The leopard is a species of carnivorous mammal of the cat family. In ancient times, it was believed that the leopard is nothing more than a hybrid of a panther and a lion. It was this assumption that resulted in the name of the animal, combining two Greek words: “leon” (which means “lion” in translation) and “pardos” (which means panther in translation).
The leopard is a large cat, but inferior in size to the tiger and lion. The body of the animal is elongated and muscular. The length of the tail of a leopard is more than half the length of its body. The legs of a leopard are strong, but short. The paws are wide and massive, and the head is not large and has a rounded shape. The leopard has small eyes with round pupils. The leopard has no mane, black or white vibrissae reach 110 mm in length. As for the body weight of the leopard and its size, these indicators are associated with its geographical area a habitat. Animals that live in forests are smaller and heavier than their counterparts that inhabit open areas earth.
The fur of an adult leopard is short and sparse (even in winter), evenly distributed along the entire length of its body. The coat is quite thick and short. The black and yellow hairs on a leopard's body vary in length and thickness.
Each individual leopard has a unique arrangement of spots on the body. This feature is very convenient to use to identify specific animal species. This quality can be compared with the uniqueness of fingerprints on human hands. Researchers often use this feature of leopards to identify individuals of the species they are monitoring in the wild. Leopards themselves use this unique feature as a camouflage when hunting.
Black panthers, also known as melanistic leopards, are found in Southeast Asia. However, the color of the panther's skin is not completely black - spots always appear on it. Due to the black color of the fur, such animals are successfully camouflaged in the forests. Most often, these species are found on the island of Java.
Among leopards there are hybrids - such as leopon. Leopon is a hybrid resulting from crossing a male leopard with a female lion. The existence of the leopon was first officially confirmed in Kolhapur in India at the beginning of the 20th century. Appearance leopon is also quite interesting. Its head is shaped more like a lion's. All other parts of the body of the hybrid are more similar to the body of a leopard.
The leopard is a solitary animal, leading a predominantly nocturnal lifestyle. These animals can easily adapt to any living conditions. They can live both in forests and mountains, and in deserts. The areas of their individual habitat can vary from 8 to more than 400 km2 - it all depends on the terrain and the availability of food for the animal. The modest size of the leopard does not prevent him from successfully hunting large prey - their victims can sometimes weigh up to 900 kilograms.
Reading speed is an important indicator not only for schoolchildren, who regularly check it. An adult in modern world It is very important to be able to navigate in huge flows of information. A reading speed test will help you determine your current level and see if you need to work on improving this skill or if you are reading fluently enough.
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How to check reading speed?
The easiest way is to take a stopwatch (you can use the application on your phone), a text to check your reading speed and read it at a normal pace for one minute. It is important that the text is non-technical, does not contain highly specialized terms and concepts, and is not familiar to the reader. The text should not be too primitive. The testee must see the text for the first time so that the results are not artificially inflated.
But, what do you care about speed, if you don’t understand with what awareness you absorb the text? :)
Much The best way find out what your reading speed is - use a free online test. To do this, sit back, enter your name in the form above, press the button and you will immediately see the text that you need to read, slowly, trying to understand everything that is written.
When all the text is read - click on the button at the very bottom. The program will automatically determine the reading speed and prompt you to answer a few questions to understand the degree of assimilation of the material. As a result of testing, you will receive not only the result of your reading speed and awareness, but also recommendations for improving your reading technique in the format of the book "Everything you wanted to know about speed reading, but were afraid to ask." Enter a name. Click the button and find out your real reading speed. Have a good day.
How to check reading speed yourself?
If you want to do it yourself, you can do it according to the following scenario. A text of medium complexity is taken, located on one sheet. You will need an assistant who will keep track of the time and will be able to test the level of your understanding of the information. Check algorithm:
Simultaneously with the start command and the start of the stopwatch, you begin to silently read the text.
When the text is finished, you say stop - time stops.
Then you need to answer a few questions regarding the content (reading speed implies a full reading comprehension).
The last step is to count the words in the text and determine the average number of words per minute (the words in the text can be counted before reading).
This is the certificate you can get after passing the test
How to test a child's reading speed?
A child's reading speed can be tested in a similar way. The child should read aloud for at least elementary school. Then you can switch to the usual way of checking for adults.
Schools often test reading technique by counting the number of words read per minute. This gives a small error, since words come in different sizes, but a similar verification method can also be used.
