Help everybody and thank you for joining me today as we delve into a rather general reading strategy
strategy video and today we're going to be looking at the headings question.
Many students have requested to have more videos on their headings.
QUESTION The headings question is actually not complicated in terms of strategy is not complicated.
The strategy for the headings question is actually really really straightforward.
The difficulty for most students is that they have trouble applying it because the headings question
here is one of the few questions that actually requires you to understand what's being said in the entire
sentence.
You have to be able to understand what is the controlling idea and make an idea of that paragraph and
so that requires a deeper level level of understanding.
And so sometimes students who actually have students who actually have a little bit of trouble with
this question are normally students who have a lower level of English because it is kind of a challenge
to be able to process the topic sentences in a paragraph and then get the meaning of it.
So let's take a look at the strategy first and then we're going to go into this particular book.
This particular passage this passage is from Book Number 12 from Book Number 12.
So let's go ahead and get started with this with this one here.
First is look at the strategy.
All right.
This is our strategy page.
As you know where all of the reading strategies are summarized
and our headings question is on the second page the second page.
If I didn't say this earlier in the earlier videos the second pages were where none of these questions
go in order.
The first page is all the questions go in order.
And that's very important to understand when it comes to the child's exam is which questions go in order
which questions don't go in order.
So for headings question the first thing I suggest you do is quickly scan through the headings and underline
the keywords in the answer choices.
I think this really helpful gives you two things happen.
Number one it gives you a quick assessment or understanding of what they're reading as it is going to
be about.
Right.
Because these are all headaches.
So if you move through the headings pretty quickly you get a general idea what you're about to read.
All right then you want to do the shortest paragraphs first.
If there is a way to tell the difference the terms of the size of the paragraphs and do the shortest
ones first some some sections will have two paragraphs in one section and then what you want to do is
go to the first paragraph.
This for I guess the first shortest paragraph is a short one and I would say read the first and second
sentence.
Now no other people have suggested that you read the first and the last sentence.
But honestly I really believe in reading the first two sentences because to really answer this question
well all you have to do is get a really good understanding of what the paragraph is about.
And the first sentence of any paragraph is a topic sentence and the topic sentence actually tells you
what that paragraph was about it tells you what they want to discuss in that paragraph.
And nothing nothing else in that paragraph.
Nothing else in that paragraph can deviate from what is the controlling idea and the topic sentence.
So if you understand that you can actually find the right answer.
And I say the first and the second sentence because sometimes the topic sentences can be a combination
of the first two sentences.
All right.
Now if you read the first two sentences and then look at the headings choices and you can't find a choice
that you really like then maybe you can go ahead and read the last sentence also.
But sometimes I'm not a big fan of reading the last sentence because the last sentence is not really
a concluding sentence for a lot of these paragraphs.
It's not a traditional concluding sentence where a concluding sentence actually summarizes what the
paragraph was about or what was talked about in the paragraph.
They normally don't have really true concluding sentences but sometimes reading the last sentence can
give you a also a better understanding.
But when you see me working through it you're going to see me working through it using the first two
sentences so I can get the main idea what they're talking about and then find the heading that captures
that main idea.
And then like I said if that doesn't work they read the last sentence but that's the key to this question.
Being able to pull out the controlling idea from the topic sentence.
That's the key.
OK.
That's the real key.
And when we're talking about this one.
OK.
We're talking about this headings question right here.
I guess I should highlight.
I've been doing it with the other videos but this is the one that we're talking about in terms of the
headings question.
OK.
All right.
So let's go ahead and get started.
When we look at this one here let's go Dale
and we dealing with our list of headings right here.
All right.
Now when I look at my when I look quickly look at my key words.
Right.
And the first one why a ferry crossing is difficult.
Second one is really easy in terms of understand building a bridge.
First one was talking about advantage of the design.
Fourth one is talking about the popularity of the bridge.
The next one is talking about opposition to the bridge.
Right.
Excuse me.
And then we're talking about the sixth one benefits and disadvantages.
And then we're talking about proposed alternatives to the firy and how bridge has contributed to the
growth and a rising demand for rising demand for transport.
Right so I'd like to look at what we're talking about first.
And the reason why is is good for me just to you know now I have now I have an understanding of what
I'm about to read about I'm about to read reading passages talking about ferries and bridges and the
advantages of building a bridge or how they felt about the bridge the advantages of the bridge alternatives
of firies and bridges so I have a good understanding of what I'm about to read about.
