Speed-reading is a necessary skill in the Internet age. We skim over articles, e-mails and WeChat to try to grasp key words and the essential meaning of a certain text. Surrounded with information from our electronic devices, it would be impossible to cope if we read word by word, line by line. 【小题1】

A recent story from The Wall Street Journal reported on a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, where members meet in a cafe and turn off their smartphones. 【小题2】 The point of the slow reading club is to get away from electronic devices and read in a quiet, relaxed environment.

Slow readers, such as the Atlantic’s Maura Kelly, say a regular reading habit sharpens the mind, improves concentration, reduces stress levels and deepens the ability to sympathize. 【小题3】 And this is a fundamental skill in building relationships.

【小题4】 Screens have changed our reading patterns from the top-to-bottom, left-to-right reading order we traditionally used, to a wild skimming and skipping pattern as we hunt for important words and information. Because of the Internet, we may have become very good at collecting a wide range of interesting news, but we are also gradually forgetting how to sit back, reflect, and relate all these facts to each other.

Slow reading means a return to an uninterrupted, straight pattern, in a quiet environment free of distractions. 【小题5】 “You can squeeze in that half hour pretty easily if only during your free moments, you pick up a meaningful work of literature,” Kelly said. “Reach for your e-reader, if you like. Kindles make books like War and Peace less heavy, not less substantive, and also ensure you’ll never lose your place.”