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Lengthy RC passage from OG 13 - Time allocation

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by kartikshah » Thu Jul 26, 2012 3:48 am
Hi Sri,

There is no 'one size fits all' answer to your question. It depends on what stage of your preparation you are at. If you've already practised RC strategies, done more than a few drills and are comfortable challenging yourself with OG RCs then by all means give yourself 2 minutes per question and no more. On the actual GMAT, no one is going to give you extra time to read the passages. But if you spend 2-3 minutes reading the passage and if you understand it well, the questions that follow can be easily answered in about 30 seconds each.

For example, yesterday I did some tough passages from OG 13e (NOT putting the question numbers so that you are not prejudiced before reaching those questions/passages.) in a little over 2 minutes per question, including reading the passage.

So you see, it's a trade off!

On the other hand, if you are more concerned with understanding and becoming familiar with GMAT RCs, you could allot yourself a few minutes (2-5) per question depending on your pace of reading and comprehension.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Jul 29, 2012 7:33 am
gmattesttaker2 wrote:Hello,

I was just wondering for a passage like the one on page 396 (from OG 13) which has 9 questions, how much time we should be spending to answer? Thanks for your help.

Best Regards,
Sri
You probably already know this, but on the official GMAT, you will get 3 questions with a short passage, and 4 questions with a long passage.

For long passages (like the passage on page 396), I suggest that students spend 3.5 minutes reading the passage, and 4 minutes answering the 4 questions. Since the OG has 9 questions for this passage, I suggest you spend 3.5 minutes reading the passage, and 9 minutes answering the 9 questions (for a total of about 13 minutes).

For more information, here's a free video on timing and RC strategy: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1122

This video is part of a free series of RC videos found here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... prehension

Cheers,
Brent
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by gmattesttaker2 » Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:05 am
kartikshah wrote:Hi Sri,

There is no 'one size fits all' answer to your question. It depends on what stage of your preparation you are at. If you've already practised RC strategies, done more than a few drills and are comfortable challenging yourself with OG RCs then by all means give yourself 2 minutes per question and no more. On the actual GMAT, no one is going to give you extra time to read the passages. But if you spend 2-3 minutes reading the passage and if you understand it well, the questions that follow can be easily answered in about 30 seconds each.

For example, yesterday I did some tough passages from OG 13e (NOT putting the question numbers so that you are not prejudiced before reaching those questions/passages.) in a little over 2 minutes per question, including reading the passage.

So you see, it's a trade off!

On the other hand, if you are more concerned with understanding and becoming familiar with GMAT RCs, you could allot yourself a few minutes (2-5) per question depending on your pace of reading and comprehension.
Hi Karthik,

Thanks a lot for the information.

Best Regards,
Sri
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by gmattesttaker2 » Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:12 am
Brent@GMATPrepNow wrote:
gmattesttaker2 wrote:Hello,

I was just wondering for a passage like the one on page 396 (from OG 13) which has 9 questions, how much time we should be spending to answer? Thanks for your help.

Best Regards,
Sri
You probably already know this, but on the official GMAT, you will get 3 questions with a short passage, and 4 questions with a long passage.

For long passages (like the passage on page 396), I suggest that students spend 3.5 minutes reading the passage, and 4 minutes answering the 4 questions. Since the OG has 9 questions for this passage, I suggest you spend 3.5 minutes reading the passage, and 9 minutes answering the 9 questions (for a total of about 13 minutes).

For more information, here's a free video on timing and RC strategy: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... on?id=1122

This video is part of a free series of RC videos found here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... prehension

Cheers,
Brent

Hello Brent,

Thanks a lot for the information.

Best Regards,
Sri
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