Improving Reading Comprehension

jmarin5

Hey guys,

One of the sections I struggle the most on is reading comprehension, and from what I read online, the best way to improve is to simply read more.

I am looking for sources of reading material that would strengthen my reading comprehension skills and expose me to the type of reading that I would be seeing in the LSAT. Some of the sources mentioned online were the economist, wall street journal, and published articles/papers from the top 3 law schools.

Any idea if reading material from these sources actually helps or if there are other useful sources out there?

Thank you!

SheboyganBoi

In my opinion, while it can help to read from similar outside sources like the ones you've mentioned (I personally read from the Economist daily just because I like to), to improve in RC you ultimately have to get better at reading for structure, improve your short term memory, and start being able to anticipate the types of things the questions will ask you about from the passage.

This is a longer post, but I HIGHLY recommend you take a look at it if you're looking for guidance on RC improvement. I've been implementing some of the things mentioned by this 7Sager who scored a 179 and it's helped me make the most improvements by far (RC is also my worst section).

https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/26560/my-guide-to-reading-comprehension-part-1-long-ish-post

Older_LS_Applicant85

Well, you definitely want to read a lot every day, just so that you familiarize yourself with reading dense and challenging material. In addition, you also have to hone RC skills that are unique to the LSAT (understanding structure, referential phrasing, grasping difficult explanations, keeping track of viewpoints, understanding tone, and finding main points) and that you wouldn't normally do when casually reading. Nevertheless, over the years I've heard good recommendations about the following and that's why I make it a goal to read at least 1hr every day from these sources:

• The New Yorker
• The Economist
• Harper's
• Scientific American
• Science Mag
• Arts & Letters Daily
• SCOTUS Blog
• 1000 Word Philosophy

CardsnHogz

@hsiyad22 said:
https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/26560/my-guide-to-reading-comprehension-part-1-long-ish-post

Thank you for posting this!

jmarin5

@Older_LS_Applicant85 said:
Well, you definitely want to read a lot every day, just so that you familiarize yourself with reading dense and challenging material. In addition, you also have to hone RC skills that are unique to the LSAT (understanding structure, referential phrasing, grasping difficult explanations, keeping track of viewpoints, understanding tone, and finding main points) and that you wouldn't normally do when casually reading. Nevertheless, over the years I've heard good recommendations about the following and that's why I make it a goal to read at least 1hr every day from these sources:

• The New Yorker
• The Economist
• Harper's
• Scientific American
• Science Mag
• Arts & Letters Daily
• SCOTUS Blog
• 1000 Word Philosophy

Thank you!

jmarin5

@hsiyad22 said:
In my opinion, while it can help to read from similar outside sources like the ones you've mentioned (I personally read from the Economist daily just because I like to), to improve in RC you ultimately have to get better at reading for structure, improve your short term memory, and start being able to anticipate the types of things the questions will ask you about from the passage.

This is a longer post, but I HIGHLY recommend you take a look at it if you're looking for guidance on RC improvement. I've been implementing some of the things mentioned by this 7Sager who scored a 179 and it's helped me make the most improvements by far (RC is also my worst section).

https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/26560/my-guide-to-reading-comprehension-part-1-long-ish-post

Thank you!

SufficientCondition

This is the right idea. Let me also add that you might want to up the ratio of normal reading to RC reading. There are in my view sharply diminishing returns on studying RC repetitively, in short because the passages are meant to be difficult. The more normal reading you do, the easier the RC passages will be when you eventually get to them. A friend from my study group who scored 176 after (in part) reading for 8 hours per day for a month. It's doubtful that works with your study schedule, but I recommend drilling only two RC sections per week.

Here's a totally subjective ranking (on a scale of 10) of the usefulness of sources:

Arts and Letters Daily: 9 Painful but good.
The New Yorker 7 Long-form pieces only
The Economist 7 Bonus LR context
SCOTUS Blog 5 Really great, but only as practice for one type of passage
1000 Word Philosophy 8 Good and highly readable

One last thing: Read fiction. Even consider visiting a museum (or e-museum). It's not easy to attribute the benefits, but the mind needs fallow content. If these sources do not engage you, find something (it must be long-form to help) that does. The best athletes will tell you that rest periods are as important as the training.

lsat2016

@Older_LS_Applicant85 said:
Well, you definitely want to read a lot every day, just so that you familiarize yourself with reading dense and challenging material. In addition, you also have to hone RC skills that are unique to the LSAT (understanding structure, referential phrasing, grasping difficult explanations, keeping track of viewpoints, understanding tone, and finding main points) and that you wouldn't normally do when casually reading. Nevertheless, over the years I've heard good recommendations about the following and that's why I make it a goal to read at least 1hr every day from these sources:

• The New Yorker
• The Economist
• Harper's
• Scientific American
• Science Mag
• Arts & Letters Daily
• SCOTUS Blog
• 1000 Word Philosophy

aldaily.com is nice... how to get past the paywall though at so many websites it links to?

lsat2016

@90DFjihoonlee said:
This is the right idea. Let me also add that you might want to up the ratio of normal reading to RC reading. There are in my view sharply diminishing returns on studying RC repetitively, in short because the passages are meant to be difficult. The more normal reading you do, the easier the RC passages will be when you eventually get to them. A friend from my study group who scored 176 after (in part) reading for 8 hours per day for a month. It's doubtful that works with your study schedule, but I recommend drilling only two RC sections per week.

Here's a totally subjective ranking (on a scale of 10) of the usefulness of sources:

Arts and Letters Daily: 9 Painful but good.
The New Yorker 7 Long-form pieces only
The Economist 7 Bonus LR context
SCOTUS Blog 5 Really great, but only as practice for one type of passage
1000 Word Philosophy 8 Good and highly readable

One last thing: Read fiction. Even consider visiting a museum (or e-museum). It's not easy to attribute the benefits, but the mind needs fallow content. If these sources do not engage you, find something (it must be long-form to help) that does. The best athletes will tell you that rest periods are as important as the training.

what did your friend read for 8 hrs/day for a month? was it lsat passages or exactly what content it was?

SufficientCondition

He read everything. Arts&Letters I got from him. So, he read that. But also book-length stuff on economics. The important thing wasn't what, it was dedicating time to reading like it was a job. But of course, you'd also need to ask certain questions as you're reading (What does this paragraph mean, what do I think is coming next in the argument?) if you want to get the most out of that approach.