you are reading large amounts of difficult technical material, it may be useful to photocopy or
compile a glossary. Keep this beside you as you read. It will probably also be useful to note
down the key concepts in your own words, and refer to them when necessary.
Usually it best to make notes as you go. Effective way of doing this includes creating Concept
Maps or using the Cornell Note Taking System.
As a review, remember the following to improve your reading efficiency:
Knowing what you need to know, and reading appropriately
Knowing how deeply to read the document skimming, scanning or studying

 Using active reading techniques to pick out key points and keep your mind focused on
the material
Using the table of contents for reading magazines and newspapers, and clipping useful
articles
Understanding how to extract information from different article types
Creating your own table of contents for reviewing material
Using indexes, tables of contents, and glossaries to help you assimilate technical
information.
9. What is critical reading?
Critical reading is a study skill that is necessary for success in every subject area. It is the process
or results of making judgments in reading, evaluating relevancy and adequacy of what is read,
and scrutinizing new idea and information.
Reading critically involves four conditions:
1. A knowledge of the field or fields in which the thinking is being done
2. A general attitude of questioning and suspended judgment, a habit of examining before
accepting
3. Some application of methods of logical analysis
4. Taking action in light of this analysis or reasoning
10. What are some critical reading/thinking skills?
1. Recognizing intent or purpose (public or obvious, less public or hidden, own or readers
purpose)
2. Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant information
3. Some application of methods of logical analysis
4. Taking action in light of this analysis or reasoning
Critical Reasoning Guide
Use the following questions regularly in reading:
1. Has the writer used loaded, or emotionally charged, words? What are they?
2. Is the author a good source of ideas and information on the subject? Have you checked
his/her credentials? What are they?
3. Which statements are clearly factual? Which are opinions? How can you tell? Which seem
to predominate?
4. Does the writer seem to be deliberately trying to arouse your emotions? What are some
examples of emotional language?
5. Which statements are clearly inferences? Is there evidence to support them?
6. Has the writer to experts by name, or are the references based on hearsay (They say or
research proves)?
7. Is the writer biased? How do you know?
8. What assumptions are implied by the authors statements? What are they?
9. Does the author use any of the propaganda devices? Which? Who is being served here?
What emotions are being appealed to? (Some propaganda devices are glittering generality,
named calling, transfer, testimonial, plain folks, card stacking, bandwagon)
10. What is the authors public purpose? hidden purposes?
11. How do students improve test-taking skills?
Preparing for a test
1. Set up a regular study space with the equipment you need.
Study and
Thinking Skills
Dr. Ronald Candy S.

2. Homework is often reviewed. Consider the review as part of your homework.

3. Make flashcards to help you memorize information.
4. Learn to make and use outline of the material you must learn.
5. You must learn to remember ideas and to memorize facts.
6. Outlines are especially useful when you study for an essay test.
7. Use textbooks for review.
8. Read the chapter and topic headings.
9. Study all illustrations and captions.
10. Know or memorize important material in boldface or italics.
11. Read charts and graphs carefully. Decide if you needed to memorize any of the
information.
12. Read the end-of-the chapter series.
13. Review the end-of-the chapter questions until you can answer them without looking up
the answers.
14. To practice for an essay test, turn the headings in your textbook into essay questions.
Practice writing answers.
Taking the test
1. Rest before a test so you are alert.
2. Listen to any oral instructions.
3. Decide if each part of the test gets the same number of points or if some parts of the test
are worth more points than others. Decide whether it will take you a shorter or longer time to
answer each question, Plan a timetable for yourself.
4. As soon as you have scanned and planned your time, begin to write your answers.
5. Raise your hand if you need help.
6. Check the number of the problem and the number on your answer sheet each time.
7. Answer the questions you find easier first, or begin at number one. Most test are set up so
the easiest question is number one.
8. Every ten minutes or so, sit back in your chair, breathe deeply, and relax for a moment.
9. Be neat.
Sample Test Items
Choose and copy the letter of the best answer for each item.
Read the portion of a proposal on smoking written below. Then decide who could have written
each proposal.
1. Proposal A: I strongly propose that colleges and universities allow smoking in the campus
during break as a way of easing pressure and tension among students caused by heavy
academics.
A. A psychologist

B. A parent

C. A student who smokes

D. A student leader

This is a question on critical thinking, specifically on nothing point of view. The proposal
requires sensitivity to the speakers word choice and stand on the issue. The words campus,
break, academic pressure and tension suggest that a person is very familiar with college
life, and the stand is not against, but for smoking. Although choices A,B, and D are also
familiar with university life, not all them would fight for smoking. The best answer is Cthe
one who is university student and who smokes would most likely to propose the idea.
2. Proposal B: Smoking increases the chances of having fire accidents not only ion schools but
also in all public placesparks, hotels, markets, and villages. It could be a way of
endangering the lives of people whose interest the government has promised to serve and
protect.

