Module 1
Student Name _Shernika Smith___
Class Section _____092S ______
Reading Module #1
On Your Own
This activity gives you two reading passages with which to practice the Active Reading Strategies you learned in Reading Module #1.
Directions: Complete the activity by reading each passage and answering the questions. Do not forget to spell check and proofread your work. When you have completed this activity, please upload it to the Dropbox for this week.
Reading #1: The lie behind those gloomy national polls
Ask Americans how they feel about the world, said Michael Medved, and they wind up with a paradox.
Predicting | Read the title and first sentence above. Now predict what you think the passage will be about. | Your prediction about the passage: I think this is about Voting and the Election |
Now read the whole paragraph.
Ask Americans how they feel about the world, said Michael Medved, and they wind up with a paradox. By a staggering majority, people tell pollsters that they disapprove of both Congress and the President, and two out of three say the US is headed “in the wrong direction”. Yet when asked about their lives, “Americans express overwhelming contentment and dazzling confidence.” A recent Harris pole found that nine out of ten people are satisfied “with the life they lead,” with 56% choosing the highest category “very satisfied.” Almost everyone expects life to be better in the next five years. Somehow Americans feel that they personally live in a “sun-kissed, optimistic island of happiness” while the country at large does not. How can this be? It’s actually not that surprising, given that we spend, on average, 30 hours a week immersed in television. On both the news and entertainment shows, the world is presented as rife with crime, terrorism, death, sexual depravity, personal humiliation, and bitter political conflict. Self-serving politicians add to the prevailing gloom by emphasizing problems and exaggerating threats.
Class Section _____092S ______
Reading Module #1
On Your Own
This activity gives you two reading passages with which to practice the Active Reading Strategies you learned in Reading Module #1.
Directions: Complete the activity by reading each passage and answering the questions. Do not forget to spell check and proofread your work. When you have completed this activity, please upload it to the Dropbox for this week.
Reading #1: The lie behind those gloomy national polls
Ask Americans how they feel about the world, said Michael Medved, and they wind up with a paradox.
Predicting | Read the title and first sentence above. Now predict what you think the passage will be about. | Your prediction about the passage: I think this is about Voting and the Election |
Now read the whole paragraph.
Ask Americans how they feel about the world, said Michael Medved, and they wind up with a paradox. By a staggering majority, people tell pollsters that they disapprove of both Congress and the President, and two out of three say the US is headed “in the wrong direction”. Yet when asked about their lives, “Americans express overwhelming contentment and dazzling confidence.” A recent Harris pole found that nine out of ten people are satisfied “with the life they lead,” with 56% choosing the highest category “very satisfied.” Almost everyone expects life to be better in the next five years. Somehow Americans feel that they personally live in a “sun-kissed, optimistic island of happiness” while the country at large does not. How can this be? It’s actually not that surprising, given that we spend, on average, 30 hours a week immersed in television. On both the news and entertainment shows, the world is presented as rife with crime, terrorism, death, sexual depravity, personal humiliation, and bitter political conflict. Self-serving politicians add to the prevailing gloom by emphasizing problems and exaggerating threats.