Name: Alexandrina Apostol
Date: the 14th of April 2010
Department: Sociology
READING ACTIVITY TEMPLATE
Activity description:
This activity provides practice in efficient reading with the help of the SQ3R method. SQ3R
stands for Survey Question Read Recall Review
Learning outcomes:
At the end of this activity, you should be able to
- know all stages of reading comprehension activities;
- get prepared for a reading activity in a way that allows you to read with a purpose and
stay focused;
- increase efficiency by selecting the adequate reading strategies;
- access tutorials and enhance your reading skills
Select a reading assignment type from the following list so as to simulate a real life task.
Check what is applicable:
 You’ve been asked to lead a seminar by giving a very short presentation about a
specific topic.
 You have been told by your teacher that you have a test next week which will involve
reading through a text related to a particular aspect of your subject area and then
writing a short summary of it.
 You have to write an essay on a specific topic and the reading extract is exactly what
you need.
Select a text suitable for your level from the list attached to this activity and use the
following worksheet to guide you through reading. After completion, post this template and
the annotated text (attach it at the end of the template) on your wiki page.
NB: rename this template like this – Reading Activity1_YOUR NAME
MEASURING HELPING BEHAVIOR ACROSS CULTURES
A. Before Reading
1. What are your reasons for reading the text? Tick one or several of the following
options. They will help you stay focused and use the correct reading strategy.







you are interested because it is about your subject, or it is related to your subject
you are interested because it has relevant and up-to-date information
you want background information,
you want detailed information
you want to know what the writer's views are
you are going to have a discussion
you are going to write an essay on this subject later
2. Think about what you already know on this topic. Write down words, phrases,
sentences in the textbox below. No particular order is requested.
1
Name: Alexandrina Apostol
Department: Sociology
th
Date: the 14 of April 2010
Well, if honestly I don’t think I know much about this topic. The only thing I can
tell is that in the world exist many different cultures with different behavior that
changes with time, believes and goals of the population.
3. Write down what you would like to find out from the text. Try to formulate actual
questions you would like answers to. Use the textbox below.
1- Why the title of the text is MEASURING HELPING BEHAVIOR
ACROSS CULTURES?
2- Can we eally measure the helping behavior across cultures?
3- What is this text about?
4- Is it interesting?
4. Make a note of words or phrases connected with the topic that you may find in the text.
Danger, family, community, believes, faith, gods, education, customs
B. Reading
1. Survey the text.
Use the following techniques: note the title and date; read the abstract; read the
introductory paragraph; read the first sentence in each paragraph; read the
discussion / conclusion. Now answer the following questions in the space provided.
 How close were your predictions?
Well, I don’t think that I was close, but I’ve guessed some words that were connected to
the topic, and I’m very glad that I made the right choise
 Do you have a very general idea of the structure of the text, what the different parts
are about? Write them down.
The main text is divided in many small parts like :the abstract – tells us in a few words
about the whole chapter; the introduction – tells us about the text I want to read from this
chapter, it tells me the main idea ; five problrmes that represent the scheme of this text;
comments; references that helped to write this text,; questions and disscutions on this text
to see if we have had understand the main idea; the table that shows us the statistical datas
2. Identify your purpose for reading and then choose an adequate reading
2
Name: Alexandrina Apostol
Department: Sociology
th
Date: the 14 of April 2010
First of all, you have to like the topic , at least to be interested in it. I was
interested and I’ve gained new knowledge about helpind behavior across the
cultures
strategy. Take first this tutorial on reading strategies from Leeds University. Go back at
section A1 where you mentioned your reasons. Now fill in the following with your own
choice:
I think I should apply
 skimming because_while I scan the text I find the key words and phrases that can
interest me
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
 scanning
because _________________________________________________________________

intensive (in-depth) reading
3. Write down in one or two sentences:
 what you think the main idea(s) are
the helping behavior depends on our education, sometimes prerogatives we have in
our life, it depeds on the type of person and sometimes of circumstances.
 what your first reaction to the text is.
Do you find the text
 interesting  informative well-argued boring  illogical inaccurate? Why?
Because I saw the references at the end of the text.
4. Do a second more careful reading, marking any new words that are important for
your understanding and highlighting important information.

