Bridging The Gap

by Smith, Brenda D.

• ISBN13: 9780321273512
• ISBN10: 0321273516
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

"Written for the mid to high-level developmental reading course, "Bridging the Gap" by Brenda Smith continues to be the #1 textbook choice of developmental reading educators. " "Bridging the Gap" was the first book to focus on how to read college textbooks. This theme has been broadened by linking textbook readings to recent news in the popular press and adding material on critical thinking and the Internet. A hallmark of the text, the end-of-chapter readings, represent the "bridges" of text-to-text, text-to-world, and text-to-self; and the varying reading levels to permit individualization of assignments to meet varying student needs. A variety of academic disciplines are represented throughout, including psychology, history, biology, business, allied health, and English literature.

Table of Contents

Preface	xvii
An Overview of Bridging the Gap	xxv
Active Learning	1	(52)
What Is Active Learning?	2	(1)
What Is Cognitive Psychology?	2	(1)
How Does the Brain Screen Messages?	2	(2)
Is Divided Attention Effective?	4	(1)
Can Tasks Become Automatic?	5	(1)
Automatic Aspects of Reading	5	(1)
Cognitive Styles	5	(2)
Multiple Intelligences: There Is More Than One Way to Be Smart	7	(2)
What Is Concentration?	9	(1)
Poor Concentration: Causes and Cures External Distractions	10	(6)
Internal Distractions	12	(3)
Reader's Tip: Improving Concentration	15	(1)
Successful Academic Behaviors	16	(6)
Reader's Tip: Managing E-mail Efficiently	18	(4)
Summary Points	22	(12)
Selection 1: Computer Science	24	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Police in India to Monitor Cybercafes,'' from the Associated Press	24	(1)
``Security And Privacy for Computers and the Internet,'' by H. L. Capron	25	(9)
Search the Net	34	(5)
Secrets of a Successful Search	34	(1)
Make a Plan	34	(2)
Search and Search Again	36	(1)
Reader's Tip: Popular College Databases	37	(1)
Reader's Tip: Manipulating the Search	37	(1)
Read Selectively	38	(1)
Record As You Go	38	(1)
Consider the Source	39	(1)
Search the Net	39	(11)
Concept Prep for Computer Science	40	(2)
Selection 2: Psychology	42	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Lions, Tigers Wild Animals; Not Pets,'' from the Deseret Morning News	42	(2)
``Critical-Period Hypothesis,'' by James V. McConnell	44	(6)
Search the Net	50	(3)
Concept Prep for Psychology	51	(2)
Vocabulary	53	(36)
Remembering New Words	54	(3)
Using Context Clues	57	(10)
Definition or Synonym	57	(1)
Elaborating Details	58	(1)
Examples	58	(1)
Comparison	59	(1)
Contrast	59	(1)
Antonyms	60	(1)
Limitations of Context Clues	60	(7)
Multiple Meanings of a Word	67	(1)
Understanding the Structure of Words	67	(4)
Using a Dictionary	71	(4)
Word Origins	75	(1)
Using a Glossary	76	(1)
Using a Thesaurus	77	(1)
Using Analogies	78	(3)
Reader's Tip: Categories of Analogy Relationships	79	(2)
Easily Confused Words	81	(1)
Recognizing Acronyms	82	(1)
Recognizing Transitional Words	82	(2)
Reader's Tip: Signals for Transition	83	(1)
Summary Points	84	(1)
Search the Net	84	(1)
Vocabulary Booster: Over, Under, Around, and Through	85	(4)
Strategic Reading and Study	89	(46)
What Is Strategic Reading?	90	(1)
What Are the Stages of Reading?	91	(1)
Stage 1: Strategies for Previewing	92	(3)
Signposts for Asking Preview Questions	92	(1)
Reader's Tip: Asking Questions Before Reading	92	(3)
Preview to Activate Schemata	95	(1)
Stage 2: Strategies for Integrating Knowledge While Reading	95	(7)
Integrating Ideas: How Do Good Readers Think?	96	(1)
Reader's Tip: Using Thinking Strategies While Reading	97	(1)
Metacognition	98	(1)
Reader's Tip: Developing a Metacognitive Sense for Reading	99	(3)
Stage 3: Strategies for Recalling	102	(5)
Recalling Through Writing	103	(1)
How to Recall	103	(1)
Reader's Tip: Recalling After Reading	104	(3)
Summary Points	107	(9)
Selection 1: History	108	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Television: Remembering the Alamo From a Tejano Perspective,'' from the Boston Globe	108	(2)
