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How do you get the answer to a question out of a big, long text, without spending a lot of time reading every word? It’s called skimming and scanning. The short definition: running your eyes quickly over words to find information. It’s not too hard, and you can get better at it with practice. Here’s the practice question for it last week….

From The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith:

Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot of Kgale Hill. These were its assets: a tiny white van, two desks, two chairs, a telephone, and an old typewriter. Then there was a teapot, in which Mma Ramotswe–the only lady private detective in Botswana–brewed redbush tea. And three mugs–one for herself, one for her secretary, and one for the client. What else does a detective agency really need? Detective agencies rely on human intuition and intelligence, both of which Mma Ramotswe had in abundance. No inventory would ever include those, of course.

But there was also the view, which again could appear on no inventory. How could any such list describe what one saw when one looked out from Mma Ramotswe’s door? To the front, an acacia tree, the thorn tree which dots the wide edges of the Kalahari; the great white thorns, a warning; the olive-grey leaves, by contrast, so delicate. In its branches, in the late afternoon, or in the cool of the early morning, one might see a Go-Away Bird, or hear it, rather. And beyond the acacia, over the dusty road, the roofs of the town under a cover of trees and scrub bush; on the horizon, in a blue shimmer of heat, the hills, like improbable, overgrown termite mounds.

Everybody called her Mma Ramotswe, although if people had wanted to be formal, they would have addressed her as Mme Mma Ramotswe. This is the right thing for a person of stature, but which she had never used of herself. So it was always Mma Ramotswe, rather than Precious Ramotswe, a name which very few people employed.

She was a good detective, and a good woman. A good woman in a good country, one might say. She loved her country, Botswana, which is a place of peace, and she loved Africa, for all its trials. I am not ashamed to be called an African patriot, said Mma Ramotswe. I love all the people whom God made, but I especially know how to love the people who live in this place. They are my people, my brothers and sisters. It is my duty to help them to solve the mysteries in their lives. That is what I am called to do.

In idle moments, when there were no pressing matters to be dealt with, and when everybody seemed to be sleepy from the heat, she would sit under her acacia tree. It was a dusty place to sit, and the chickens would occasionally come and peck about her feet, but it was a place which seemed to encourage thought. It was here that Mma Ramotswe would contemplate some of the issues which, in everyday life, may so easily be pushed to one side.

What is the main character’s first name?

A) Mma

B) Kgale

C) Precious

D) Kalahari

E) Ramotswe

The question’s not too hard. The text is really long though! Finding the answer quickly is the trick to know for this one. And the best way to find the answer is to know what you’re looking for. That means, read the question, and figure out what you need to know. It asks for the first name of the main character.

If you skim the reading first, you see that the character is called Mma Ramotswe. You see that all over the place. What does Mma mean, though? It sounds kind of like “Mama,” so maybe it’s not a name. You can scan the text for the other answer choices, to see if one of them’s her first name.

“Kgale” isn’t it. That’s at the beginning, and it’s the name of a hill, not a person. “Precious” is a word, but is it a name? By scanning the article, you can find “Precious” capitalized in the third paragraph, near the end. Plus, it’s used with the character’s last name, Ramotswe. Here’s the sentence: “So it was always Mma Ramotswe, rather than Precious Ramotswe, a name which very few people employed.”

That’s saying, people called her “Mma Ramotswe,” instead of “Precious Ramotswe.” I think Mma is something like saying “mama,” and Precious is her real name.

What’s the other one, just to make sure? Kalahari. That’s in the second sentence. It seems like it’s a place name, though, not a person’s name. So, Precious is her first name, answer C. It’s a lot less time to scan for it than to read the whole thing! Hope this helps on your GED… a lot of the questions are about reading passages, and not just in the reading section, either.

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