Reading Comprehension : Strategies ---> Reading the GMAT

[AIM GMAT]

Hi All ,

I am starting this thread so as to invite useful insights into solving RC.

Guys pour in your views , suggestions , approaches or anything related to RC .

[HSPA]

I beleive the poster of this thread is a good guide...
He can complete a LSAT passage in 6 min

Conclusion : Post your approach .. it is good ... I worked with you on many RCs but still dont know your approach

[AIM GMAT]

I beleive the poster of this thread is a good guide...
He can complete a LSAT passage in 6 min

Conclusion : Post your approach .. it is good ... I worked with you on many RCs but still dont know your approach

Hey HSPA , thanks for the appreciation .

My approach is very basic -
1] Read each para , i try to skim but i am not able to , get the motto of passage i.e purpose , wht its trying to convey etc
2] Make short notes may be abbreviation , coz i know i wud not refer them back , just to make it active reading session.
3] Read question cross check in para for its validity , then pick the answer.

What i have observed that if i fail in concentration and honest effort in first read i perform real bad . I dont write down details but i just try to remember which details fall in which para , so if i get a detail question can back to right para w/o wasting time , technical term to that is creating passage map .

[rohu27]

AIM,
Any good links you would suggest for LSAT RC?
I have really started to panick on my RC performance now

Thanks.

[AIM GMAT]

AIM,
Any good links you would suggest for LSAT RC?
I have really started to panick on my RC performance now

Thanks.

Are you looking for official LSAT passages or like the compliation of 1000RC's available ? I do have that compiled document if you want an extra practice , had got from some forum .Let me know if you want that i will attach it .Also mundasingh keeps posting good links to practice LSAT materials.

[rohu27]

I was actually looking for offcial LSAT ones.
But how are the 1000 RC's? Quality of passages and more importantly the answers? I have read such bad reviews, last thng i want is a bad source for RC which will dishearten me even more.
Is it possible for you to attach it or shud i PM you my mail id?
Thanks.

[AIM GMAT]

I was actually looking for offcial LSAT ones.
But how are the 1000 RC's? Quality of passages and more importantly the answers? I have read such bad reviews, last thng i want is a bad source for RC which will dishearten me even more.
Is it possible for you to attach it or shud i PM you my mail id?
Thanks.

I am attaching the RC document but it totally depends upon individuals to practice from such compiled docs . I am not sure about the answers but advice to cross check . I personally tried some passages from the document didnt get any issues but the style of passage is not like GMAT so it didnt really work out for me .

DOWNLOAD ON YOUR OWN RISK .

[Target2009]

https://www.beatthegmat.com/strategy-gma ... 23-15.html

[force5]

excellent thread guys please share more RC strategies. Do you think you have to be a born reader or you can develop reading skill??

[rohu27]

Few things i would like to say,
about notes taking, i have tried passages both ways(wth notes/wthout notes). personally for me, note taking increases my time and reduces ablity for *certain* passages.

there are certain passages the topic of which may be to my liking or they normally are easy to read on. so when i start takign notes in tht course, im actually hurting myself. i disturb the flow of passage and increase time. i can remember to a good extent wht the passage is talking abt and if given any detail where i can find tht in the passage.
wht hapens whn i sit dwn to write is i start thinkign first off wht to write,nd thn worse, i never end up using tht notes.
BUT
for extreme difficult passgaes, this may work the other way. there are passages whr i cant make the head nd tail out. in tht it may help to note dwn certain keywords,so tht u can go bck to thm while answering questions.
one more thgn i find effective is for tough passages, pause and think after each passage for a few seconds, wht is the passage saying, and how is it related to the passage above. make sure whn u do this, it shud just be the outline. like..okay, X is discussed in passgae 1, passage 2 says X had some probelems, passage 3 is actaully saying the problems were fabricated..so on. not the details, just the flow.
never look for details as,u will have to go back to passage for tht.

@Abhishek,
ur link looks good, will go home and see it carefully.

cheers,

[VivianKerr]

@force5 Reading is definitely a learned skill that can be improved with practice. No one is born knowing how to read - we're all taught as children. The more you read when you are young, the faster you become, and the more intuitive your grasp of language. The same thing applies to adults. If I wanted to become a chess master, I would have to play many, many games of chess to begin to see the the nuances in the movement of the pieces.

Here's my approach and my PASSAGE MAP template:

1. Break down the passage as you read, creating a PASSAGE MAP.
2. Rephrase the questions in simpler terms.
3. Use your passage map to predict an answer & write it down.
4. Eliminate answer choices that do not match your prediction.

