Speed Advice

Comments

• s_jricke Alum Member

  April 2018 360 karma

  @"marcus.holtzman" said:
  Hi all,

  I am having issues with my speed while going through Reading Comprehension with roughly 5 mins remaining typically going into the last passage. Does anyone have any tips or tricks that could be of use?

  Try to avoid going back to the passage as much as you can once you get to the questions. If you can't answer a question without going back to the passage, unless there's a line sight of course, then you might want to spend just a little extra time up front on the passage and let it sink in a bit more.

  Also, just like LR, skip the harder questions and hit them after you wrap up the easy ones.
• Habeas Porpoise Alum Member Sage ⭐

  April 2018 1866 karma

  To add to what @s_jricke already said, I recommend spending time up-front, but doing so efficiently. I believe people confuse this with focusing on details, which you don't really need to do. If you annotate, don't worry about circling/underlining as much, and more generally, don't worry about trying to remember specific details. Spending time up-front, but reading more broadly for structure, can help you get through the passage in a more efficient manner.

  With reading for structure, I pause after every paragraph to quickly summarize (low-resolution) what I've read and understand how it relates to the other paragraphs and the author's purpose/MP. This quick-review also helps me get a spatial "map" of where certain ideas are presented so that if there's a question focusing on a detail, I know where to find it. If that question never shows up, then I haven't wasted as much time trying to comprehend or remember these details.
  Also, I've found recently that not writing as I go through the passage helps me, both with speed and accuracy. I associate annotating with literature classes where I usually had to read for detail. But when I read for pleasure I pretty much never pick up a pencil, so I find it easier to read for a big-picture understanding when I put my pencil down.

  Lastly, don't be reluctant to skip. You're probably not going to forget the passage, and will likely be able to answer questions with a clearer head now that the stress of finishing the section is gone. In general, I recommend eliminating as many wrong ACs as you can, marking the question, maybe even circling the AC you're most attracted to on your answer sheet (without circling it on your test paper so you can look at it fresh when you come back to it), and moving on. If you have time, you can come back and reassess the ACs. If you run out of time, at least you've marked something on your answer sheet.

  RC is pretty individualized, so you'll have to see which tips/tricks work for you and which don't.
• Seeking Perfection Alum Member

  April 2018 4428 karma

  The above advice is good for fixing your pattern of winding up on the last passage with 5 minutes left.

  However, if you end up there anyway, I recommend bubbling in a random answer choice(I used c) for the remaining questions then reading through the questions to identify any you can likely answer using just the main point, and then skimming the body of text, before using your last two to three minutes to try to get through and correct this main point focused questions. If you still have time, correct more questions one by one.