We have yet to get into speed reading itself, but by now, your comprehension should have
improved dramatically, and with the skill of pre-reading, you should be able to read a little bit
faster. Let’s check your progress with this quick speed and comprehension test. If you don’t see
a major improvement in your speed, don’t worry: that’s coming up in this chapter. You should,
however, see a marked difference in your retention score.
Instructions: Read the text on the following page at the fastest speed you can, while
attempting to remember and store at least 80% of the pertinent details. It’s not necessary to
print this document; reading on screen is fine. If you prefer to print it out and read on paper,
please make sure to use 8.5x14” legal format paper.
Use a timer, starting and stopping at the indicated points, to measure your speed. After you’re
finished, use the table below to help you convert your speed to the standardized Words Per
Minute (“WPM”) metric we use throughout the course.
Once you’ve completed reading the selection, you will be asked a series of questions that test
your understanding and retention of the material.
Mark your speed and retention scores on the Progress & Goals Worksheet which you’ve
printed out and posted in a visible area.
Record this number on the Progress & Goals Worksheet
1. Time
(MM:SS)
2. Convert to
seconds
(60s/m)
3. Divide by 60
to get minutes
4. Divide 520
by your time in
minutes
= WPM
Ex: 02:55 Ex: 175 Ex: 2.92 Ex: 520 ÷ 2.92
= 178
1
Diagnostic Worksheet #2
© 2019 SuperHuman Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
superhumanacademy.com
--START YOUR TIMER--
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I’m only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening, because I have some
some very sad news for all of you Could you lower those signs, please? I have some very sad
news for all of you, and, I think, sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace
all over the world; and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis,
Tennessee.
Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He
died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it’s
perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those
of you who are black considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who
were responsible – you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.
We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization black people amongst
blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort,
as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain
of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.
For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with be filled with hatred and
mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also
feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed
by a white man.
But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to
understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times.
My favorite poem, my – my favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not
hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom,
and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within
our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.
So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King
yeah, it’s true but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love a
prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.
We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We’ve had difficult times in the
past, but we – and we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the
end of lawlessness; and it’s not the end of disorder.
But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country
want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings
that abide in our land.
And let’s dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the
savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and
say a prayer for our country and for our people.
Thank you very much.
--STOP YOUR TIMER--
2
1. Martin Luther King was shot and killed in
a. Memphis, Tennessee c. Jacksonville, Florida
b. Nashville, Tennessee d. Birmingham, Alabama
2. The speaker gives his audience a choice between moving forward with greater
polarization or making an effort to replace violence with understanding and love.
a. True b. False
3. The speaker mentions that a member of his own family was also killed.
a. True b. False
4. The speaker shares his favorite poem, a work by the poet...
a. Homer c. Socrates
b. Aeschylus d. Robert Frost
5. The speaker lists various things that the United States does not need. Which of these
does he not mention?
a. Division d. Segregation
b. Hatred e. Lawlessness
c. Violence
6. Which of the following does the speaker urge the audience to pray for?
a. The family of Martin Luther King
b. Their own country
c. Understanding
d. Compassion
e. All of the above
7. The speaker remembered to thank his audience at the end of his speech.
a. True
b. False
3
Diagnostic Worksheet #2
© 2019 SuperHuman Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
superhumanacademy.com
Record this number on the Progress & Goals Worksheet
1. Total Correct Answers 2. Divide by 7 = Comprehension Percentage Score
Ex: 5 Ex: 5 ÷ 7
= 71%
1. (A) Memphis, Tennessee
2. (A) True
3. (A) True
4. (B) Aeschylus
5. (D) Segregation
6. (E) All of the above
7. (A) True
4
Diagnostic Worksheet #2
© 2019 SuperHuman Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
superhumanacademy.com