What reading speed is considered normal for adults and children?
The average reading speed for an adult is 200-230 words per minute. Below average, but an acceptable rate is 150-200 words per minute. Adults who read more than 230 words per minute are considered fast readers. For the speed reading technique, the optimal speed is 350-400 words per minute.
In children, the indicators are dynamic and change depending on age. Approximate norms used in elementary school:
20-30 wpm for first grade;
45-60 wpm for second grade;
70-85 wpm for third grade;
90-125 wpm for fourth grade.
How to choose the right text to test reading speed?
The criteria for selecting text to test reading speed are identical for adults and children. The only difference is the volume and complexity of the information. The text must match the following parameters:
Medium difficulty suitable for age;
the absence of specific unfamiliar words or their minimum number;
lack of dialogues;
location on one page;
large, comfortable for reading, font;
lack of pictures and other distracting elements.
In our tool for testing reading speed and comprehension, we tried to take into account all these factors so that the resulting tool is convenient for both adults and children. At the same time, he gave a fairly clear answer to the question about the real reading speed.
It should be remembered that reading speed is a variable parameter, which decreases if a person rarely sits down at a book, and increases with constant reading. There are many special techniques aimed at significantly increasing the speed of reading text information.
Everything you wanted to know about speed reading but were afraid to ask
Here is a book that can be downloaded for free immediately after you finish taking the test. So don't waste a second go back to the very beginning of the page and go take the test!
📗 What books do you recommend to read for the development of speed reading?
We have compiled a list of the most useful books for the development of speed reading and posted it. The list is constantly updated and gives an idea of the main books with which you can develop speed reading skills.
📘 What if I want to increase my reading speed?
Source: Wikipedia
Alexander Selkirk - Scottish sailor who spent 4 years and 4 months (in 1704-1709) on desert island Mas-a-Tierra (now - Robinson Crusoe in the Juan Fernandez archipelago) in pacific ocean 640 kilometers from the coast of Chile. Served as a prototype of Robinson Crusoe - the literary hero of the novel by Daniel Defoe.
The 27-year-old boatswain of the Sankpore ship, which was part of the flotilla under the command of William Dampier, went to the shores in 1704 South America. Hot-tempered and wayward, he constantly came into conflict with the captain of the ship, Stradling. After another quarrel that took place near the island of Mas a Tierra, Selkirk demanded to be dropped off; the captain immediately granted his request. True, later the sailor asked the captain to cancel his order, but he was inexorable, and Selkirk was able to leave the island only after more than four years.
Alexander Selkirk had some things necessary for survival: an ax, a gun, a supply of gunpowder, etc. Suffering from loneliness, Selkirk got used to the island and gradually acquired the necessary survival skills. At first, his diet was meager - he ate shellfish, but over time he got used to it and found feral domestic goats on the island. Once upon a time, people lived here who brought these animals with them, but after they left the island, the goats became wild. He hunted them, thereby adding much-needed meat to his diet. Soon Selkirk tamed them and received milk from them. From vegetable crops, he found wild turnips, cabbages and black peppers, as well as some berries.
Rats were a danger to him, but fortunately for him, wild cats, previously brought by people, also lived on the island. In their company, he could sleep peacefully without fear of rodents.
Selkirk built himself two huts out of pimento officinalis. His gunpowder supplies ran low and he was forced to hunt goats without a gun. While pursuing them, he once became so carried away by his pursuit that he did not notice the cliff from which he fell and lay like that for some time, miraculously surviving.
In order not to forget English speech He constantly read the Bible aloud. Not to say that he was a pious person - that's how he heard a human voice. When his clothes began to wear out, he began to use goatskins for them. As the son of a tanner, Selkirk knew well how to dress skins. After his shoes wore out, he did not make himself new ones, because his feet, rough with calluses, allowed him to walk without shoes. He also found old barrel hoops and was able to make something like a knife out of them.
One day, two ships arrived on the island, which turned out to be Spanish, and England and Spain were enemies in those days. Selkirk could have been arrested or even killed, since he was a privateer, and he made the difficult decision for himself to hide from them.
Salvation came to him on February 1, 1709. It was the English vessel the Duke, with Captain Woodes Rogers, who named Selkirk the governor of the island.
Hello, friends! Surely you know that all students elementary school are periodically tested by reading, the technique of which teachers check twice, or even thrice a year. For many children, this event is a real stress. And from fear and excitement, they simply cannot show their skills in full. How to deal with it? Exercise and train at home!
