Table of contents

Unit 1 WHAT IS SCIENCE?	8
Unit 2 SCIENCE TO LIFE: BETWEEN THE LINES	28
Unit 3 ORDER OF IMPORTANCE	61
Unit 4 MATTER OF PERSPECTIVES	83
Unit 5 RESEARCH MISCONDUCT	91
Unit 6 FINDING MEANING IN LITERATURE	107
Unit 7 WRITING & PUBLISHING	121

Unit 1 what is science?

Objectives:

Here in the unit you will get some principles of effective reading:

1. Learn how to get the basic information

2. Practise the different styles of reading

3.Find out the difference between oral and written communication, formal and informal language

4. Practise in asking and answering questions

Part 1: principles of effective reading

Starting up

Task 1. Discuss the following questions with your peers to share experience in effective reading:

1. Can you read fast?

2. Why do most people read poems slowly and newspapers fast?

3. What style of reading do you usually use when you read a text-book article, a paper, a fiction story?

4. Are you an active reader?

5. Do you mark up the passage while reading?

Foundation

Reading involves the use of the eyes and the brain. In order to read fast, you need to use more of your brain. Reading fast means reading efficiently. This means not wasting time and using your eyes and brain together well. To do this, you need to read purposefully and interactively.

Styles of reading

There are three styles of reading which are used in different situations:

Scanning: for a specific focus

The technique you use when you're looking up a name in the phone book: you move your eye quickly over the page to find particular words or phrases that are relevant to the task you're doing.

It's useful to scan parts of texts to see if they're going to be useful to you:

• the introduction or preface of a book

• the first or last paragraphs of chapters

• the concluding chapter of a book.

Skimming: for getting the gist of something

The technique you use when you're going through a newspaper or magazine: you read quickly to get the main points, and skip over the detail. It's useful to skim:

• to preview a passage before you read it in detail

• to refresh your understand of a passage after you've read it in detail.

Use skimming when you're trying to decide if a book in the library or bookshop is right for you.

Detailed reading: for extracting information accurately

Where you read every word, and work to learn from the text. In this careful reading, you may find it helpful to skim first, to get a general idea, but then go back to read in detail. Much of what you read, especially today in this “Information age”, is designed to provide you with facts. These facts are not always easy to determine, especially if writing is dense or complicated. To make it simpler, ask yourself these questions as you read: What facts am I expected to know? What am I to learn or be aware of? What happened? What is true? What exists?

Underline the key terms and ideas. Use a dictionary to make sure you understand all the words used.

Remember, good reading is active reading.

(Adapted from http://www.studyskills.soton.ac.uk/studytips/reading_skills.htm)

Task 2. Explain what the following terms mean.

a) scanning, b) skimming, c) detailed reading, d) a fact, e) active reading

Task 3. Read text A quickly. Use scanning. Answer the questions