For example, I took Spanish for two years, and honostly, I don't remember much. This is because I mentelly thought I could never be good at Spanish. From my personal exprience of passively reading, I find I can read an entire article and not even remember what it was about. Unlike active reading where I find myself very intersted in what the article has to say. Classes such as Biology I enjoyed, therefore I wanted to learn.
Critial reading is very similar to actively reading and learning.
The difference is that I find myself coming to certain conclusions about the article or stand on different issues. I feel one of the most important element is developing critial thinking and learning is to be open-minded and beleive that you,as a student, understand and comperhend the mateiral being read. I feel that the mental state of mind can dramatically effect the outcome of critical thinking and learning.