A. A psychiatrist

B. A store owner

C. A fire chief

D. A teacher

The analysis done in one can be used here, too. Word choice will give a clue as to who is
speakingwords such as accidents, places, markets, hotels, governments, serve, and
protect. Take note that the persons stand is not for, but against smoking. Choice A,
physician will not talk about the risk of smoking in this manner and perhaps would not
encourage smoking. Choice B, store owner, might cite other reasons and might ambivalent
about the issueeither to fight for or against smoking. A teacher, choice D, might not
advocate smoking but will offer different explanations. The best answer is choice C. Among
the choices, only a fire chief would explain reasons the way it was done in the proposal
because of which smoking is not viewed positively.
3. How would a tobacco grower explain the reason of the proposal for smoking?
A. Smoking indirectly boosts the countrys economy.
B. Smoking relaxes the nerves and this helps control negative emotions.
C. Smoking has always been a part of male identity and superiority over women.
D. Smoking benefits the people who consider the plant as their source of income.
This is a thinking skill question which requires an analysis of the persons character as basis
for identifying perspective and point of view. Notice that the person involved is a tobacco
grower who would encourage smoking for business reasons. Choice A is perhaps from an
economist view, while Choice B could be made by a plain smoker trying to justify the act.
Choice C might be a statement by a sociologist talking about gender issues. Choice D is the
correct answer because the tobacco grower depends on the plant for living, and so he/she
airs a view from a business or labor perspective.

PART IIANALYZING TEST ITEMS

Read the selection and answer the questions that follow. Write only the correct letter of the best
answer for each item.
1. For all his ability to travel over a sandy desert without water, the camel has a nasty
temper and the spirit of revenge. Hes not happy until he pay s back a wrong, actual or seeming.
Knowing this, camel drivers and others who use camels a lot have devised an interestingly way of
letting the camel settle his scores without the person being hurt.
2. When a driver has made a camel angry in some way or other, he immediately runs out of
sight. He hides near the road on which the camel will pass. He then takes off his clothes and
throws them down on a heap, which vaguely resembles a sleeping person.
3. Along comes the camel. He sees and smells the clothes of the one who hurt him. Then
he pounces upon the pile, shakes every piece and tramples all over everything. Satisfied, he walks
away. The driver comes out of hiding, mounts the avenged beast, and rides off.
4. It makes one think of the baby who bumps its head against the leg of the table, turns
around, and hit the leg in punishment.
--from 1000 Stories You Can Use by Frank Mihalic
1. What is the passage mostly about?
A. a camel and his driver
B. a drivers way to trick an angry camel

C. a camels attitude when angry

D. a drivers device to control anger

2. Who is referred to by the pronoun he in paragraph 1, sentence 2?

A. driver
B. camel
C. person
D. cloth
3. Who is referred to by the pronoun he in paragraph 2?
A. driver
B. camel
C. anger
D. sight
4. How does the writer regard the camel?
A. with respect and care
B. with fear and love

C. with humility and love

D. with contempt and criticism

5. What does the writer think about the camels driver?

A. The driver is wise and clever
C. The driver is loving and kind
B. The driver is a fool
D. The driver is a friend of a camel
6. What is implied by the statement, Hes not happy until he pays back wrong, actual
or seeming?
A. The camel does not forgive any offense.
B. The camel never stops seeking revenge.
C. The camel pays for his happiness by doing the right thing
D. The camels happiness is making right the wrong done against him.
7. What happens after the camel has trampled all over the clothes of the driver?
A. The camel walks away.
B. The camel smells the clothes.
C. The driver comes out of hiding.
D. The driver walks away from the camel.