It is necessary to perform that will help improve performance. And be sure to evaluate the results of your homework. But how to evaluate them correctly? For example, how do you count words when checking reading technique or assessing reading comprehension? I will talk about this in the article.
Lesson plan:
How to check at home?
Technology for checking reading skills at home:
- Choose the right time. The student must be in good mood and feel okay.
- Eliminate all distractions: TV, computer, cell phone.
- Prepare everything you need: a stopwatch (or a watch with a second hand) and a book.
- Seat your son or daughter at the table, put a book in front of your eyes.
- Sit next to me and pick up a stopwatch.
- Say "Start". At this point, the child begins to read.
- Watch the time and at the same time listen carefully, paying attention to expressiveness and possible errors.
- Say "Stop" when the stopwatch counts down exactly one minute. At this point, stop reading.
- Go to the evaluation of the results.
The evaluation takes into account the following parameters:
- speed;
- understanding;
- expressiveness;
- right.
How to evaluate reading speed?
The speed is determined by the number of words that the child managed to read in a minute. It would seem that everything is so simple! But for some reason, after counting the words, the results different people turn out different. Why is this happening?
The fact is that not every dad and not every mother knows how to count correctly. Let's try with you.
Here's an example for you. Calculate what the student's reading speed is if in a minute he just managed to read the entire text below.
For a very long time, a wizard lived on earth. He once took
a handful of silver coins and tossed them into the sky. Coins scattered there
and there was a star track.
Since then, the star path has been shining at night for travelers. For people to rise
grew up under the roof of their house not in darkness.
I specifically asked three of my friends to do this. Meet our testees: Mikhail, Tatyana, Olga.
Answer options:
- Michael - 37 words.
- Tatyana - 48 words.
- Olga - 43 words.
Well, who is right? And nobody is right. In fact, the speed in this case will be 44 words! What are the mistakes of my comrades?
Mikhail, who counted 37 words, decided that it was not necessary to pay attention to all sorts of conjunctions, prepositions, such as "and", "but", "in", "by". This is mistake! Even such small words count.
Tatyana, who found 48 words, counted not only conjunctions with prepositions, but also semicolons. And it turned out to be wrong. Periods, commas and other punctuation marks do not count.
Olga, she has 43 words, was closest to the correct answer. But still, she made a mistake. She counted the word "returned", the first part of which is on one line, and the second is carried over to the next one in one word. This is not true, if there is a word wrap in the text, then this word is counted as two.
Want another test? Please! Read the passage from the story in the following picture and try to count how many words are in it?
The hare lived quietly and quietly and she had a hare.
Somehow a hare sits under a Christmas tree and right there a hare plays with her.
If the word is written with a hyphen, and there are more than three letters on each side of the hyphen, then these two parts of the word are counted separately. That is, in our example, “quietly and quietly” are two words. And the word "somehow" is one.
How do you know if kids are reading fast enough? Or even speed up? This question is answered by . According to the Federal State Educational Standard, by the time of graduation from elementary school, a student should read about 120 words per minute.
The lowest standards, of course, are in class 1. When a little schoolboy grows up and moves to the 2nd grade, and then to the third, then the standards grow along with him.
Assessing reading comprehension
Evaluate expressiveness and correctness of reading
When a child reads, listen carefully. Pay attention to expressiveness, the presence of intonational pauses, logical stresses, mistakes made. You can not stop the child during the check and point out these errors to him. You will deal with them after the check is completed. Go back to the "wrong" words and read them again.
Texts for control reading
Parents may also have problems with texts for a control check. No books can be used. For example, take an excerpt from "War and Peace" or, conversely, from a children's book with nursery rhymes, which the child already knows by heart. The evaluation results will be incorrect.
There are very specific requirements for the texts:
- it must be unfamiliar to the reader;
- should be age appropriate and understandable;
- sentences should be short, without too complicated constructions;
- it is better if there are no dialogues in it;
- there should be no illustrations;
- it must fit on one page;
- it should be printed in large, easy-to-read type.
Where is it, such an ideal one to take? In books, of course! For example, a book from the Firefly series is called Checking Reading Technique. It has both texts and reading comprehension questions.
And here's another book. It was created to help teachers. primary school, but I think it will suit us. It's called Reading. 1 - 4 classes. Texts to test the technique and expressiveness of reading.
