Plan B Forum

Take the read speed test

650 wpm for me.

it isn't in english/

550 wpm for me and all three questions correct - but that's outstanding at 650 Gob!

How do you read an ordinary novel - say Inspector Morse (or Banks or whoever)? I alternate between reading just the centre of the page and reading each paragraph first sentence and last sentence. This is much faster than bothering to read all the words. If the last sentence doesn't match the first sentence I go back and see what word(s) I missed - but usually what's between start and end is just non-essential filler.

This has the advantage of making a second and third reading of a book much more exciting and interesting - so much I didn't bother reading first time!

I learned early on that reading the first sentence of a book and skipping to the very last sentence left out rather too much

"When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton" and " 'Well I'm back', he said" left a lot to be desired. It did have the virtue of simplicity

Meade

ROTFLMCO!!!

LOL at Meade.

385 wpm for me. I am a slow and careful reader. When I read for pleasure, I read mostly for the use of language and the rhythm and flow of the words rather than for the story or other subject matter itself (which is why I am so deeply enamored of Salman Rushdie). I couldn't imagine reading a well-written novel and skipping through the "non-essential filler;" every word seems important to me.

Well Jane Austen maybe; I can see that - Ruth Rendel, Minnette Walters, The History of Mr Polly (but nothing else by Wells), Leonard Cohen - they all deserve attention to each word

.... but you know, really - Scott Turow? Any of those thousands of Baldaccis and North Patterson's (OK you did say well-written)

In fact skipping words is actually essential for anything by the Brontes, Thomas Mann, rubato, and so many others that first and last sentence of the work would be sufficient to get the idea (or to avoid it, preferably)

Meade

eta smilie

An embarrassing 486 for me, (got all three questions right) but in my defense I took the test late last night and was quite tired at the time....

I got over 900 wpm this morning when I took it for the first time however I suspect thats because the extract was from War of the Worlds which is one of my fav books and one which I have read over and over again so I decided to try again this time I got Alice In Wonderland which I'm nowhere near as familiar with - cant even remember the last time I read it, probably 30 years ago lol this time I got 726 wpm which is about what I expected. I am and always have been a very fast reader, I average about a book a day. This kind of test is one I'm familiar with as it used to be a bit of a "party trick" of mine people used to say there was no way I could be reading as fast as I do and accuse me of skip reading so I'd suggest they pick a book of their choice, select a couple of pages at random then time me and ask me questions after to check I had actually read it. I always win

** just took it again - this time Wizard Of Oz speed consistant at 727 wpm.

I swear mine wasn't in english

I did Alice, Wizard of Oz, and some Dickensian one, which I didn't catch the name of. 3 questions right each time. Averaged down to 650 wpm.

Like R-B I'm a book a day person. Once read the Lord of The Rings Trilogy on a Sunday all day sitting.

Average over the three of 812.

I put it down to years of reading and marking essays... You learn to look for relevant information and discard the rest.

I did Alice and Oz, at a longer length (6 paragraphs) and came up at over 900 both times, and got all three questions right. For the record, these are two kids books I don't like, so I haven't read them over and over or seen various movie versions. But I have a good memory, and I'm quick. I also never feel like I rush the books I read -- I savor them, and think the details are important.

Yeah, well I'm impressed with your reading speeds...

(Especially "War Of The Worlds"... I always used to love that one.."

No one would have believed in the early years of the 21st century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own....

that as men busied themselves about their various concerns, *they* observed and studied, the way a man with a microscope might scrutinize the creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water...

With infinite complacency, men went to and fro about the globe, confident of our empire over this world...

Yet across the gulf of space, intellects with vast and cool and unsympathetic eyes, regarded our planet with envious eyes and slowly, and surely, drew their plans against us...

Oh well..

I got over 900 wpm this morning when I took it for the first time however I suspect thats because the extract was from War of the Worlds which is one of my fav books and one which I have read over and over again

I love The War Of The Worlds....

It is my favorite book to re-read...

I love the line where Wells says:

"Just like the Dodos...

"We'll peck them to death tomorrow..."

That's a cool test

I used to be extremely fast at reading, comprehension and retention. I've found that as I've got a bit older my retention skills have started to deteriorate.
So if I'm looking for something specific and know in advance what I'm looking for, I can still skim through very quickly and locate the one specific answer or piece of information that I need.
And I can still skim read articles, books, etc and be able to fairly accurately sum up the general content, tone etc, and I would always remember the main points.
But to properly read something and retain the required level of information so that I can maybe answer specific questions about it later, I have to slow my reading down and concentrate a little more on the content. The more important it is to remember the small specifics, or the more small specifics I need to remember, the more I would have to slow my reading down.

I don't know if it's because of the amount of heavy reading I have to do at work, or the amount of trivial reading I do outside of work, or just that my brain cells are starting to slowly wear out, but it is one of the small pointers that make me realise I'm starting to get older!!

(having said that - I still got a very good score, compared to the national avergae and all. Just not compared to the 900's or 800's scored by others here!)

You read 1,062 words per minute.
That makes you 325% faster than the national average.

And that is mine.

All three questions correct as well.

You read 1,062 words per minute.
That makes you 325% faster than the national average.

And that is mine.

BS, a "speed reading test" doesn't mean that you're supposed to take the test while on speed....