We do not always require you to hand in the homework. The homework is for your benefit, not ours. You can't learn to play the piano without practicing scales. You can't make the football team without running wind-sprints. You can't learn to paint without painting still-lifes.
Statistics is no different.
The homework exercises will train your mind and sharpen your intuition. The technique of speed reading should never be used when readings a statistics text. Read slowly and when you encounter a new concept, do not expect to understand it on the first reading, no matter how carefully your read it. You should go over each difficult paragraph several times. If you are still uncomfortable with it, read ahead a page or so, then come back to the difficult passage.