|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:

               <C>omprehension Test

               <R>ecognizing Phrases

               Eye Scanning Drill

                    <P>lain Text File
                    <B>BD Text File

               <H>elp
               <A>bout READFAST
               <E>xit to BBD Main Menu/DOS

     To choose a feature from the Main Menu, highlight the selection with the
 <UP> <DOWN> Arrow Keys or enter the first letter of the selection (<H> =
 Help).  Then press <ENTER>.

     I.   COMPREHENSION

          Select an article from the file menu, highlight the article/file
     with the Arrow Keys, and press <ENTER>.  Read the article by scrolling
     through the text with the <UP> <DOWN> Arrow Keys or <PGUP> <PGDN>.
     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 <UP> <DOWN> Arrow Keys and press <ENTER>.

          Upon completion of the test, the percentage of correct answers is
     displayed.  Select "C" to continue or <ESC> 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
     <SPACEBAR> 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 <ESC> 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

