What’s more frustrating is when I have to read English in a book with strange accents I’ve never heard before. A lot of books have different kinds of writing for the dialogue… you know, when people talk. Like different dialects. They can be so confusing. Here’s a GED practice question that shows what I mean. The passage is from “Pollyanna,” by Eleanor Hodgeman Porter.

“For the land’s sake, Miss Pollyanna, what a scare you did give me,” panted Nancy, hurrying up to the big rock, down which Pollyanna had just regretfully slid.

“Scare? Oh, I’m so sorry; but you mustn’t, really, ever get scared about me, Nancy. Father and the Ladies’ Aid used to do it, too, till they found I always came back all right.”

“But I didn’t even know you’d went,” cried Nancy, tucking the little girl’s hand under her arm and hurrying her down the hill. “I didn’t see you go, and nobody didn’t. I guess you flew right up through the roof; I do, I do.”

Pollyanna skipped gleefully.

“I did, ‘most—only I flew down instead of up. I came down the tree.”

Nancy stopped short.

“You did—what?”

“Came down the tree, outside my window.”

“My stars and stockings!” gasped Nancy, hurrying on again. “I’d like ter know what yer aunt would say ter that!”

What does this passage reveal about Pollyanna’s personality?

1) She is gloomy and pessimistic.

2) She is adventurous and carefree.

3) She is easily scared.

4) She is a mischievous troublemaker.

5) She is studious and strict.

When I first look at this passage, I immediately feel so confused. What does “For the land’s sake” mean? And what does she mean by, “Ladies’ Aid?” There are so many things they say here that I just don’t get. But I’ve figured out that you can’t get discouraged if you don’t understand everything in a passage. There are still a lot of things that I can understand, especially after I read the question.

It asks about Pollyanna’s personality. So, I look for things that answer the question, and don’t worry too much about what I don’t understand! Let’s see. In the second sentence, Pollyanna tells Nancy that “you mustn’t, really, ever get scared about me.” And later on she is skipping gleefully. Does that sound gloomy? I don’t think so. Gloomy is the opposite of gleefull!Even if I’m not sure what “gleeful” means, she’s skipping, and just doesn’t seem gloomy at all. Later it says that she just “came down the tree.” This scares Nancy! But it doesn’t scare Pollyanna, so I know #3 isn’t right. I don’t think studious and strict people would climb trees or run off without telling anyone, so #5 doesn’t sound right.

I think that #4 could be the answer. Troublemakers don’t always follow the rules (just look, it has the word “trouble” in it), and it doesn’t sound like Pollyanna is following them either. This is the one you might guess. But what does “mischievous” mean? Have you heard the word “mischief?” It’s more trouble. It’s kind of being mean and making problems. I think that Pollyanna might be causing trouble for Nancy, but she isn’t doing it to be harmful or mean. She even apologizes to Nancy when she realizes that she had scared her!

So, I think the best answer is #2. That one says “adventurous and carefree.” Pollyanna sure seems to like adventure… doing new things… and she doesn’t seem to worry, that makes her “carefree.” It’s a better answer, because Pollyanna doesn’t seem to want to cause trouble, particularly. She just seems to want to go out and have fun.

See, you can figure out the main idea of a reading, even if you can’t understand every word. Sometimes it’s important to look words up. But you don’t want to get bogged down with looking up every word! Especially if it seems likeit’s not part of the main point . Or like with the “Ladies’ Aid.” I don’t know exactly what that is, but I can guess that it is someone who most likely looked after Pollyanna, and that’s good enough for the time being. Unless, of course, the question asks specifically, “Who is the Ladies’ Aid?” Then we have some more thinking to do!

Good luck studying for the GED.

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at  http://www.passGED.com

I know, you probably never thought too much about taking notes while you were in school. I mean, what’s taking notes really for? How does it help? Well, I figured out that, if I’m taking notes, it makes me think about what I’m learning. You know, so it doesn’t just pass right in one ear and out the other. Thinking about your GED studying makes it “stick” better, and that means you learn more. And the more you learn from studying, the quicker you get your GED!

