Reading for Results

10^th edition, 2007

A developmental reading text aimed at students who have some basic reading skills but need more help improving and refining those skills.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
222 Berkeley Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116-3764

ISBN-13: 978-0-618-76677-2 (Student edition)

I am happy to announce that Reading for Results, the mid-level text in my reading series, will soon be on the market in its tenth edition. As with previous editions, I’ve tried to fill this one with engaging readings designed to entice even the most reluctant readers. The new edition features paragraphs and passages focusing on the notorious female pirate, Anne Bonny; the unexpected return of bed bugs as a troublesome pest; the miraculous success of the first face transplant; the growing popularity of telenovelas; and the unsolved homicide that almost started a race war—now known as the "Sleepy Lagoon murder case."

The tenth edition retains the same step-by-step approach that marked the first. Once students feel comfortable identifying main ideas, supporting details, transitional devices, and paragraph patterns, they move on to longer multi-paragraph selections, which prepare them for the more academic readings concluding the text. The majority of these extended readings are new to the 10th edition and cover topics of current interest such as the genetic origin of selfishness; the rise of third-party politics; error-prone eyewitness testimony, and the potential problem of nuclear waste. Pre-reading tips, monitoring strategies; comprehension and critical reading questions along with discussion topics; writing assignments, and suggestions for practical application accompany each of the ten, end-of-book readings, allowing students to apply all of the comprehension and critical reading skills introduced in chapters 1-10.

Overall, this revision places more emphasis on drawing logical inferences to complete the author’s intended meaning. It also focuses on the role diagrams and visual aids can play in understanding and taking notes on textbook reading assignments. In addition, Reading for Results now offers end-of-chapter vocabulary quizzes, created to help students review words previously introduced in chapter footnotes. The fill-in-the blank quizzes use passages rather than single sentences. The passages intentionally cover people and events of historical interest like the 1925 Scopes monkey trial; the political cartoons of Thomas Nast; the tragic sinking of the Titanic, and the first all-women’s convention in Seneca Falls New York. The goal of the tests, then, are twofold: to enlarge vocabulary and enhance background knowledge.