FORMING REGULAR READING HABITS
Most of you as students are conditioned to studying textbooks and consigning text to memory for exams. So when you initially start reading fiction or non-fiction, reading seems an arduous and frustrating exercise and you easily give up.
The way to overcome this initial problem is to read light and racy fictional novels that you are likely to find interesting, be it romance, crime, adventure. When your mind is fully absorbed in the interesting narrative, your eyes move faster on the printed lines taking in groups of words in large 'visual bites'—in anticipation of the next twist or turn in the plot. Your reading speed improves and so does your comprehension. That is the way to get started on forming the reading habit.
Those of you who have already overcome these initial hurdles and have started reading regularly, you will notice that you read by meaningful word groups, that is, logical units of thought. You have become, without really being aware of it, ‘phrase-readers’. And reading is no longer the cumbersome process it once used to be.
So, the first step is to start reading regularly. Remind yourself constantly: CAT is all about RC. And remember: you cannot hope to improve your RC skills if you don't form regular reading habits.