A study make a number of years ago said the more education a man has, the less likely he is o
be an inventor. Now, the reason for that is quite simple. From the time the boy or girl starts in school,
he or she is examined three or four times a year, and of course, it is very, very disastrous if he/she
fails. An inventor fails all the time and it is a triumph if he succeeds ones. Consequently, if education
is an inhibition to invention, it is due entirely to the form by which we rate things and not because of
any intellectual differences.
I can take any group of young people any place, and teach them to be inventors, if I can get
them to throw off the hazard of being afraid to fail. You fail because your ideas are not right. You
should not be afraid to fail, but you should learn to fail intelligently. BY that I mean, when you fail,
find out why you failed, and each time you fail it will bring you nearer to the goal.
--from 1000 Stories You Can Use by Frank Mihalic
8. What relationship is shown between education and inventor?
A. The former is the cause of the latter.
B. Education is not useful for the inventor.
C. Ones education guarantees an invention.
D. Education does not encourage a person to be an inventor.
9. According to the selection, what is true about an invention?
A. An inventor succeeds in all endeavors.
B. An inventor always succeeds in the first attempts.
C. An inventor gives up on the first failure of the experiment.
D. An inventor experiences failures several times before he/she succeeds.
10. How are the ideas mentioned in this statement connected, If education is an
inhibition to invention, it is due entirely to the form by which we rate things?
A. The sentence enumerates reasons for invention.
B. The sentence conveys the result of being educated.
C. The sentence compares education and invention.
D. The sentence gives cause-effect relationship between education and invention.
11. What is the writers view about failure?
A. It is disastrous.
B. It is an inhibition to invention.
C. It hinders ones desire to succeed.
D. It helps people learn and get near their goal.
12. What could be the message of the selection?
A. Success comes to those who persevere.
B. Failure reflects ones limited intellect.
C. Success brings pride to ones country.
Failure stops people from inventing things.
It isD.said:
That there is hardly a bar of music which Beethoven did not rewrite at least a dozen times.
That Bryant rewrote THANATOPSIS a hundred times.
That Gibbon rewrote his AUTHOBIOGRAPHY nine times.
That Plato wrote the first sentence of his REPUBLIC nine times.
That Virgil spent 12 years writing his AENID.
--from 1000 Stories You Can Use by Frank Mihalic
13. What does the word bar mean in the selection?
A. A vertical line drawn to show division of notes
B. A strip of wood used for obstruction
C. A gate closing a road
D. A railing in a court

14. What could be the reason for capitalizing some words in the selection?
A. They show the importance of greatness
B. They reflect insights of human nature.
C. They stand for concepts difficult to understand.
D. They represent great works of persistent people.
15. What could be inferred about the people mentioned in the selection?
A. They are gifted with power.
B. They are admired for who they are.
C. They are born to succeed in life.
D. They are recognized in their discipline.
16. Which is the best statement that tells the main idea of the selection?
A. Ones greatness is the product of brilliance.
B. Perseverance makes one reach his or her goal.
C. Success is measured by ones effortless creation.
D. Success is for every person who waits for it patiently.
The Cooks Prayer
Lord of all the pots and things,
Since Ive no time to be
A saint by doing lovely things,
Or watching late with Thee,
Or dreaming in the dawnlight,
Or storming heavens gates,
Make me a saint by getting meals
And washing up the plates.
--from 1000 Stories You Can Use by Frank Mihalic
17. Who is speaking in the poem?
A. A saint
B. The Lord C. A cook

D. A wife

18. What of the following tells what the speaker does?

A. Watches late at night
B. Dreams in the Dawnlight
C. Storms heavens gate
D. Washes up the plates
19. How does the speaker in the poem regard the saints?
A. With admiration
B. With compassion
C. With Understanding
D. With Sympathy
20. What do the last two lines mean? The speaker is saying that he
A. Be given patience so he can do his work
B. likes his job and praying to his saints
C. wants to be a saint of pots and pans
D. does not want to work at night.

PART IIIENHANCING TEST TAKING SKILLS

Read the section and answer the questions that follow. Copy the letter of the best answer for each
item.
1. What must oc cur to enable us to remember a friends name, a fact from history, or an
incident from our past? The act of remembering requires the successful completion of three processes:
encoding, storage, and retrieval. The first process, encoding, inv olves transforming information into a
form that can be stored in memory. Sometimes we encode information automatically, without any
effort, but often we must do something with the information in order to remember it. For example, if
you met someone named George at a party, you might associate his name with George Washington or
George Bush. Such simple associations can markedly improve your ability to recall names and other
information. The careful encoding of information greatly increases the chance that you will remember
it.
2. That second memory process, storage, involves keeping or maintaining information in
memory. For encoded information to be stored, some physiological change in the brain must take place
a process called consideration. Normally consolidation occurs automatically, but if a person loses
consciousness for any re ason, the process can be disrupted and a permanent memory may not form.
That is why a person who has been in a serious car accident could awaken in a hospital and not
remember what has happened.
3. The final process, retrieval, occurs when information stored in memory is brought to mind.
Calling George by name the next you meet him shows that you have retrieved his name from memory.
To remember, we must perform all three processes encode the information, store it, and then
retrieved it. Memory failure can result from the failure of any one of the three.
4. Similar steps are required in information processing of computers. Information is encoded
(entered in some form, the computer is able to use), then storedd on disk, and later retrieved on the
screen. You would not b e able to retrieve the material if you had failed to enter it, if a power failure
occurred before you could save what you had entered, or if you forgot which disk or file contained the
needed information. Of course, human processing is far more complex than even the most advanced
computer system, but computer processing provides a useful analogy to memory if not taken too
literally.
--from Steps to College Reading by Dorothy U. Seyler
1. What was the selection mostly about?
A. remembering George Bush
B. processes in human memory

