In long reading passages, you need the skill to choose what to read rather than read everything. Use skimming and scanning for different purposes.
Basic Rules
Skimming (Skimming): A technique of reading quickly to grasp the general idea of a passage.
- Read the first sentence of each paragraph（the topic sentence）
- Check the title, headings, and captions of figures and tables
- Read the concluding paragraph（the final paragraph）
- Grasp the overall topic and the author's claim
Time required: 1–2 minutes for a 500-word passage.
Scanning (Scanning): A technique of looking only for the words and phrases needed to find specific information.
- Quickly look for concrete information such as numbers, proper nouns, and technical terms
- Find keywords from the questions in the passage（years, names, place names, etc.）
- Effective for questions asking “when,” “where,” or “who”
Time required: 10–30 seconds per question.
Two-step approach（recommended）:
1. First skim to grasp the overall picture（1 minute）→ 2. Read the questions（1 minute）→ 3. Scan to locate the relevant sections（30 seconds per question）→ 4. Read carefully and answer（1 minute per question）
Skimming: “Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time...”← The first sentence shows that climate change is the most important issue.
Scanning: Question “What year was the Paris Agreement signed?” → Look for “2015” and “Paris” in the passage
Points to Note
① Reading every sentence carefully is the greatest cause of running out of time: Translating a 500-word passage into Japanese while reading it all takes more than 10 minutes on an 80-minute test. Use skimming → questions → scanning → close reading to finish within 5 minutes.
② Focus during skimming: ① title ② the first 1–2 sentences of each paragraph ③ the parts before and after conjunctions（however / therefore / for example）④ the final paragraph ⑤ words in bold or italics.
③ Scanning tip: Move your eyes up and down rather than from side to side. Develop a sense of letting the keywords “come into view.”
④ Reading by genre: Follow stories in chronological order; read expository texts in the order of topic → examples → conclusion; read argumentative texts in the order of claim → evidence → counterargument.
- Skimming: grasp the overall picture and read the first sentence of each paragraph
- Scanning: search for specific information using keywords
- Two-step approach: skimming → questions → scanning → close reading
- Reading every sentence carefully causes you to run out of time; read selectively
Practice
- Read only the first paragraph of the following passage and summarize its topic in one sentence:（Assume: The internet has revolutionized how we communicate. In the past, sending a letter took weeks; now, messages travel across the world in seconds. This transformation has affected nearly every aspect of our lives, from business to personal relationships.）
- Explain the difference between skimming and scanning in no more than 30 characters.
- Which reading method should you use to answer the question “In what year did the company start?”