If you are at home, be sure to record the results. Either in a sign that can be hung on the wall in front of the desk, or in a special notebook. Your young reader will see his progress, and this will allow him to work even harder and strive for new heights.
And if you try, try, and new heights remain unattainable, then most likely you are doing something wrong. What exactly? Learn about it at free webinar "Reading is in the zone of special attention!"
And there is something to strive for! How are you reading at 100,000 words per minute? Do you think it doesn't happen? I thought so too until I saw this video. Meet Nikita Boldyrev!
Dear friends, now you know what to pay attention to when reading at home. I hope this will help you avoid mistakes and approach the issue with confidence and knowledge.
If you have something to add, then please write about it in the comments.
All the best to you and your kids!
Always yours, Evgenia Klimkovich.
It's time to find out how fast you read. You need 10 minutes, a piece of paper and a pen. What to do: read the text and answer the questions, drive the numbers into the formula - voila, you're done. Go.
Start Reading
Chapter 1
Genes and memes
How did humanity come to its present position? We survived, in part, thanks to two continuous processes: biological evolution and the development of culture. Evolution consists in the accumulation of such genetic mutations that make their carriers better adapted to their environment. This accumulation occurs as a result natural selection unconscious and uncontrollable. In culture, on the contrary, the main role is played by creative forces humanity, radically changing the cultural paradigm. And this is a completely conscious process.
You can draw a parallel between creativity and mutation of genes in the course of evolution
The nervous system is arranged in such a way that the discovery of something new, which is so important in creativity, stimulates the centers of pleasure. However, the passion for learning and research depends not only on genetics, but also on childhood experience. If this is true, then our ancestors recognized the importance of inventions, protected innovators and learned from them: the survival of society in the face of unforeseen circumstances and threats depended on the creative abilities of such people.
In addition, another much more primitive and effective force, peace, played an important role in our survival. For the most part, energy is conserved when there is no active action, when the body and mind are at rest. The need to conserve energy is so strong that we associate free time with relaxation. Take a walk in the park, watch a movie, read a book or just stare at the ceiling. Turn on autopilot. Don't waste energy. Thus, we humans strive to fulfill two mutually exclusive orders of the brain: on the one hand, to make as little effort as possible (peace), and on the other hand, to seek and explore new things (creativity).
For most of us, it seems that peace is stronger than the pleasure of new challenges and ideas. Fortunately, some are much more willing to succumb to the joy of discovery. But, even if it's not you, creativity will bring incredible pleasure no matter where and when you find a use for it. When we create, we feel great.
Let's summarize. We are born with two conflicting commands. On the one hand, we are programmed to conserve energy - this manifests the instinct of self-preservation. On the other hand, we tend to strive to expand the boundaries, to explore, to enjoy discoveries, even to be in danger. So, curiosity is inherent in all children. The second impulse leads to creativity. We need both "programs", but the first does not require much effort, maintenance and motivation. Creative skills difficult to develop on your own. In adult life, at work and at home, there are not so many opportunities for curiosity and new discoveries, but there are many obstacles that prevent you from taking risks and exploring. Therefore, the motivation needed to be more creative quickly fades, and as a result, most do not see or feel like creative individuals.
While genes are passed down automatically from generation to generation, things are different with inventions and ideas. Every child should learn from the very beginning how to use the fire, the wheel or atomic energy. The pieces of information that have to be learned in order for a culture to continue are called “memes,” a term from Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene. All memes - from language and numbers to theories, songs and laws - must be passed on to children or be lost. Therefore, memes can be considered the cultural equivalents of genes.
An extraordinarily creative person can change a meme. And if society accepts this, then the meme will enter the culture. New songs, ideas, technologies - that's what creativity is. However, memes do not appear spontaneously, as in biological evolution with mutated genes. To change the tradition, you need to make an effort, as well as educate future generations. Everything new requires attention, and this is a very limited resource. We are not able to process too much data at once, and constant employment makes it difficult to come up with something out of the ordinary. Most of the time is spent on daily activities at work and at home.
In other words, to become more inventive in any area, you need to "free up" the lion's share of attention.
If we are busy all the time, we are unlikely to come up with ideas that can change or improve a product, song, or lifestyle.