And now my job is to go look at those topics sentences and get the meaning and pull out what I'm looking
for.
All right so let's go ahead and look at the to look and look at if we have a really short ones here.
Math is pretty short.
The C. A.
So like B is a long one C B is a two paragraph one I will probably come back to that one.
You know so it doesn't matter where you start.
I'm going to start with F and I would probably look at this first two sentences right and try to have
a look at these first two sentences.
One moment.
OK.
Sorry about that.
I had to step away for a second just for one second.
OK.
So when we look at these first two sentences here Malcolm Stockwell the bridge master recalls that when
the bridge first opened there wasn't a great deal of interest in it.
So I'm only actually going to look at that first sentence right.
I'm looking at that first sentence.
I want to point something out to you when we look at this first sentence.
What is this first sentence about when you look at a little bit differently look at this first sentence
the first sentence.
What is the controlling idea of this paragraph right.
What does this paragraph want to talk about.
OK.
This paragraph is going to talk about what this paragraph is going to talk about that there was a great
interest in the bridge right.
That's what this paragraph was going to talk about when it opened.
There was a great interest in the bridge.
Right.
So that's what this whole paragraph is talking about interest interest in the bridge.
Right.
And then we read them and then we read the next sentence and it says.
Then children started listening.
Right.
And so we're talking about a change.
First sentence is when the bridge first opened there wasn't really a great deal of interest.
The next sentence is V and that means a change.
Right.
A change from when it first opened.
Right.
You're talking about the interest changed the interest change because the whole paragraph is about the
interest right now go back look at your headings and which of these headings is talking something about
people's interest.
Right.
There's only one answer here is talking about people's interest people having an interest the first
pair to first sit and see is when the bridge open.
There was a great deal of interest.
Second sentence then children started visiting that second sentence is telling you things about the
change.
Vienne children started coming.
So we're talking about the interest change in the interest the whole paragraph was about that the only
answer there that can be is number four.
The growing popularity of the bridge whenever you talk about people's interests first there not being
a lot of interest then there is a lot of interest because of the children coming.
We're talking about popularity popularity popularity popularity.
All right.
There's no other answer choices talking about interest.
All right.
So when we talk about this when we're talking about that was that paragraph was that there was paragraph
f I mean paragraph f is going to be number four
or S.F. Here's number four S.F. is number four.
All right now let's move on.
And I did that first one just to get it out the way because a short paragraph and I can move through
it really quickly just try to move through it.
That was good.
Now let's move on and look at paragraph a and we're going to go to paragraph.
And let's look at our first two sentences of Paragraph A
right now for thousands of years.
The Humber for thousands of years the Humber and estuary formed when the two major were where two major
rivers the Trent and the willows I hope meet has been an obstacle to the communications along the east
coast of England between the counties of Yorkshire and to the south Lincolnshire to the south.
Before the arrival of the railways in the nineteenth century where transportation was most efficient
means of moving heavy or both freight and the Humber situated at the waterway OK yes we don't read all
that.
We don't read all that because actually what you need to do is again let's make it simple let's make
it simple.
Keep it simple.
Just look at the first sentence.
Look at this first sentence.
And in his first sentence just fill me in this first sentence.
What is this first sentence about right.
Look at it look at it and see if you can tell what is this first sentence about.
All right what is this whole paragraph want to talk about.
When you look at this first sentence basically what it's saying is for thousands of years there was
this estuary and what happened.
This as to where he has been what this estuary has been a obstacle to communications right.
This estuary has been an obstacle to communications.
That means this entire paragraph is going to talk about how it's been an obstacle right.
What is the first sentence about what is a topic sentence about this whole what it details what the
paragraph is going to talk about.
That helps to know was the proper heading.
You should have.
So we're looking at and then we say OK it's been an obstacle to communications so we know we have to
ever have an answer choices.
Talking about obstacles.
OK we know we have the answer choices talking about obstacles so let's look at our answer choices
all right.
Now we're talking about here we see the word difficult which can mean obstacle but we know from the
topic sentence we're not talking about fairies.
So that can't be our answer.
This one number three is talking about bandages right.
That can't be the answer because our answer choice has to have something synonym for disadvantage.
All right.
Number four is already gone can't be used twice as the more popular area that deals with interests people's
interest.
Here's our answer right here.
Number six right here we see disadvantage.