Reading Comp Killing Me..

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• 1 Like

  LoraxMan Alum Member

  September 2015 180 karma

  I have definitely had similar problems nailing down a good CR strategy. One way I have been practicing is on my blind review, I go write the number of each question next to the part of the passage the question, or correct answer, references. For example for the question about a theme, you go back to the passage, check where language on the theme was, highlight those areas of the passage and write down the question number next to those parts of the passage. This has helped me refine my passage mark-ups, by seeing which parts of the passage are important for the questions, and it has also helped me think more like the test writer, by allowing me to see where the writers link passages and questions.
• 1 Like

  Matt1234567 Inactive ⭐

  September 2015 1294 karma

  @LoraxMan said:
  One way I have been practicing is on my blind review, I go write the number of each question next to the part of the passage the question,
  

  Hmm, that's actually pretty clever. I'm going to give it a try and see how it works out, thanks!
• tanes256 Alum Member

  September 2015 2573 karma

  I've gotten my RC section down to -4. I've read The Trainer 3x. I also do an open book BR to make sure that I'm tackling the questions correctly. That was a problem of mine. I don't really have a strategy other than recognizing the structure. I like the suggestion given above. I'll give it a try.
• sarkisp23 Alum Member

  September 2015 374 karma

  So try this. First thing is you need some analytics. Obviously you're timing yourself. But time your passage reading and question answering separately. So say use your iPhone and hit "lap" when you're done the passage. That way you know how long you're spending reading the passage vs answering the questions. If you're only spending 2 mins reading the passage and 7 mins answering the questions, then slow down.
  
  With regard to actually reading, just try to enjoy what you're reading. When you read a cool article or book, you can pretty easily explain it to someone right? Try to mimic that. Understand that the topics are taken from actual publications so they're of value in and of themselves.
  
  Anywho, with regard to questions, know what they're asking you. With RC, there seems to be less concrete logic and more a sense of what the right answer is right? It's a lot of times based on tone, etc. So know which questions require more of a tonal answer vs more of a, for lack of a better word "factual" answer. Questions that ask "suggests" are common and they're very tonal as an example