Tejanos at the Alamo, by J. K. Martin et al., America and Its Peoples	110	(6)
Search the Net	116	(12)
Concept Prep for History	117	(2)
Selection 2: Sociology	119	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Mixed Signals on Body Language,'' from the Business Traveler	119	(2)
``Unity in Diversity,'' by Donald Light, Jr., and Suzanne Keller	121	(7)
Search the Net	128	(3)
Concept Prep for Anthropology	129	(2)
Vocabulary Booster: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly	131	(4)
Main Idea	135	(82)
What Is a Topic?	136	(1)
What Is a Main Idea?	137	(1)
What Are Supporting Details?	137	(1)
Distinguishing Topics, Main Ideas, and Details: A Closer Look	138	(2)
Importance of Prior Knowledge in Constructing the Main Idea	140	(1)
Main Idea Strategies	141	(3)
``Informed'' Expert Readers	141	(1)
``Uninformed'' Expert Readers	141	(1)
Using Main Idea Strategies with Sentences	142	(2)
Questioning for the Main Idea	144	(1)
Stated Main Ideas	144	(10)
Reader's Tip: Finding the Main Idea	146	(8)
What Are Major and Minor Details?	154	(4)
Reader's Tip: Signals for Significance	154	(4)
Unstated Main Ideas	158	(2)
Determining Unstated Main Ideas in Sentences	160	(2)
Questioning for the Unstated Main Idea	162	(8)
Interpreting the Main Idea of Longer Selections	170	(2)
Reader's Tip: Getting the Main Idea of Longer Selections	171	(1)
Summary Writing: A Main Idea Skill	172	(4)
Why Summarize?	172	(1)
Reader's Tip: How to Summarize	173	(3)
Summary Points	176	(11)
Selection 1: Psychology	177	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Centers Strive to Break the Cycle of Violence,'' from the Herald-Dispatch	177	(1)
``Monkey Love,'' by James V. McConnell	178	(9)
Search the Net	187	(13)
Concept Prep for Psychology	188	(2)
Selection 2: Short Story	190	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Former Los Angeles Gang Member,'' from Ball State University, U-WIRE	190	(1)
``On the Sidewalk, Bleeding by Evan Hunter	191	(9)
Search the Net	200	(12)
Concept Prep for Literature	201	(2)
Selection 3: Criminal Justice	203	(1)
Contemporary Focus U. S. Coast Guard's Efforts to Protect Ports, from the Associated Press International News	203	(1)
International Terrorism, by Charles Swanson Neil Chamelin and Leonard Territo	204	(8)
Search the Net	212	(1)
Vocabulary Booster: Who's Who in Medicine?	213	(4)
Patterns of Organization	217	(62)
Textbook Organization	218	(1)
What Do Transitional Words Do?	218	(5)
Words That Signal Addition	218	(1)
Words That Signal Examples or Illustrations	219	(1)
Words That Signal Time or Sequence	219	(1)
Words That Signal Comparison	219	(1)
Words That Signal Contrast	219	(1)
Words That Signal Cause and Effect	220	(1)
Reader's Tip: Signal Words for Transition	220	(3)
Patterns of Organization in Textbooks	223	(14)
Simple Listing	223	(1)
Definition	224	(1)
Description	225	(1)
Time Order, Sequence, or Narration	225	(1)
Contrast	226	(1)
Comparison	226	(1)
Comparison-Contrast	227	(1)
Cause and Effect	228	(1)
Classification	228	(1)
Addition	229	(1)
Summary	229	(1)
Location or Spatial Order	230	(1)
Generalization and Example	230	(1)
Reader's Tip: Patterns of Organization and Signal Words	231	(6)
Mixed Organizational Patterns	237	(1)
Summary Points	238	(11)
Selection 1: Economics	240	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ''Enslaved at an Early Age,`` from The Economist	240	(1)
``Slave Redemption in Sudan,'' by Roger LeRoy Miller, Daniel K. Benjamin, and Douglass C. North	241	(8)
Search the Net	249	(11)
Concept Prep for Economics	250	(2)
Selection 2: History	252	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Trusted Policy Advisor,'' from Salon.com	252	(2)
``Women in History,'' by Leonard Pitt	254	(6)
Search the Net	260	(12)
Concept Prep for Art History	261	(2)
Selection 3: Business	263	(1)
Contemporary Focus, Low-Carb Pizza Options, from Omaha world Herald	263	(1)
Why is Papa John's Rolling in the Dough? by Courtland Bovee, John Thill, Barbara Schatzman	264	(8)
Search the Net	272	(3)
Concept Prep for Business	273	(2)
Vocabulary Booster: What's In, What's Out? What's Hot, What's Not?	275	(4)
Organizing Textbook Information	279	(52)
