Anyone actually good at RC passages because I really need help studying I am getting a 3/7 on one passage on a good day and need real hacks/tips. I cant retain the information no matter how slow i read, I tried taking notes, highlighting, reading the questions first... nothings working!!!
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I was on the same boat. My RC improved when I started to do the following:
I highlight the authors opinion, critics, transitions and examples in different colors. That gives me a better visual of the passage structure and reference it during the questions.
First paragraph is very important, get a good sense of what's the topic, passage type, has the author, critic, proponents put in an opinion.
Reading thru the rest of the passage, very important to know what the author, critic, proponent's opinions are and why their opinion was brought up in that particular section of the paragraph/passage.
If there's an analogy or another topic brought in, have in mind why did the author decide to compare, analyze, critic and brought that into the passage.
if the author explains a process in detail (half paragraph to full) don't pay attention to much into the detail, just know briefly how it works. You can always go back in detail if there's a question about it. Do pay attention if the author/critic/proponent have an opinion or improvement about the process.
Briefly think on how the author used the last paragraph to end the passage.
I changed my attitude towards RC, before it was a bit overwhelming, now I take it as "what new topic am I going to learn from this" as if I'm reading a news article.
Hope this helps!
it's hard to offer specific advice without knowing why you are missing questions, but in general what I advocate is a high level read first - build the paragraph map and identify purpose and main idea, don't get hung up on details - then remember it's an open book test as you do the questions and use the language in the question stem to identify where to go back and look up the specifics.