Check on the main idea(s) and revise what you wrote if necessary. Write down a
revised form in the space below.
behavior is a sum of multiple variables and they influence our actions (I have paraphrased
a little bit my main ideas from above)
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Name: Alexandrina Apostol
Date: the 14th of April 2010

Department: Sociology
Decide what the subsidiary ideas are. How do they relate to the main idea? Put all
the ideas together in linear notes, or as a mind map. Put them down in the space
provided below. Check here to get an idea what a good set of notes is or here for more
practice in annotating.
Their model poses a threefold structure of helping: (1) doing what one can, (direct help) vs.
giving what one has (indirect help); (2) spontaneous (informal) help vs. planned (formal)
help; and (3) serious vs. non-serious help. These three dimensions correspond, in order, to:
(1) the type of help offered; (2) the social setting in which help is offered; and (3) the degree
of need of the recipient.
behavior is a sum of multiple variables and they influence our actions
(I couldn’t click the page )
5. VOCABULARY: With the new words which you think are important:
 if an approximate meaning is enough, try to guess the meaning using word
function, context (immediate and wider) and word form
 if the exact meaning is needed, use a dictionary
Use the following table to write down the new words. Then complete the table by
forming other words using appropriate suffixes if necessary. You may add as many as
needed. Consult your dictionary both for this task and for the rest of the vocabulary
practice.
Vocabulary Work
Word and
location
(paragraph)
Word Building
Class (noun,
verb, adj.,
adv., etc)
adj
Translation
Noun
important
salient
vb
A opune
Pit
Verb
salient
pitted
4
To pit
Adjective
Adverb
Salient
Saliently
Name: Alexandrina Apostol
Date: the 14th of April 2010
Department: Sociology
C. After Reading
1. Make a list of the words (both new and known) which you think will be useful for you in
the future. You may add as many as needed.
Tip: Access TheSageDictionary Site and download a version you can use offline on your
computer!
Word and
location
(paragraph)
Class (noun,
verb, adj., adv.,
etc)
Definition (in the
context)
Other (basic)
meanings
Noun
Verb
Antonym(s)
deportme
nt
behavior
help
Synonym(s)
to make it
possible or
easier for
someone to do
something,
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1 to make it
possible or
easier for
someone to
do
something,
by doing
part of the
work
yourself or
by providing
advice,
money,
support, etc
2If
something
helps a
difficult or
painful
situation, it
improves it
or makes it
easier or less
painful
3If
something
or someone
helps to do
something,
they are one
of several
reasons for it
happening
Facilitate
,
Assist,
improve
To
complicat
e, to
confuse
Name: Alexandrina Apostol
Date: the 14th of April 2010
noun
Culture
Department: Sociology
he way of
lifeof a
particular group
of people at a
particular time
the way of
life,
especially
the general
customs and
beliefs, of a
particular
group of
people at a
particular
time
5. Evaluate what you have read by writing a few sentences answering the questions
below. Your comments are welcome.

How does the article fit into what you already think and know?
This information is very welcomed and I’m happy that I have had the occasion to read it
because it compleats the knowledge I have had before reading this text
 Does it confirm your ideas, add to them, conflict with them?
 Fortunatly it confirms my own ideas in knolwedges
 If there are opinions, do you agree or disagree with them?
I agree with the most of the ideas from this text, it’s ok to not agree a hundred percent, I have
my own visions on some problems.
6. Resources for further practice






Using English for Academic Purposes at URL:
http://www.uefap.com/reading/readfram.htm
Reading Tutorial at Leeds University Library&Skills site
http://skills.library.leeds.ac.uk/tutorials/reading_tutorial/player.html
Reading Skills at Leeds University Library&Skills site:
http://skills.library.leeds.ac.uk/topic_reading.php#
Reading Skills at the University of Essex:
http://www.essex.ac.uk/myskills/skills/reading/readingSkills.asp#03a
The Sage Dictionary for students, researchers and educators: at
http://www.sequencepublishing.com/thesage.html
TEACHER!!!!!
Everything that is underlined with yellow is not underlined or written by me, I’ve
downloaded the test already done
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