The Demands of College Study	280	(1)
Building Knowledge Networks	281	(1)
Methods of Organizing Textbook Information	281	(2)
Annotating	283	(5)
Why Annotate?	283	(1)
Reader's Tip: How to Annotate	284	(1)
When to Annotate	285	(3)
Note Taking	288	(4)
Reader's Tip: How to Take Notes	289	(1)
Why Take Textbook Notes?	289	(3)
Outlining	292	(5)
Why Outline?	292	(1)
How to Outline	293	(1)
Reader's Tip: Guidelines for Successful Outlining	293	(4)
Mapping	297	(2)
Why Map?	297	(1)
Reader's Tip: How to Map	297	(2)
Summary Points	299	(10)
Selection 1: Communications	300	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Media-Promoted Morals Cloud Judgment,'' from The Sentry	300	(2)
``Influence of Magazines,'' by John Vivian	302	(8)
Concept Prep for Communications and Language	310
Search the Net	309	(14)
Selection 2: Allied Health	312	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Signs of Stress,'' from the Kansas City Star	312	(2)
``Nutrition, Health, and Stress,'' by Barbara Brehm	314	(9)
Search the Net	323	(4)
Concept Prep for Health	324	(3)
Vocabulary Booster: The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars	327	(4)
Inference	331	(68)
What Is an Inference?	332	(5)
Implied Meaning in Humor	334	(3)
Connotation of Words	337	(4)
Euphemisms and Politically Correct Language	340	(1)
Figurative Language	341	(7)
Idioms	341	(1)
Similes	342	(1)
Metaphors	342	(1)
Literary Analogies	342	(1)
Hyperbole	342	(1)
Personification	343	(1)
Verbal Irony	343	(2)
Figurative Language and Implied Meaning in Poetry	345	(3)
Inferences from Facts	348	(3)
Appropriate and Inappropriate Inferences	349	(2)
Implied Meaning	351	(3)
Prior Knowledge and Implied Meaning	354	(2)
Expanding Prior Knowledge	356	(1)
Drawing Conclusions	356	(5)
Reader's Tip: Making Inferences	357	(4)
Summary Points	361	(9)
Selection 1: Short Story	362	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``High-Stakes Palaces of Gambling,'' from the Hartford Courant	362	(1)
``Ah Bah's Money,'' by Catherine Lim	363	(7)
Search the Net	370	(21)
Concept Prep for Philosophy and Literature	371	(3)
Selection 2: Short Story	374	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``O. Henry's Storytelling,'' from the News & Record	374	(1)
``Witches' Loaves,'' by O. Henry	375	(8)
Selection 3: Narrative Nonfiction	383	(1)
Contemporary Focus Remembering a Civil Rights Hero, from The Dartmouth?	383	(2)
Learning to Read Malcolm X, from The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley	385	(6)
Search the Net	391	(4)
Concept Prep for Political Science	392	(3)
Vocabulary Booster: Can I Get that in Writing?	395	(4)
Point of View	399	(42)
Is a Textbook Influenced by the Author's Point of View?	400	(1)
What Is the Author's Point of View?	401	(4)
What Is the Reader's Point of View?	405	(3)
What Is a Fact and What Is an Opinion?	408	(3)
Reader's Tip: Questioning to Uncover Bias	409	(2)
What Is the Author's Purpose?	411	(3)
What Is the Author's Tone?	414	(7)
Reader's Tip: Recognizing an Author's Tone	415	(6)
Editorial Cartoons	421	(4)
Summary Points	425	(5)
Selection 1: Essay	426	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Orphans-To-Be?'' from Newsday	426	(1)
``Elderly Parents: A Cultural Duty,'' by Ta Thuc Phu	427	(3)
Search the Net	430	(6)
Selection 2: Eassay	431	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Bridging the Gap Between Muslims and the West,'' from the Austin American Statesman	431	(1)
``Leaving Islam and Living Islam,'' by Azam Kamguian	432	(4)
Search the Net	436	(1)
Vocabulary Booster: Say, What?	437	(4)
Critical Thinking	441	(48)
What Is Thinking?	442	(1)
What Is Critical Thinking?	443	(1)
Applying Critical Thinking Skills to Meet College Goals	444	(3)
Reader's Tip: Four Habits of Effective Critical Thinkers	445	(1)
Barriers to Critical Thinking	445	(2)
Recognizing an Argument	447	(1)
Steps in Analyzing an Argument	448	(12)
Step 1: Identify the Position on the Issue	448	(4)
Step 2: Identify the Support in the Argument	452	(2)
Reader's Tip: Categories of Support for Arguments	454	(1)
Step 3: Evaluate the Support	455	(4)
Step 4: Evaluate the Argument	459	(1)
