Fast-pace reading tips

alcanady

Hello! Does anyone have any tips on how to read a stimulus faster?

help

jziemba2017

Though I assume you are referring to LR, I feel like the method I use in RC could be useful for you. Initially with RC, I would just try to blow through the passage as fast as I could so I could spend more time with the questions. When I slowed down my reading pace a bit, I feel like I was able to absorb the information much quicker and, because of that, was able to actually get through the questions quicker even though I was spending more time reading (that sounds like it could be a stimulus for a paradox question, haha).

Perhaps you could try a similar method with LR. Instead of thinking "I need to speed through this so I give myself enough time," try slowing your pace down just a bit. Be intentional with your reading. We all have those times when we "read" a stimulus and then turnaround a think "what the heck did I just read?". If you can acknowledge that you're slowing your pace down with the intent to better understand the information presented, you might find that overall, you are spending less time reading because you aren't rereading.

WouldRatherBeEating

@jziemba2017 when you read the passages, do you jot down quick notes for the paragraphs? Or just rely entirely on memory?

jziemba2017

I rely entirely on memory. I tried writing down notes, but I found that I never referenced them. I'd rather spend a few extra seconds rereading a portion of a paragraph to understand it better than worry about writing down notes that probably won't help me as much.

FindingSage

When I first started studying I thought that reading the stimulus faster was what I needed to do as well. I figured that the large gap I had between my blind review score and timed score was because I was reading the stimulus too slowly and taking too long on the questions.
What I learned is that you actually want to spend more time up front on the stimulus. As you read each sentence translate it into something that means something to you, see how it connects to the previous sentence. You should be mentally separating the premises and conclusion ( for arguments) or seeing how facts connect ( MBT, inference, RRE). When you slow down in the stimulus you are able to make an objection to how the premises don’t support the conclusion ( like a loophole) or you can see the overlap in a certain set of facts.
Doing this means that when you go into answer choices you are in hunt mode because you know what you are looking for. You will find that you don’t need to re read the stimulus and you will seldom find yourself down to 50/50 on two answer choices this way because you are taking the test assertively rather than than relying on the answer choices.
Changing the strategy to approach the test this way does feel slow at first and takes a lot practice. But ultimately you can become a significantly more efficient and confident test taker this way.

alcanady

Thank you everyone!