One way to take notes is called the Cornell Notes system. It’s just a way to keep your notes and thoughts organized while you’re studying. You could use it during a class or lesson, or even use it to take notes from a book you’re studying. Here’s what a Cornell Notes page looks like:

Remember, part of what you get out of your notes is looking over them afterwards, too, so you remember what you learned. Give it a try!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

when I see a paragraph like this I get scared I feel like its to many words on the page can anyone give me suggestion on reading passage like these and understand what I’m reading I get lost after a few minutes of reading …

I know a lot of people feel this way! I guess the problem is that it’s just overwhelming! I mean, it kinda makes you just not want to even try to read it. Well. I really felt that way a lot when I was first learning English. You look at all the writing, and you don’t know all the words, and you don’t even know where to start or how to figure it out.

But it’s sorta like studying for the GED, you know. You can’t let it get to you, but just take it a little at a time. Here’s a strategy that helps me a lot:

1) When you first look at something you need to read, just look at the headline, the first sentence, the last sentence, and any pictures, diagrams, subheads, or labels you see. Try to get an overview of what it’s about from the clues in the title or in parts of the reading. If there’s just text, read the first sentence of each paragraph, and the last sentence, just to get an idea and start asking questions about it. What do you get from doing this? You get an idea of what the text is about, a background to read it. In your brain, you’re making connections between things you already know and the text you’ll need to read. Try to make as many connections as you can, by thinking of things you know about the topic and asking yourself questions about what you’re going to read!

2) If you’re reading a GED passage, read the questions first. Find out what it is they’re going to ask you about. Now, what are you get by reading the question? You get a goal! You get a real idea of why you actually want to read this. That means, your reading is directed. It gives you a way to make sense of what you’re getting out of reading.

3) Now, start reading, with the question in mind. You’re not just reading, you’re looking for the answer. That will help you understand what you’re reading. Think about it while you’re reading, and it’ll help.

4) What happens when you get to a word you don’t know? Try to understand the word by what the word sounds like or is similar to, and by the context of the word–what’s around it, what the sentence is saying. Don’t worry if you can’t understand every word. You can still get an idea of what the whole text is talking about.

5) Go back to the question after you finished reading. Does the question make more sense now? Do you know what the answer is? You might not be able to answer all the questions, but you’ll be able to improve a lot by taking reading one step at a time, giving it context, and thinking while you’re reading.

Good luck with your GED!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Here’s the question that I got:

Maria, I am having so much trouble with understanding what I’m reading on the social study and science subject. I also get stuck on the Graphic trying to make sense of it. What can I do to improve my comprehension when studying?

Reading can be a hard job…and you have to read a lot on the GED test and to study for the test. So, you’ve got a good question. One really good study strategy is called SQ4R. That stands for:

Survey (look over what you’re going to read before you read)
Question (ask questions before you read)
Read
Respond (find answers to your questions while you read)
Review (look back at what you read)
Reflect (think about what you read)

Going through this process helps you think about what you’re reading and understand it better. I wrote an article on it in my blog that gives more information about it:
http://www.passged.com/student_blogs/maria/2007/11/12/sq4r-for-ged-reading/

Another thing that causes problems is vocabulary…if you don’t understand all the words, how can you know what it says!? I know, it takes time to build up vocabulary, but it’s important, too. And most things get done in small steps! Keeping track of words you don’t know, highlighting them, trying to understand them from context (what’s around them), and looking them up in the dictionary. Here’s a couple of articles I wrote about vocabulary that might help:
http://www.passged.com/student_blogs/maria/2008/01/22/ged-vocabulary-building/
http://www.passged.com/student_blogs/maria/2007/11/26/ged-vocabulary-understanding-words-on-the-ged-test/

