Bro how do you guys read these passages in 1 to 2 minutes. I spend 3 to 4 minutes and still drop a question or two occasionally...open to tips.
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Bro how do you guys read these passages in 1 to 2 minutes. I spend 3 to 4 minutes and still drop a question or two occasionally...open to tips.
10 comments
I'm no superhuman. If I had to guess, I read at around the average speed. However, I get through most RC passages in under 2 minutes. It's crucial to note that there are sacrifices being made here, though. I'm actively deciding to skim through some of the more complicated concepts and return to them if I need to. I'm using my knowledge on what's most important to digest on the first read: main point, different attitudes, low res summaries, etc. With these in mind, I can build a pretty solid map of the passage and where I'd need to go back if there's a specific question on a complicated concept. You can see that there's a very real tradeoff being made here.
Approach 1: Really understand every line in the passage, which would take about 3 to 4 minutes. If I do this, I'll be rushing through the answer choices, but I will probably not need to look back at the passage very often.
Approach 2: Get a good low res understanding in 1 to 2 minutes. If I do this, I'll have plenty of time to re-read sections and search for specific phrases.
In reality, you can do a mix of these approaches. And you can lean more toward one or the other depending on how difficult the passage seems or how much time you have left in a section. But I think the important takeaway is that you know there are tradeoffs being made, and people generally aren't superhuman. You can experiment with these tradeoffs until you find what's optimal for you.
I may try the adapt by difficulty of passage comment you made. What usually happens is I can get most of the AC's correct because I am spending more time on the passage, but I literally just end up not having any time for the last passage, fairly consistently regardless of drill or PT. We'll see if it makes a difference. Thank you.
The secret is that you spend more time on the passage so you can blast through most questions because you understand the passage so well. I don't know the core curriculum well because I built my foundations outside of 7Sage and then tuned into the live classes and the recorded ones, but it also wouldn't surprise me if it's covered in the core curriculum.
Whether or not you write down a low res summary or your goal is to have one internally, a good low res summary is built on the back of understanding what each paragraph is building towards. I probably spend 4-5 minutes on a passage now but I'm also making sure to note things like AP, tone, other perspectives, structure, and what the passage is building towards as its main point. This sets me up to tackle most questions, or at least know where I need to glance back to.
If you have the money, the Live tier is fantastic for mining information from experts and getting an opportunity to ask specific questions on your mind about whatever the topic is.
I second this! If you spend enough time understanding the passage, you should be able to fly through the questions, especially if you know how to approach each question type.
Third!
And I fourth this, especially as someone who is naturally a skim reader. These passages are too short and nuanced to skim read sometimes for me. If I skim, I invariably miss some important parts of tone or the argument.
I've started writing a few words or a concept for each paragraph and it has been super helpful.
I fifth this
I am a foreigner and I absolutely need 4-4.5 minutes per passage. I simply can not read these passages in 2 minutes, if I do I get 80% of them wrong…
That seems so fast to me, and you have time while reading to do a mental map of each para?
I am trying my best. These passages make me want to cry. completely undoing my progress in LR.
I try to highlight the key words