C. processing information using computers

D. steps in improving retention

2. What rhetorical pattern was used in the selection?

A. chronological
C. cause-effect
B. comparison-contrast
D. enumeration
3. What do you think was the purpose of highlighting some words in the selection?
A. to enumerate effects of memory
C. to emphasize the processes involved
B. to discuss reasons of the process
D. to relate the information to prior
knowledge
4. Which of the highlighted words is not a major process in memory?
A. retrieval
C. storage
B. encoding
D. consolidation

5. Which of the processes in memory should happen first?

A. retrieval
C. storage
B. encoding
D. consolidation
6. What type of change in the brain is needed for the storage of information?
A. psychological
C. physiological
B. psychosocial
D. physical
7. Why does memory fail, according to the selection?
A. when encoding does not happen
C. when consolidation does not take place
B. when any one of the three fails
D. when retrieval is impossible
8. Which of the following statements can be deleted from the selection?
A. If you meet George at a party, you might associate his name with George
Washington.
B. Encoding involves transforming information into a form that can be stored in
memory.
C. Storage is the second memory process.
D. Retrieval is the final process in memory
9. Which of the following could be the best title for the selection?
A. Human Brain and the Computer
B. The Three Processes in Memory
C. Improving Ones Memory
D. My Memory and I
Music Can Heal Mental Wounds but Only in the Right Hands
By Eva Dorothee Schmid
1. Human beings have known about the healing properties of music since Biblical times
according to the Old Testament for example. David soothed King Sauls aching brow by reaching
for his harp.
2. There are also many references to the healing potential of music in texts left behind by
the ancient Greeks.
3. The same properties are not put to good use in the modern field of music therapy. Music
therapy is psychotherapeutic procedure which does not complete with traditional medicine but
rather tries to complement it.
4 -5. Music arouses emotion, soothes, comforts and can lead to changes in behavior. It can
also encourage the healing process, increase persons ability to tolerate pain and help them
overcome their fears.
All of this can result in changes in the bodys chemistry.
6. Studies show that the right sort of music causes the body to release an increased amount
of so-called endorphins with the results that the person becomes less sensitive to pain and feels
much better.
--from Manila Bulletin, August 2007
10. The writer discusses
A. the causes of music therapy
B. the effects of effects of music
11. The ideas are arranged using
A. enumeration
B. problem-solving

C. the music in Biblical times

D. the music for life
as a pattern of organization.
C. cause-effect
D. chronological

12. The writer defines a concept/term in paragraph

A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
13. According to the selection, the following are the effects of music except
A. emotional healing
B. pain tolerance
C. academic excellence
D. behavioral change
14. There are
A. 2

effects of music mentioned in paragraph 3.

B. 3
C. 4
D. 5

15. The writer wants to explain.

A. that music can replace medicine
B. how music can be useful for well-being
C. when music can complement medicine
D. why music is popular

The Danger of Acid Rain

Acid rain refers to all types of precipitation rain, snow, sleet, ahil, fog that is
acidic in nature. Acidic means that these forms of water have a pH lower than 5.6
average of rainwater. Acid rail kills aquatic life, trees, crops and other vegetation,
damages building and monuments, corrodes copper and lead piping damages such manmade things as automobile, reduces soil fertility and can cause toxic metals to leach
into underground water sources.
Rain is naturally acidic because carbon dioxide, found normally in the earths
atmosphere, reacts with water to form carbon acid. While pure rains acidity is pH 5.6
to 5.7, actual Ph readings vary from place to place depending upon type and amount of
other gasses present in the air, such as sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxides.
The term pH refers to the three hydrogen ions (electrically charged atoms) in
water and is measured in a scale from 0 to 14. Seven is considered neutral and
measurements below seven are acidic while those above it are basic or alkaline. Every
point on the pH scale represents a tenfold increase over the previous number. Thus, pH
4 is 10 times more acidic than pH 5 and 100 times more acidic more so than pH 6.
Similarly, Ph 9 is 10 times more basic than pH 8 and 100 times more basic than pH 7.
--from Manila Bulletin, October 2007

16. What is the average Ph of rainwater?

A. 5.6
B. 14
C. 100
D. 10
17. Why is rain naturally acidic?
A. because water reacts with atmosphere
B. because of carbon dioxides reaction with water
C. because of acid
D. because of the atmosphere

18. What affects the variation in the actual pH readings?

A. the type of gases
B. the amount of gases
C. the type and amount of gases
D. the kinds of plants in the area
19. What are free hydrogen ions?
A. electrically-changed ions
B. electrically-charged atoms
C. water measured on a scale
D. electronically-charged atoms
20. Which is not directly stated as an effect of acid rain?
A. death of marine life
B. damage of monuments
C. reduction of soil fertility
D. extinction of human race