You are going to read an article about reading.

Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-l for each
part (1-7) of the article. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use. There is an example at
the beginning (0).

T U R NINGOVER

a new leaf

Do you only ever read on holiday? David Mills tells infrequent page-turners how to keep going all year.

I The importance of reading

Nobody would argue that reading books is a bad thing.
We may feel that Arnold Bennett was going slightly over
the top when he said that the man who does not read
books 'is merely not born. He cant see; he cant hear; he
s cant feel, in any full sense. He can only eat his dinner', but
more often than not, we would agree, reading a book is
normally better than watching television. So, most of us
would really quite like to read.
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read, and a plane to catch. Rather than spend a two-week

holiday lumbered with a 900-page book I pulled the last
100 pages out and took them with me.

There are 1 06,000 books published in Britain every year.

The best of seven centuries worth of literature is
published in paperback. There has to be something you
would like. Identifying it may take time. Be guided by
what you have enjoyed in the past and branch out
J 35 from there; Roald Dahl? Then try R.L. Stine. Stephen King?
A recent government survey of what we actually do Then try Clive Barker. Agatha Christie? Then try Patricia
Highsmith or Ruth Rendell.
io revealed that the average woman spends the equivalent
of only five days a year reading (the average man four
]
days), compared to 56 days watching television. Cutting I 5 1
down on time spent in front of the box should give you If you are not particularly enjoying a book, you are
some spare hours, and if you are male youre even luckier. guaranteed to find 143 other things to do instead of
is The same survey also discovered that the average man 4o reading. Consequently, it will take months to finish and
spends 1 7 days a year doing nothing at all.
put you off picking up another. When you find this
happening, stop reading this book and start another
2 J
] immediately.
If you examine your day for reading opportunities, you
i
will discover lots of free time. Standing at the bus stop, 1 6 1
travelling by train, over lunch, in the dentist's waiting Most people usually go to bed because they are tired.
20 room, queuing up for things: the occasional 1 0-20 -is Why then do so many of them also think it would be the
ideal time to read? Reading is tiring - it is mental exercise.
minutes here and there quickly add up. But the time will
Either you will fall asleep after two pages, or your brain
fly if you always have your book with you.
will become so stimulated you will have insomnia.
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Books are there to be read.You can generally buy classics 1 7 |
for l,so don't be overprotective with them. Read in the If you want to be part of 3,000 years of civilization (and
25 bath (in the shower may not be such a good idea). I once so speculation about what happened before that) then get
found myself with 75 pages of a Dickens novel left to reading. Otherwise, stick to eating dinner.

Some people believe that electronic media will eventually replace books. Do you agree?
GUIDE

Extensive reading is essential not only for your reading skills but also to help build vocabulary and
grammatical knowledge which you can use when you are writing and speaking. Think about your
reading from now until the First Certificate exam and fill in the details below.
1

How many hours per week could you spend reading at home?

What would be the best times for you to read at home?

_
How much extra reading time would that give you? _
Where can you get reading materials in English from? _
Which books would you like to read as simplified, graded readers? _

What other kinds of reading can help you learn English? _

__

Where else could you read? (see part 2 of the text above)

UNIT 4 Taking it easy

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