The Reading Gap — A Speed Reading Test You Can Fail Why measure it twice?

Because a single number cannot tell you anything you can act<br>on. "You read at 240 words per minute" is a fact about the<br>past. The difference between reading a page and having the<br>words brought to you is an estimate of how much of your<br>reading time is going on<br>eye movement — the<br>jumps along each line, the<br>sweep back to the<br>next one, the<br>drift backwards over<br>something you already read.

That overhead is exactly what a paced reader removes, which<br>is why this test is on this site. It is also why every number<br>here is multiplied by comprehension: a reading tool that<br>measured only speed would be<br>selling you something.

Common questions<br>How is this different from other reading speed tests?<br>Two ways. Every score is multiplied by how much you understood, so scrolling to a big number scores nothing. And you are measured twice — reading a page normally, then with the words delivered to a fixed point — so the result includes the gap between them, which is an estimate of how much of your reading time is eye movement rather than reading.

What is a good score?<br>The score is a percentile against a mean of 238 words per minute, the adult silent-reading figure from Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies. Fifty is average by construction. More interesting than the score is the gap, and a typical gap is somewhere between 20% and 45%.

Can I cheat it?<br>You can get a fast raw speed by not reading, but the comprehension questions come afterwards and every number is multiplied by them. A test that cannot be failed produces a score nobody believes, which is why nobody shares one.

Is my result sent anywhere?<br>No. The whole test runs in your browser, and your best score is kept in your own device's local storage. There is no account and nothing is transmitted.

Does the second number mean I can read that fast?<br>No, and the result page says so. The ramp finds the fastest point at which you were still following — a ceiling, not a pace you could hold for an hour, and not your natural reading speed.