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning	460	(8)
Applying the Four-Step Format for Critical Thinking: An Example	461	(2)
Explanation of the Steps	463	(5)
Creative and Critical Thinking	468	(2)
Summary Points	470	(9)
Selection 1: Essay	472	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Physical Beauty Involves More Than Good Looks,'' from Ascribe Newswire	472	(1)
``The Importance of Being Beautiful,'' by Sidney Katz	473	(6)
Search the Net	479	(5)
Selection 2: Essay	480	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Cell Phones and Cancer: No Clear Connection,'' from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Consumer Magazine	480	(1)
``Study Links Cellphones to Brain Damage,'' by Elizabeth Svoboda	481	(3)
Search the Net	484	(1)
Vocabulary Booster: Lights, Camera, Action!	485	(4)
Graphic Illustrations	489	(36)
What Graphics Do	490	(14)
Reader's Tip: How to Read Graphic Material	490	(1)
Diagrams	491	(1)
Tables	492	(2)
Maps	494	(3)
Pie Graphs	497	(1)
Bar Graphs	498	(1)
Cumulative Bar Graphs	499	(2)
Line Graphs	501	(1)
Flowcharts	502	(2)
Summary Points	504	(14)
Selection 1: Allied Health	505	(1)
Contemporary Focus: ``Message in a Bottle,'' from The Age, Melbourne	505	(2)
``Alcohol and Nutrition,'' by Eva May Nunnelley Hamilton et al., Nutrition	507	(11)
Search the Net	518	(3)
Concept Prep for Life Science	519	(2)
Vocabulary Booster: Play it Again, Sam	521	(4)
Rate Flexibility	525	(30)
Why Is Rate Important?	526	(1)
What Is Your Reading Rate?	526	(3)
How Fast Should You Read?	529	(1)
Rate Variations and Prior Knowledge	529	(1)
Techniques for Faster Reading	530	(9)
Concentrate	530	(1)
Stop Regressing	530	(1)
Expand Fixations	531	(1)
Monitor Subvocalization	532	(1)
Preview	532	(1)
Use Your Pen as a Pacer	532	(1)
Push and Pace	533	(6)
Skimming	539	(1)
Reader's Tip: Techniques for Skimming	539	(1)
Scanning	540	(1)
Reader's Tip: Techniques for Scanning	541	(1)
Summary Points	541	(10)
Selection 1: Allied Health	543	(1)
``Passive Smoking,'' by Curtis Byer and Louis Shainberg	543	(4)
Selection 2: Sociology	547	(1)
``Heredity or Environment? The Case of Identical Twins,'' by James M. Henslin	547	(4)
Vocabulary Booster: Foreign Terms	551	(4)
Test Taking	555	(34)
Can Being Test Wise Improve Your Score?	556	(1)
Strategies for Mental and Physical Awareness	556	(3)
Before Taking a Test	556	(1)
Reader's Tip: Preparing for a Test	557	(1)
During the Test	558	(1)
After the Test	559	(1)
Strategies for Standardized Reading Tests	559	(3)
Read to Comprehend the Passage as a Whole	559	(1)
Anticipate What Is Coming Next	560	(1)
Read Rapidly, but Don't Allow Yourself to Feel Rushed	560	(1)
Read with Involvement to Learn and Enjoy	560	(1)
Self-Test for the Main Idea	560	(2)
Recognizing the Major Question Types	562	(4)
Main Idea	562	(1)
Details	563	(1)
Implied Meaning	564	(1)
Purpose	564	(1)
Vocabulary	565	(1)
Strategies for Multiple-Choice Items	566	(8)
Consider All Alternatives Before Choosing an Answer	566	(1)
Anticipate the Answer and Look for Something Close to It	566	(1)
Avoid Answers with 100 Percent Words	567	(1)
Consider Answers with Qualifying Words	567	(1)
Choose the Intended Answer Without Overanalyzing	567	(1)
True Statements Must Be True Without Exception	568	(1)
If Two Options Are Synonymous, Eliminate Both	568	(1)
Study Similar Options to Determine the Differences	568	(1)
Use Logical Reasoning If Two Answers Are Correct	569	(1)
Look Suspiciously at Directly Quoted Pompous Phrases	569	(1)
Simplify Double Negatives by Canceling Out Both	570	(1)
Use Can't-Tell Responses If Clues Are Insufficient	570	(1)
Validate True Responses on ``All the Following Except''	570	(1)
Note Oversights on Hastily Constructed Tests	570	(4)
Strategies for Content Area Exams	574	(6)
Multiple-Choice Items	574	(1)
Short-Answer Items	575	(1)
Essay Questions	575	(3)
Reader's Tip: Key Words in Essay Questions	578	(2)
Locus of Control	580	(1)
Summary Points	581	(8)
Appendix: ESL: Making Sense of Figurative Language and Idioms	583	(3)
Reader's Tip: Categorizing Idioms	586	(3)
Glossary	589	(4)
Text Credits	593	(2)
Index of Concept Prep Terms	595	(2)
Index	597