Here’s another tip… take notes! The SQ4R system has you taking a lot of notes while you read, and it’s always a good idea. Whatever you’re reading, it will help you remember and understand if you:
–write down questions about what you’re reading
–mark parts that you don’t understand, and go back later to try to understand better
–underline important ideas

After you’re done reading something, or after you’ve studied for a while, something that helps a lot is summarizing. Summarizing means restating the important ideas you read in your own words. It helps you figure out what’s important and remember it. By putting something in your own words, you’ll remember better and understand more… Here’s a link to an article I wrote about it:
http://www.passged.com/student_blogs/maria/2007/11/05/ged-test-reading-for-meaning/

Also, there’s a reading strategy called KWL… that stands for “Know, Want to Know, Learned.” It’s sort of like SQ4R, because you think about what you’re going to read before you read it, then you pay attention while you’re reading, and then you think about it after you read it. In the first step, you ask what you already know about the topic you’re going to read about. If it’s about voting, ask what you know about voting? Thinking of things you know gives you background that helps you understand what you’re reading more.

The second step is when you make a list of things you want to know from what you’re going to read. What do you hope to learn? While you’re reading, you can write down the answers when you find them, or other new information that’s important. After you read, you can go over everything you wrote and think about what you learned.

I wrote some articles on this, too, explaining how it’s done and then giving an example:
http://www.passged.com/student_blogs/maria/2007/10/09/kewl-reading-for-the-ged/
http://www.passged.com/student_blogs/maria/2007/10/22/more-kewl-reading/

You also mentioned graphics. Do you mean, charts and graphs? That’s a good point! Reading charts and graphs, and even pictures, is an important part of the GED. Here are some links that can help you with reading charts and graphs:
http://www.42explore.com/graphs.htm
http://www.passged.com/leonards_mail/2007/10/22/interpreting-charts-and-graphs-on-the-ged/

I hope this helps! Good luck with your GED.
Maria

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Here’s the next GED question, based on the reading on the site:

2. What was the Olive Branch petition?

A: an attempt to reconcile with France
B: an attempt to reconcile with King George II
C: a declaration of war against England
D: a plan of military strategy

This question is called a comprehension question. That means it tests whether you can understand what you read. These can be pretty easy to answer, but they can also take a long time… and the GED is a timed test, so time is important! That’s why I use skimming and scanning to answer GED questions, especially if the reading is long, like this one.

So, first I read the question. It’s about the Olive Branch petition. Then, I scan the reading…move my eyes quickly to find the words I’m looking for, “Olive Branch.” I find it in the first paragraph:

This Congress also drew up the Olive Branch petition, a peace offering made to the King of England.

So, the question is, what is it? The reading says “a peace offering made to the King of England,” but that’s not in the answers. It’s worded different to see if you really understand. The first answer says it’s an attempt to reconcile with France, but it doesn’t have anything to do with France! The second answer says an attempt to reconcile with King George II. Well, a peace offering is a way to reconcile… that is, make up. If you don’t know what reconcile means or who King George II is, you can skip this answer for now…it’s at least a maybe. Still, it’s about a king, and the reading says the peace offering is to a king.

The third answer says “a declaration of war against England.” Even if I don’t know what a declaration is, I know that war isn’t peace! It’s like, the opposite. The last answer says “a plan of military strategy.” Well, a plan isn’t a peace offering, so that’s not right.

If you know what “reconcile” means, you should be pretty sure the answer is B. But to be sure, you can see if “King George II” is somewhere in the reading…he’s in the second paragraph:

The minds of many of these reluctant colonists were changed, however, by the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was won by the British. After this battle, King George II declared that the colonists were in a state of rebellion.

That sure sounds like he’s the King of England, right? The answer is B. That’s a pretty easy one! I’ll go through another question next week.

Good luck on your GED… and let me know if you have any questions or issues with reading. Hey, and if you’ve got an election on “Super Tuesday,” Curtis says to get out and vote!

