Deciding which passages to do first???

watersbb

How can you tell the level of difficulty for the passages in the RC section? I know the passages have gotten more difficult recently and they are not necessarily in the order of easiest to hardest? Should we attack the passages with the most questions first? Or should we just go through in the order provided?

Matt Sorr

I've always preferred going through the section in the order provided because, as far as I can tell, there's no way to determine how difficult a passage is until you've read the passage and begun the questions. I say this because some passages are extremely dense and seem daunting, but the questions are relatively easy and don't require a super strong grasp of the passage. Other passages read relatively easily, but the questions are unusually difficult. Also, there've been many instances where I found a 5 or 6 question passage to be more difficult than an 8 question passage. While the 8 question passage may not feel great because it'll likely take longer, I've seen numerous 8 question passages where none of the questions were particularly difficult. Conversely, I've seen some 5 and 6 question passages that were doozies.

equallyyoked

I’ve heard that the passages become more difficult as you progress with the test.

MTreigys

I wouldn't focus on this too much as it just adds another element you need not worry about. I've had some 1-2 star passages that I found pretty challenging, while some 5-star passages on the same set I found rather easy and was surprised when I saw their difficulty. The only thing I may do a bit differently is try to remember some details in eight-question passages a bit more, as you can fall off the rails in passages with eight questions from my experience since you could start to panic if you get to questions where you don't remember details.