How to Study

1. Quick reference reading focuses on seeking specific 
information that addresses a particular question or concern
the reader might have.
2. Critical reading is used to discern ideas and concepts that
require a thorough analysis. 
3. Aesthetic or pleasure reading is for sheer entertainment 
or to appreciate an author’s style and ability. 
The Importance of Prereading
The best way to begin any reading assignment is to skim the pages 
to get an overall view of what information is included. Then read 
the text more carefully and highlight it and/or take notes in your 
notebook.
How to Study
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A brief digression: Most everyone I know confuses “skim” and “scan.”
Let me set the record straight. Skim is to read quickly and superficially.
Scan is to read carefully but for a specific item. So when you skim a
reading selection, you are reading it in its entirety, though you’re only
hitting the “highlights.” When you scan a selection, you are reading
it in detail but only until you find what you’re looking for. Scanning is
the fastest reading rate of all—although you are reading in detail, you
are not seeking to comprehend or remember anything that you see
until you find the bit of information you’re looking for.
You probably are assigned a lot of reading that can be accomplished
by skimming for facts. By establishing the questions you want
answered before you begin to read, you can quickly browse through
the material, extracting only the information you need.
Let’s say you’re reading a science book with the goal of identifying the
function of a cell’s nucleus. You can breeze through the section that
gives the parts of the cell. You can skim the description of what cells
do. You already know what you’re looking for—and there it is in the
section that talks about what each cell part does. Now you can start
to read.
By identifying the questions you wanted to answer (a.k.a. your 
purpose) in advance, you would be able to skim the chapter and
answer your questions in a lot less time than it would have taken to
painstakingly read every word.
Skimming, or prereading, is a valuable step even if you aren’t seeking
specific facts. When skimming for a general overview, there’s a very
simple procedure to follow: