Readers guess what the book is going to tell them by reading the following EXCEPT _________.

Before you start to read, you guess what the author is going to tell you. One of the real pleasures we get from reading mystery stories is guessing who did it and how the criminal was caught. Guessing is just as important, however, in reading a newspaper, magazine, or required reading in textbooks. When you guess, you alert your mind to a challenge. You look at the title or chapter heading or any other clues such as pictures or graphs, and you guess what the material will tell you. Then you are involved. The thought game has started. You may not be right and win the mental challenge, and that is good. It is good because when you lose this mental game and are wrong, your ability to understand and remember what the author said will be greatly increased. It sounds like we are saying, "It is all right to be wrong," and that is exactly what we are saying in connection with guessing. We learn and remember more from our mistakes than from things we get right.