Lab Activity 4: SQ3R

Chapter 1: A System for Skilled Reading
Lab Activity 4: SQ3R

Objective
To practice the SQ3R method of reading

Step 1: Read the passage from the textbook Interpersonal Communication, and answer the questions that follow it. Your instructor will tell you whether to write your answers in your book or to submit your answers online for electronic grading. Then, return to Lab Activity 4 in your book to complete the activity.

People Who Were Told "You'll Never Amount to Much"

Einstein was 4 years old before he could speak and 7 before he could read. Isaac Newton (who formulated the theory of gravity) did poorly in grade school, and Beethoven's music teacher once said of him, "As a composer, he is hopeless." When Thomas Edison, who invented the phonograph, was a boy, his teachers told him he was too stupid to learn anything. Department store giant F. W. Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21, but his employers would not let him wait on a customer because he "didn't have enough sense." A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had "no good ideas." Caruso's music teacher told him, "You can't sing. You have no voice at all." The director of the Imperial Opera in Vienna told Madame Schuman-Heink that she could never be a singer and advised her to buy a sewing machine. Russian author Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college; scientist Werner von Braun flunked ninth-grade algebra. Admiral Richard E. Byrd had been retired from the Navy as "unfit for service" until he flew over both poles. Louis Pasteur, who developed the pasteurization process for milk, was rated as "mediocre" in chemistry when he attended the Royal College. Abraham Lincoln (sixteenth President of the United States) entered the Black Hawk war as a captain and came out as a private. Louisa May Alcott, who wrote Little Women and Little Men, was told by an editor that she could never write anything that had popular appeal. Famed choir director Fred Waring was once rejected for high school chorus. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister during World War II, failed the sixth grade.
—Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, p. 50

1. All of the following would be helpful prior knowledge for your understanding of the passage except

a. Beethoven was a famous and respected composer who forced people to stretch the human voice beyond limits previously believed possible.

b. F. W. Woolworth eventually owned his own department store chain.

c. Madame Schuman-Heink moved to California in 1948.

d. Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, and The Death of Ivan Ilych.

2. The arrangement of the ideas in the passage could be characterized as

a. cause and effect

b. time order or sequence

c. definition and example

d. list of items

3. All of the following questions would be helpful to ask while reading the passage except

a. What was Winston Churchill famous for, and how might failing the sixth grade affect his emotional and intellectual development?

b. What kind of scientist was Werner von Braun, and did he succeed in a field in which he needed to be good in algebra?

c. What made Louisa May Alcott write books despite such criticism?

d. Did Caruso come from a big family?

4. What is the meaning of mediocre in the following sentence: "Louis Pasteur was rated as ‘mediocre' in chemistry when he attended the Royal College"?

a. excellent

b. unexceptional

c. superior

d. well qualified

5. As you read the passage, the details helped you determine the implied main idea of the passage, which is

a. Many famous and successful people have overcome obstacles, criticism, and setbacks to excel in their passion.

b. Singers and writers frequently face unfair criticism that can destroy their self-esteem.

c. Scientists need to learn the basics before they can succeed in higher-level courses.

d. Hard work always creates success, no matter what kind of talent a person has.

6. What does the following sentence imply: "The director of the Imperial Opera in Vienna told Madame Schuman-Heink that she could never be a singer and advised her to buy a sewing machine"?

a. He thought she would provide too much competition for the men.

b. He believed she had no talent as a singer and would be better at something most women could do successfully.

c. He felt women had no place on the stage of an opera house.

d. He recognized her talent as a seamstress.

7. From the comment about Leo Tolstoy, you could infer that

a. college is not always necessary for a successful writing career.

b. good writers should never go to college.

c. Tolstoy was never a successful writer.

d. Tolstoy did not have to work at his writing.

8. From the comment about F. W. Woolworth, you could infer that

a. good sense is not necessary for success in retail businesses.

b. good sense is not an attribute that employers value.

c. Woolworth was not an intelligent man.

d. employers do not always recognize the talent of their employees.

9. From the comments about Werner von Braun, Winston Churchill, and Leo Tolstoy, you might infer that

a. academic failure prompted them to work harder.

b. academic failure is not always a good predictor of future success.

c. people who fail in school will never be successful in life.

d. people who fail in school should not attempt difficult challenges later.

10. From your reading, which of the following are important qualities of a successful person?

a. A strong faith in one's ability despite criticism from others

b. A positive outlook and willingness to keep trying despite setbacks

c. A passion for the talent one believes one has

d. All of the above