Hello, everybody!Could you help me correct it?

The topic of reading selectively or extensively is a complex one. (This sentence is fine just as it is.)

These days it is becoming increasingly important to know which books are valuable to read, and which are not. (Influential usually refers to a person, and sometimes to an idea, but as the subject of your sentence is "it," influential just looks wrong here to an English speaker--however, i believe i correctly took your meaning, which is why i substituted "important to know" for influential. "Should be" is conditional, but if you know that a book is valuable, then the conditional is no longer appropriate, as it would be if you were speculating on which book is valuable to read--so i substituted "which books are valuable to read." I also used books in the plural, as the singular looks awkward in this construct. I changed the final phrase to "and which are not," because this would be a more common way of expressing that idea in English.)

Some people benefit from selective reading. (This sentence if fine.)

This way of reading lets them get more knowledge of their major. (The use of the preposition "in" is inappropriate in this sentence. The use of the verb "to let" requires "lets" for the singular predicate nominative "this way of reading." The conjugation "let" is a plural form of the verb. The final phrase "get more knowledge of their major" is rather awkward, but i don't have a good alternative to offer. I might write "gain more insight into the subject in which they major," but that is not necessarily a "better" way to say what you have said.)

However, some people maintain that reading should be extensive. (This sentence is fine.)

We can get information (covering areas from nature to science, and from history to news, etc.) from all kinds of sources. (The locution "get the information" would lead one to believe that there is specific information being sought, so i have eliminated the definite article "the," because the sense of this passage you've written is about the acquisition of knowledge in general, and not a specific piece of information which is being sought. I substituted "all kinds of sources" for your phrase "all kinds of essays," because not all books are books of essays, and an essay is a specific form of writing which you have not previously specified, and to which you do not subsequently refer.)

Reading selectively and extensively both have their disadvantages. (The original structure you offered, "Both reading selectively and extensively" is an awkward construct in English. One might write: "Both reading selectively and reading extensively," but that is unnecessarily verbose, so i chose a simplification which means the same thing as what you had written. I eliminated the word "also" as it is superfluous, and likely would not be used in such a sentence by an English speaker [or rather, not by a speaker of the American language]. If you wished to use that to emphasize, i would suggest using "too," as in: " . . . have their disadvantages, too.")

Selective-reading can make us successful as quickly but can not widen our horizons.[/b] (Something can make us successful, or it can make us a success--i simply chose the most comfortable and common usage. There is a verb you were lacking, widen (to make wider), which i have substituted. There is a slight problem with "successful as quickly," in that it begs a question of as quickly as what else which can make us successful. However, most English speakers would take your meaning correctly, so i left that alone. I can't tell you why, but in such a context, English speakers would almost invariably use the plural, horizons, rather than the singular horizon.)

Extensive-reading can widen our horizons, but it is very difficult for us to tell the good books from the bad. (Once again, wide is the adjective, widen is the verb. Difficulty is a noun, and you needed an adverb there, so i changed it to difficult. As well, i changed " . . . the good books from bad" to " . . . the good books from the bad," as convention leads the English speaker to add the second definite article, "the bad.")

Good work, Setanta. For the first sentence, though, it would be helpful to clarify that the topic is related to the choice of reading selectively or extensively and not related to one or the other.

The topic of whether to read selectively or extensively is a complex one.

Setant,that's very kind of you!

Beijing Film Academy
I ran across this message not because of an interest in english but because I'm interested in the Bejing Film Academy, specifically the photographic department. I was wondering if you'd be interested in answering some questions about the department, as I'm a lighting professional from Hollywood looking to see if I might be able to teach a course there. You can contact me at the following temporary email address:

chtjb5002 at sneakemail.com

Thanks!