For a comprehensive reading you should:

1. Read the text carefully two or three times.
2. Look up in the dictionary the words you don´t Know.
3. Underline the main ideas.
4. Identify the central idea in each paragraph.

Summarize.

1. Write the summary without copying full sentences from the text.
2. Organise your ideas into one cohesive paragraph, using short sentences and simple language
3. Remember that the summary of a text is always shorter than the text itself.
4. Examples , details, or personal opinions are not necessary.

Skimming for the main idea.

Before reading a text it is very helpful to look at the title and the subheadings in the article.

1. You can learn a lot about a text by reading the first sentence of every paragraph. Its content usually carries the main idea of the text
2. The topic is expressed by a short and clear phrase
3. Do not use only one word.
4. You can employ useful phrases like “The text deals with…/ talks about… “ to help you with the introduction
5. The title of the text mustn´t be copied , you have to rewrite your own sentence.

To build a text

The main characteristics for a text to be understandable are: coherence, good organization and structure.

1. Underlining the main idea will help you identify the information in each paragraph.
2. There is not a fixed structure for all texts. It depends on the point of view you give your idea.
3. We generally use introduction, development and conclusion, but these are only useful in some texts, as narratives.
4. When writing a summary, you may take into account this structure:

The first part is about..........

The third part is mainly.........

Finally, the last part......