可以运用标点符号（破折号、小括号、冒号）了解不认识的词汇或句子的含义。因为这些标点符号的出现就是为了更进一步地其前的信息。但同时，由于快速阅读用词相对比较简单，很容易理解和把握标点前的被解释信息，所以，可以将这些标点符号后面的信息删除，从而更加快速地把握文章的主旨。

　　例如样题中有下列信息：

　　Dump—an open hole in the ground where trash is buried and that is full of various animals (rats, mice, birds). (This is most people’s idea of a landfill!)

　　Landfill—carefully designed structure built into or on top of the ground in which trash is isolated from the surrounding environment (groundwater, air, rain). This isolation is accomplished with a bottom liner and daily covering of soil.

　　• Sanitary landfill—land fill that uses a clay liner to isolate the trash from the environment

　　• Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill—landfill that uses a synthetic (plastic) liner to isolate the trash from the environment

　　注意到在“Dump”、“ Landfill”之后分别有一个破折号，如果我们已经明白该标点的意义就在于后面的信息对前者进一步进行解释，那么就可以在明白这些单词基本含义的基础上，放弃其后信息的阅读，因为，阅读理解，我们更强调的是对文章主旨信息的把握，而不是具体的细节信息。