Lesson: Reading Comprehension Basic - 13t01

The Passage Continued

Keeping these strategies in mind, attack the second paragraph of the passage. Paraphrase as you go; take special note of how the ideas build on what came before; anticipate where the passage is likely to go; and look for Keywords and notice how they help the author structure her story.

The first sentence of paragraph 2 sets up the issue to be discussed in the paragraph - the problem of creating democratic societies in Eastern Europe and Asia. The rest of the paragraph outlines this problem, noting that, while "authoritarian and dictatorial" regimes in Asia haven't penetrated society and destroyed existing institutional arrangements to the extent that communist regimes in Eastern Europe have, they have still been as hostile as Eastern European regimes to the growth of institutions consistent with democratic societies. In short: Asian societies, too, face a big problem in becoming democratic.

Based on paragraph 2's outline of the problem, we can predict that subsequent paragraphs will outline the solution to the problem.

And what Keywords did you discover? The Keywords "but," "true," "neither," "nevertheless," and "too" all highlight similarities and differences between Eastern Europe and Asia - similarities and differences that a question or two might well zero in on.

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