|Bษอออออออออออออออออหออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออหอออออออออออออออออป |Bบ |6Feature Program|B บ ^1 ReadFast |B บ |6Feature Program|B บ |Bศอออออออออออออออออสออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออสอออออออออออออออออผ ^Cby ^CMike Maynard READFAST is an educational program designed to enhance and improve reading skills. The program is aimed at developing three basic disciplines: 1. Reading comprehension 2. Phrase recognition 3. Eye scanning The Main Menu contains: omprehension Test ecognizing Phrases Eye Scanning Drill

lain Text File BD Text File elp bout READFAST xit to BBD Main Menu/DOS To choose a feature from the Main Menu, highlight the selection with the Arrow Keys or enter the first letter of the selection ( = Help). Then press . I. COMPREHENSION Select an article from the file menu, highlight the article/file with the Arrow Keys, and press . Read the article by scrolling through the text with the Arrow Keys or . Complete the comprehension test after reading the text. READFAST uses the test results and reading speed to assess your general reading abilities! II. PHRASE RECOGNITION This section determines the speed with which words and phrases are recognized and evaluated. Specific words and phrases are flashed in a designated box. For example, READFAST displays the word "eagles" briefly. A box is then displayed with several similar words. Choose the word in the box that matches the word that flashed - "eagles" in this case. Highlight "eagles" with the Arrow Keys and press . Upon completion of the test, the percentage of correct answers is displayed. Select "C" to continue or for the Main Menu. When you first start this section, you will be asked to select a starting level. Each level (1 - 5) directly corresponds to the number of words in the phrase, i.e., level 1 contains one word; level 5 contains five words. The speed and level are increased and decreased based on the number of words correctly selected. III. EYE SCANNING DRILL Many people move their head instead of their eyes when reading. This technique is incorrect and hinders the development of proper reading skills. READFAST incorporates an Eye Scanning Drill to correct this deficiency. The eye scanning drill will also reinforce another precept from speed reading techniques, not looking back at words already read. Select a file from either the Plain or BBD Text Files. Press the to begin scanning the document. A "window" moves across the text at 400 words per minute. Keep your head still and allow only your eyes to follow the window while reading the text. If 400 is too fast, slow the window down with the <-> key. Speed up the pace with the <+> key. The maximum is 12,000 words per minute. Note that the words per minute calculation is based on five characters per word, and not the actual word count. Good luck! Press when finished or to exit the drill. Note: if you would like the scanning "window" to be larger or smaller, you may modify it while in the drill. Use the left-hand square bracket key, [, to make the window smaller. Press the right-hand square bracket key, ], to make the window larger. It should be large enough to allow the eye to absorb a phrase with each stop, but must not allow the eye to regress or look back at preceeding words. IV. HELP contains a summary of the three main features. V. ABOUT READFAST contains copyright information. VI. EXIT returns you to DOS or BBD Main Menu ^CBuilding Supplementary Files Space limitations on BIG BLUE DISK place definite limits on the volume of reading practice files and comprehension questions provided for the READFAST program. The reader has the option of creating his own files to expand the versatility. To build files for READFAST, use a straight "text" file editor, such as the BlueLine editor published every three months on BIG BLUE DISK. If a standard word-processing package is used, the resulting file MUST be passed through that word-processor's "convert to ASCII format" program. Word processing packages tend to use a format not easily decipherable outside the package. To build a text file for Eye Scan Training, type in the text as desired and name the file with the .ASC extension. For example, an essay on whales might be named WHALES.ASC. To build a text file for Comprehension Training, type in the text as desired and name the file with a .CMP extension. An essay on bees might be named BEES.CMP. For comprehension, you must also create a "questions" file with the extension .CMQ: the first characters must exactly match the filename for the text. For example, there must be a BEES.CMQ file for the corresponding BEES.CMP file. The questions file associated with the comprehension text is a standard ASCII (plain text) file that contains one or more "question blocks." Each question block MUST be in the following format: 1) Answer character - The character to accept as the correct answer -- either A, B, C, or D. This should appear on a line by itself. 2) Question and answers - Up to 13 lines that make up the questions and possible answers. 3) Ending asterisk - This signals the end of this question block and should appear on a line by itself. Every line between the answer character and the ending asterisk will be displayed as the questions and answers for each specific question block. Feel free to browse through the ".CMQ" files we've included for examples of how to set up your own questions file. Since space is limited on the BBD publication disks, use the "COPY IT" option to put the program and its existing study files on another disk, or on your hard disk. After creating the additional files, copy them to the same (sub)directory on the same disk. The file-selection menu in READFAST will automatically recognize these files by the extension (.CMP, .CMQ) and allow them to be used. ^CReferences and Credits W. Royce Adams, ^1Developing Reading Versatility^0, 5th ed. (Orlando: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1989). Henry A. Bamman, "Reading," ^1World Book Encyclopedia^0, 1979 ed. Bonnie Bauman, ^1Super Reader^0 (New York: Stein and Day, 1979). Russell G. Stauffer and Jean Horton Berg, ^1Rapid Comprehension Through^0 ^1Effective Reading^0 (New Jersey: Learn Incorporated, 1976). The news articles in the eye-scan and comprehension features were provided courtesy of ^1The (Shreveport) Times^0, Shreveport, Louisiana. ^COutside BBD To run this program outside the ^1Big Blue Disk^0 menu, type: ^1READFAST^0. DISK FILES THIS PROGRAM USES: ^FREADFAST.EXE ^FWORDS.RCG ^FAll *.CMP ^FAll *.CMQ ^FAll *.ASC ^FREADFAST.SCN