For many people today, reading is very important. In 1 a job, the ability to read and 2 quickly can mean the 3 between success and failure. Yet the unfortunate fact is 4 most of us are 5 readers. Most of us develop poor reading 6 at an early age, and never 7 them. The main 8 lies in the actual stuff of language itself-words. 9individually, words have 10 meaning until they are strung together into phrases, sentences and paragraphs. Unfortunately, however, the untrained reader does not read groups of words. He 11 reads one word at a time, often regressing to reread words or passages. Regression, the tendency to look back over 12 you have just read, is a common bad habit in reading. Another habit which 13 the speed of reading is vocalization---sounding each word either orally or mentally as one reads.To 14 these bad habits, some reading clinics use a device called an accelerator, which moves a bar(or curtain) down the page at a 15 speed. The bar is set at a slightly 16 rate than the reader finds comfortable. The accelerator forces the reader to read fast, making word-by-word reading, regression and vocalization, practically 17. At first comprehension is 18 for speed. But when you learn to read ideas and 19, you will not only read faster, but your comprehension will improve. Many people have found their reading skill drastically 20 after some training.