If left with 2 choices, ask yourself: which best answers the specific scope of the question? does either choice contain extreme language or a subtle distortion?

PASSAGE MAP (to be filled in AS YOU READ)

Topic:
Scope:

Function of 1st P:
Function of 2nd P:
Function of 3rd P:

Author's POV:
Overall Purpose:

You can see examples of how I've applied this approach in many BTG posts. Hope this helps!

[rohu27]

posted a new RC at

https://www.beatthegmat.com/selective-in ... tml#359417

Cheers,

[ajank]

Couple pieces of advice and question on pacing.

Personally I like taking notes, it increases my time per question, but it has really helped me become accurate. How I take notes:

Similar to CR questions I use a lot of shorthand and i generally try and read every paragraph and jot down themes (introduce evidences, that evidence is; provides example; presents case in support, etc)

I read the entire first paragraph--> it usually gives you the purpose
I read the first couple sentences of second paragraph--> combined with the first paragraph this will outline the purpose of the passage 99% of the time (when it doesn't you'll know by the last paragraph)

I generally make note of important statements (e.g. x theory provides advantages + the high level advantage make a note of where it appears, then skip the details of the advantage.

This practice makes inference questions pretty simple.

At least for me the hardest obstacle to overcome was actually trusting my notes! You naturally want to go back to the passage when unsure. Don't do it stick with the notes (unless it calls for a specific detail in the question)

With good note taking eliminating answers becomes very easy.

Key Tip--> Read all questions and eliminate. If you haven't found the best answer go back to notes, then back to passage

For inference questions I find that i can almost always get down to 2 answers. If i unsure I then go "research"

Now how long does it take me:

Right now through the first 75 questions of the OG v12 I am averaging 2:08 per question with about 90% accuracy. Out of the 7 questions i have missed 3 were careless, the other 2 i didn't trust my gut, the other 2 i outright missed. Is this a decent pace for the accuracy?

[force5]

@ajank- great views. Thanks for sharing.

The problem here is that i am still getting a lot of RC questions wrong besides wasting a lot of time on them. I saw a lot of students and faculty too making maps. But the problem is that i am unable to use them? when it comes to solving a question i dont even think about the map and even if i try to , i cant make a head or tail out of it.

My question is What can be done? should we use maps or not? and if yes then how? how to get back to the map that u have made and find the answer?? since map is never too good to answer any question.
The map cannot have all the facts that are mentioned in the passage. hence when i want to answer a question its of no use. and i am forced to go back to the original passage. Because of this i end up wasting a lot of precious time just toggling between the passage and question.
i would really request all high scorers and in RC and faculty to put in their views and suggest how should we go about it.

[ajank]

@force5 I had the same problem with RC. Couldn't get them right or took too much time maybe getting them correct going back and forth. I finally decided to start taking notes. I hope the below information helps.

My question is What can be done?--> Just keep practicing on note taking on RC questions (Kaplan Premier seems to have a good bank in the book so you don't waste OG questions). The more you practice the better you become, and then your brain starts to naturally starts to process the information this way. I am actually starting to notice words and see how a particular question might be formed.

Should We Use Maps? I don't know what you consider "maps", but if its not working and you can't use it try something new. My technique isn't really mapping.

To help you out I took pictures of my notes form some OG questions. Feel free to view them here: https://gallery.me.com/adrianjank/100003

The map can't have all the facts.....--> No, but a lot of the facts can be dismissed. Whats important is the summary of the facts, or truncating lists of facts, recommendations, observations, etc.

Summarizing
For example if you look at my notes for questions 50-56 The "However" Section lists a summary of "Factors Affecting Employers", i.e "Product Demand" and "Labor Decrease Bargaining Strength". In this case I noted where i saw them for quick reference just in case i get a detailed question about one of the "affects". These type of "high level" facts almost always appear as supporting idea questions. These notes allowed me to answer question 51 easily--> the act of taking the notes really allows information to stick

Truncating
In the last piece of my notes I truncate a list of facts/recommendations, etc--> "Gov't Should consider Benefits" --> The sentence tells you a list of something is coming (in this case recommendations). I shorthand the first in the list and note where it occurred and i don't read anything else after it. Theses list almost always appear as a supporting idea questions in the form of "Which of the following did the passage site as" or "All of the following were sited as...EXCEPT"

Sure enough question 56 asked "All of the following...." I knew the first one, looked at my note on where I truncated read the rest and moved on.

I used to struggle with supporting fact questions, with note taking these questions are now automatics.

I hope all of this helps!