# Find out how fast you read
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 1, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636 "2014-03-01T22:20:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/1 "2014-03-01T22:20:08Z")
Link is [here](http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/technology-research-centers/ereaders/speed-reader/). I always thought of myself as a slow reader even though I love to read but this says I am 18% faster than the national average.
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### Author:  [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/2 "2014-03-01T22:25:38Z")
I got all three questions right and the results say:
“You read 492 words per minute.
That makes you 97% faster than the national average.”
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### Author:  [@flaming\_yawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flaming_yawn)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/3 "2014-03-01T23:14:17Z")
45% faster…
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### Author:  [@Scathach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scathach)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/4 "2014-03-01T23:21:49Z")
149% faster. But I think the sample is too short to be representative.
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### Author:  [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/5 "2014-03-01T23:23:05Z")
I’m a little surprised the “national average” is so slow, actually. But that’s a pathological bit of text (assuming everyone gets the same one), full of unusual place names, odd grammar, rare words used in unusual ways, and folks speaking in dialect. Even giving myself as long as I want to read it; it’s not particularly clear what’s happening or what the context is (If I had to guess, it’s from _War of the Worlds_, based on some clues in the text).
I have little doubt that most folks would do much, much better with a piece of modern text.
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### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/6 "2014-03-01T23:30:07Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#):
>
> (If I had to guess, it’s from _War of the Worlds_, based on some clues in the text).
The \*careful \*reader would have seen that it explicitly said it was from _War of the Worlds_.
But then, the careful reader only got 22% above the national average.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/7 "2014-03-01T23:30:20Z")
561 wpm. 124% faster.
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### Author:  [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/8 "2014-03-01T23:31:56Z")
The page, whether in Safari (no ad blocking) or Firefox, with cookies on in both, won’t stop reloading slightly slower than a machine-gun.
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### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/9 "2014-03-01T23:36:03Z")
average of 300% faster over the three samples, but I’d already read all of them before.
If you think I read fast you should see me type. (tons of errors though)
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### Author:  [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/10 "2014-03-01T23:42:36Z")
The big problem I have with these kinds of tests on the web is that my reading speed goes up when I have more context. It’s like I’m drawing the scene as I go. Since I start from a blank slate, I have to really work at creating all the details. However, once I know what our main character looks like, I can mentally move him to the next scene with little mental work. If a character I know walks onto a setting I already know, I’m flying through the text.
Anyway, my score on this test was 45% faster than average.
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### Author:  [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/11 "2014-03-01T23:53:50Z")
it finally worked!
I took the test three times (of course each text being different) and averaged 452.3.
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/12 "2014-03-02T14:01:31Z")
Took it three times, got the questions right, scored between 150% higher and 210% higher. When I’m actually reading a book I tend to skim more, however, so I’d guess I normally read faster but retain less.
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### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/13 "2014-03-02T14:31:45Z")
6% faster than average, but then I purposely read slower than I’m able; it’s just more pleasurable to me that way.
mmm
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### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/14 "2014-03-02T14:34:12Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> 6% faster than average, but then I purposely read slower than I’m able; it’s just more pleasurable to me that way.
> mmm
I actually think that’s a better way to read as well, I just seem to have trained myself to some very bad habits over the decades.
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### Author:  [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/15 "2014-03-02T14:38:14Z")
I’ve always thought of myself as an average-speed reader, and this didn’t disappoint at just 12% over average. Going back to my college testing days, my reading comprehension is around 98%. Based on how dumb people sometimes look when they answer posts they obviously didn’t comprehend, I’ll take that over how fast I read, every time.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/16 "2014-03-02T14:44:43Z")
I guessed at the questions, I tend not to comprehend writing if the words themselves get in the way, which they did for that passage. It felt clumsy and difficult to absorb.
I read fast, though.
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/17 "2014-03-02T16:54:03Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#):
>
> I’m a little surprised the “national average” is so slow, actually.
In the results list, it was clearly including elementary school children in the sample, for instance; the average 11th grade student was above the national average and the average college student was well above the national average.
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### Author:  [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/18 "2014-03-02T19:11:42Z")
> [@bup](#):
>
> The \*careful \*reader would have seen that it explicitly said it was from _War of the Worlds_.
Hmm, good point. And if you use the right browser, the “options” button in the upper right actually works (it didn’t the first time I was there), and lets you pick other works. I get wildly differing results depending on which text I pick, _Alice_ being the easiest/best.
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### Author:  [@Athabasca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athabasca)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/19 "2014-03-02T19:15:10Z")
84% faster. I’d like to read the entire book or short story now!
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636/20 "2014-03-02T19:21:02Z")
I tried not to race through it, but to read as fast as I typically do. I got two out of three questions right and the results were:
“You read 432 words per minute.
That makes you 73% faster than the national average.”
Keep hitting the “next” button, and you can see how long it would take you to get through other literary classics.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/find-out-how-fast-you-read/682636.md?page=2)