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Not reading carefully

Para-LegalPara-Legal Alum Member
in General 18 karma

I'm always finding myself making silly mistakes because I've either misread or not completely read all of the question or the stimulus. Both for LR and LG but more so for LG. Does anyone have advice on tips to remind yourself to slow down and double check you've read everything correctly?

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  • sucralosedaddysucralosedaddy Alum Member
    310 karma

    Its just something you need to get better at, the test is designed to punish you for skimming, every single word is important.

    My only "tip" is for LG, After copying/translating a rule, do one step of the elimination question then move on to the next rule down and so on... Usually (70-80% of the time) you should be able to eliminate one answer choice per rule. It should raise some red flags if you find one rule eliminates a bunch of answers.

    This is the new strategy that JY recommends on LG questions, and you can see him do it on the newer PT games section explanation videos.

  • TwentyStarGeneralTwentyStarGeneral Core Member
    118 karma

    I strongly second sucralose's suggestion. I had a big problem with misreading a rule in LG and it was causing me to a lose a bunch of time or miss points. I now do exactly that and, if I do find a rule that eliminates 2 or more answers, I double check it and then save myself the wasted 3-5 minutes or several points that could have resulted from continuing on with that erroneous understanding. Other than that, as you practice and continue to be punished for sloppy reading and fix your mistakes, you will get better and better over time. Also, as you read explanations and start to notice the subtle shifts in wording and similar tricks, you will become more attuned to them and catch them earlier and they will become an easy way for you to get the right answer quickly on such questions.

  • Matt SorrMatt Sorr Alum Member ⭐
    2245 karma

    I constantly struggle with this in LG, but I've gotten better over time by forcing myself to consciously read the game setup, game rules, and question stems. Additionally, I read each rule at least twice to make sure that I translated correctly. After messing up multiple games and questions that I should've easily breezed through but ended up taking super long on because of careless reading mistakes, I just started telling myself that I had to read everything slowly and carefully. The way I see it is this: if you only skim the setup, rules, and questions, you're going to frequently cause yourself to lose easy points and multiple minutes on games. If you read slowly and attentively, you may spend and extra, say, 30 seconds on reading rules and questions on each game. But not messing up the game board and questions will make it totally worth it. Ultimately, you'll actually gain time rather than lose it, because you won't be forced to redraw game boards or start a question from scratch after realizing you've already spent a minute looking for the wrong thing. Trust me, I know it's frustrating but it can be overcome!

  • Para-LegalPara-Legal Alum Member
    18 karma

    Thanks — I definitely think the issue is slowing down how I'm translating the rules to make sure I'm getting everything down correctly. I often find myself getting the translation in reverse and then it messes up everything. The point about checking for elimination to look for red flags is great and I'll definitely implement that! Otherwise, it's just slowing down and getting used to reading things intently. As I practice, I'm not using a timer but allowing myself as much time as necessary to do the problem. I have seen an improvement, but its always hard to not want to look at the clock to check whether I'm doing a game within time.

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