To find out more about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at passGED.com.

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.

Here’s what I did….

1) Survey

First, I looked at the web page without reading it yet. It says “The Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945″ at the top, so I know about what time it’s talking about. The page says “The Dust Bowl” and “Overview,” so it must tell basically what the Dust Bowl is. There’s a picture, and you can click on it to see better. it’s got some wagon wheels and a house, and it’s all sort of buried in some sand or dirt. The caption says “Results of a Dust Storm, Oklahoma, 1936.” So I’m getting the idea of where this is… Oklahoma, or sort of in the Midwest. And the year, 1936, gives me a more specific time, right in the middle of the years at the top of the page. And it talks about a dust storm, so I’m getting that “Dust Bowl” has to do with storms of dust… There’s more photographs and songs on the right. I just looked at the titles… “I’d Rather Not Be on Relief.” “Life in the Camps.” “On the Road.”

2) Question

Now, I ask some questions:

What is relief? What kinds of camps are they talking about? What caused the dust storms? What happened because of the dust storms? Did a lot of things get damaged? What exactly is the “dust bowl”? Is it a place or an event?

3) Read

I read the article next. Since it’s a web site, I took down some notes…

1930-1940.

Southwest Great Plains.

drought=no rain, no water.

Lots of people settled there to raise cattle (cows) and wheat. Plowed and planted (made farms.) What does this have to do with drought? Did the farms dry up?

“systematic destruction of prairie grasses” This is like something in science… when you hurt part of nature (an ecosystem), it changes other things. Farms destroyed grasses…then what? Did wildlife die?

Strong winds = devastating (very harmful)

Drought–1930. Land was dry, no grass, dirt blew away!!! Sky dark for days! Picture it. Covered houses.

Nineteen states = “dust bowl.” Farmers our of business, left, went west.

400,000 people left Great Plains. drought + “poor soil conservation” (not treating the soil right to keep it well for the future.)

4) Respond

Here’s what I responded to my questions:
What is relief? It doesn’t say in the article. I clicked on the link, and it’s about living with only the government help. I guess that’s what relief is… government help. Sounds terrible!

What kinds of camps are they talking about? The song helped with this on, too. People lived in camps when they couldn’t stay on their farms.

What caused the dust storms? The article talks about this. There were three things, I think. (1) bad ways of farming that killed grasses, (2) a natural period with no rain, and (3) lots of wind in the area.

What happened because of the dust storms? Farms were destroyed, people were out of work and poor. Lots of people moved west, and the government tried to help people.
Did a lot of things get damaged? Yes! Farms, mostly.

What exactly is the “dust bowl”? Is it a place or an event? It’s both a place and an event, I guess. Nineteen states in the center of the U.S. were turned into a “Dust Bowl”…really like a bowl of dust, where there were all kinds of dust storms… because of drought and how farmers treated the land.

5) Review

I looked back over it. I guess I want to know more about what life was like. Also, there’s a quote from a book about the dust bowl, and I wonder about that book by Steinbeck. Does it tell more about what happened to the people? Also, maybe I should look at all the pictures now that I understand more about what happened.

6) Reflect

I think it’s very sad that this happened. Farmers probably didn’t know that they were hurting the soil by killing so many of the grasses. In a way, it’s kind of like global warming, isn’t it? People start doing something and then they don’t realize it’s hurting the world until something bad happens. Then, it causes lots of problems!

So, did this help you study at all? I guess when I read this I got some information about science and about social science, so it’s all kind of related together, isn’t it? Maybe I should show Dwaynee this, too.

SQ4R stands for “Survey, Question, Read, Respond, Review, Reflect.” This is really good for reading study books. Here’s what you do:

1) Survey

Don’t start reading right away! Instead, you look at the page. What are the titles? Headings? Bold words? Pictures? Captions? Graphs? Look at the big things on the page, and try to get an idea what it’s all about.

