When you skim, you should not read the whole text. Your eyes should move very quickly over the pages and you should read only the parts of the text that will help you answer your question or questions. The following passage about skimming shows the parts of a text that are usually most helpful. These parts often give the writer's ideas or opinions. However, every text is different. When you are skimming, you need to be flexible. What you read will depend on the question you are asking and the way the passage is written. The following passage gives you an example of how to skim.
Writers usually introduce there topic and there ideas about that topic right at the beginning. Read the first sentences or paragraph quite carefully. They will give you some idea of what the writer is going to say and how the passage will be organized. This will help you decide what else to skim for.