What is your reading WPM?

In prepping for the GRE, I've noticed that the reading section bogs my reading down considerably. I know that the picked material is wordy and extremely dry which hinders flow but lately I've become entrapped in this idea that maybe I'm just a slow reader.

I did not find any scientific research that corroborated Staples' 300 WPM, which came from a website trying sell speed reading tips based on their linked sources at the bottom of the page. I did find one study that found reading speeds within the English language to be 228 +/- 30 words per minute. Just wondering what speeds you guys are reaching.

Here's the test: https://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/technology-research-centers/ereaders/speed-reader/

Speed reading seems to me a lot like speed eating. It takes something pleasurable and turns it into an ordeal.

There's actually no scientific proof that reading exists.

cokebabies said:

There's actually no scientific proof that reading exists.

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what did i just read

scientific proof

The Ween said:

Speed means nothing, it's comprehension that's important.

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As well as memory of it.

Mr. Green said:

Guess watching doesn't exist too.

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Lejuan said:

Speed reading seems to me a lot like speed eating. It takes something pleasurable and turns it into an ordeal.

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if you put it that way, its like sex...

I kept tripping up on the odd wordings. But I'm average. I'm sure I could have read it faster but just read at a leisure pace and reread some odd things.


That being said, that passage was never real. Only what my mind concocted was real.

The Ween said:

Speed means nothing, it's comprehension that's important.

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Speed means everything for standardized tests. You don't want to spend more than a minute going through the reading sections. The key, is to read chunks of sentences as blocks instead of reading each word individually.

In any case, I got 534 WPM in that Staples test with 3/3 correct answers.

The Ween said:

Speed means nothing, it's comprehension that's important.

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I agree wholeheartedly, but within the GRE, you're given 30 minutes to answer 20 questions and so, time is a factor.


Anyone else take the test?