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 o 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。
三、特殊信息点在快速阅读中的运用
所谓“特殊信息点”是指那些很容易在文章中识别的词汇，诸如时间、数字、大写字母等形式的语言点。这些形式的表达一方面很容易识别出来，另一方面，这些信息点的表现的一般都是文章的琐碎信息，对于主旨的理解和把握而言，不过是更进一步论证而已。因此，可以忽略这些信息的阅读。如果后面测试的题点中确实涉及到了，再回来细读也无妨，毕竟它们的表现形式非常利于查找和定位判断。
如样题中“How Much Trash Is Generated?”一段中：Of the 210 million tons of trash, or solid waste, generated in the United States annually, about 56 million tons, or 27 percent, is either recycled (glass, paper products, plastic, metals) or composted (做成堆肥) (yard waste).
再如样题中“How Is Trash Disposed of”一段中：The trash production in the United States has almost tripled since 1960. This trash is handled in various ways. About 27 percent of the trash is recycled or composted, 16 percent is burned and 57 percent is buried in landfills. The amount of trash buried in landfills has doubled since 1960.
我们注意到上面的描述中充斥了大量的数字性的词汇，可以判断该部分信息为具体的描述，在处理的时候，可以放弃阅读。