2) Question

Don’t start reading yet! Based on what you looked at in your survey, ask some questions. What do you want to know? If it’s your book, write questions on the page, next to the title and pictures. Or, you can write on a piece of paper. Ask as many questions as you can think of.

3) Read

Now it’s time to read! If it’s your book, underline things, circle new words, and write down ideas while you read. If it’s not your book, write notes on a piece of paper. This is active reading… you’re thinking while you’re reading!

4) Respond

While you’re reading, you want to find the answers to your questions, too. You either have your questions written on the page or on a separate paper. Now, write the answers that you find by the questions.

5) Review

After you’re done reading, look back at what you did. Look over the pages you read. Did you find all the answers to your questions? Did you miss anything? Do you understand what you read? Do you have some new questions?

6) Reflect

Put what you read away. Now, stop and think about it. Talk about it with a friend, or write a diary entry about what you think. Do you agree with what was said? Did you find something interesting or new? Did you learn something? Are you still confused about anything?

Give this SQ4R a try… I’m going to use it for looking at a web page. Becca said I should take a look at this one: http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/depwwii/dustbowl/dustbowl.html

It’s about the Dust Bowl in the 1930s in America. I don’t think I ever heard of that. I’ll try to learn about it, and I’ll let you know how I did the SQ4R reading.

Finding the main idea is really important. I’ve learned a few things about it, when looking for information for the GED. You always have to ask yourself, when you’re reading for the GED, what’s the point?

That’s why summarizing is important to practice. It helps you find out the main idea. Some things that really help to identify the main idea are:

• Look at the beginning and end sentences of paragraphs. A lot of the time, they tell the main idea.
• Look at the end of poems or stories… a lot of time the main point is at the end.
• Look at the title of a reading. It can tell you what it’s all about!

I promised that I’d do a summary of this article about Vincente Fox: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/mexico_fox_dc;_ylt=AqEpWa18_E8yeU4JvB1Mk_Qdl.0A

So, I looked at the title. It said: “Mexico’s Fox falls from grace amid corruption probe.” Well, that’s confusing. Mexico’s Fox… that’s the guy, Vincente Fox. “falls from grace”? What’s that mean? “amid”? “corruption”? “probe”? Yikes! I can’t hardly understand a word. Corruption, though, that’s like being corrupt, taking bribes and stuff. Yup, anyone in Mexico knows about that! Okay… that gives me an idea what it’s all about.

I read the first sentence, and it seemed to be about Fox being corrupt, too. So, here’s my summary:

Vincente Fox was president of Mexico, and everyone thought he was an honest rancher. But now, he looks like he’s got a lot of money: a big car he didn’t pay for, expensive animals at his ranch. The government is investigating him, and people are starting to distrust him, even though he says he didn’t do anything wrong. The big scandal might be good for the other political party!

What do you think? Did I get the main idea?

Also, sometimes I’d read something and not really understand it. I would read the whole thing, but because the words weren’t really words I knew, I’d just be reading words and not getting meaning. Do you know what I mean?

Anyway, here are two strategies to remember what you read and to make sure you understood it.

• Restating means that you say something again in your own words. This is good to help you understand and remember something that’s pretty short. So, you can restate a sentence or a paragraph that you read.
• Summarizing means that you give the most important information about what you read. It’s like you’re writing down the main ideas of what you read. Maybe you write a paragraph saying what the main points of a whole article are. This is good for big readings and to help you figure out what the main ideas are.

The difference between restating and summarizing is that in restating, you don’t leave anything out. You just say it again in your own words. In summarizing, you only give the most important points, in your own words.

I started reading this news story about Vincente Fox: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/mexico_fox_dc;_ylt=AqEpWa18_E8yeU4JvB1Mk_Qdl.0A

I think I’ll try to use summarization to understand it and remember what I read. I’ll let you know my summary in the next post. Meanwhile, try it yourself, and let me know how it works for you!