Let's define it: creativity is a mental activity through which, at a certain moment, an insight occurs in the brain, which entails a new valuable idea or action. This is the destruction of habitual, well-established patterns of thinking, which happens to everyone, with some more often, with others less often. The novelty and value of ideas aimed at changing paradigms and memes within a particular tradition, culture, or science is determined by experts in that field or discipline. Thus, the innovation receives a social assessment: "This is really unusual." Creativity is not limited to thoughts in the head, it manifests itself through the interaction of ideas with the socio-cultural context. It's more of a social phenomenon than a personal one.
There are other definitions of creativity. A creative person is an interested and inspired person with unconventional thinking; a person with an original view of the world; versatile person without prejudice, able to invent goods and generate ideas or techniques that lead to important discoveries through insights.
New paths
Imagine for a moment: we are on the top floor of a skyscraper, a night city spreads out in front of us. Somewhere in the windows the light is on. Cars scurry through the streets, illuminating the way with headlights, and lanterns flicker. Our brain is like a city in the dark, in which individual avenues, streets and houses are always lit.
To continue this metaphor, the brain is "illuminated" in a variety of ways. We can “light” a huge number of “lanterns” - create neural connections, but only some of the “streets” (nerve pathways) will be illuminated throughout them. Therefore, we tend to use the same data to solve different problems, as if we were walking through illuminated streets in search of familiar information or sensations. However, there are other, unbeaten paths where unusual ideas and solutions await.
We live as if in a semi-automatic mode, we solve most problems based on experience, reliable data and culture. These are three large, always lit avenues.
Remember, I said: due to entropy, the brain tries to conserve energy? He conserves strength to survive in the event of an unforeseen flight or battle. That is why, when solving an intellectual problem, we first of all turn to existing knowledge.
Our experience is a constant source of information. But if we need unhackneyed forms or ideas, if we crave inspiration or revelation, we will have to make an effort and light new “lanterns” (in other words, form new neural micronetworks). Effort requires energy. With luck, we find different answers to the same question, different solutions to the same problem. Let's call it a creative challenge.
The more precise the formulation of the creative problem, the easier it will be to find its solution. Imagine: a creative task is a drawing on a box, without which it is difficult to assemble a puzzle
Which route to work, school, university or somewhere else that we have to go every day, do we choose? Always, or almost always, unchanged. The same avenue, the same streets, the same metro or bus. I would venture to suggest that we can change our morning route a maximum of two, three, four times. Why walk down a different street or take a different bus when we're sure ( knowledge) that our usual path will lead us to the goal ( culture and experience)? The brain does not want to make extra efforts and waste energy on what is already established. Time passes, experience accumulates, and models and structures of thinking are formed in neural networks - illuminated avenues big city. As we will see later, the creative process destroy these models and structures, opening the way to what does not fit into them.
read
Answer 10 questions
As you remember, write it down. It is better to answer in more detail.
1. What is neuroplasticity?
2. What can be used to change the structure and anatomy of the brain?
3. Thanks to what has humanity survived?
4. What is evolution?
5. What centers in the brain are stimulated by the discovery of something new?
6. What is the paradox of brain impulses?
7. Why does the motivation for creativity quickly fade away?
8. Who can change a meme?
9. Why do we tend to use the same data to solve different problems?
10. Why might ideas not come to us?
Show answers
Check out the answers
If you answered correctly, give yourself one point, no - zero. If you answered rather correctly, you can put 0.5 points. But we advise you not to ascribe too much to yourself, so that the result is true. Sum up the scores and write it down on a piece of paper.
Right answers:
1. Neuroplasticity - the ability of the brain to learn and change until death.
2. You can change the structure and anatomy of the brain with the help of consciousness, thinking
3. We survived, in part, thanks to two continuous processes: biological evolution and the development of culture.
4. Evolution consists in the accumulation of such genetic mutations that make their carriers better adapted to the environment.
5. Pleasure centers in the brain stimulates the discovery of new.
6. The brain sends two mutually exclusive orders: on the one hand, to make as little effort as possible (peace), and on the other hand, to seek and explore new things (creativity).
7. In adult life, at work and at home, there are few opportunities for curiosity and new discoveries, but there are many obstacles that prevent you from taking risks and exploring.
8. An unusually creative person can change a meme.
9. We strive to use the same data to solve different problems, because it is easier to use established neural connections than to form new ones.
10. We may not be visited by ideas due to constant employment.
Calculate your speed
Enter the number of correct answers in the field.
