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OG 11 RC analysis

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OG 11 RC analysis

by vinaynp » Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:26 pm
This is my first post. I have finished solving the 141 RC questions of OG 11. Below is my self analysis and would like to know how to excel further:-

I use a stopwatch to time myself. I take around 5-6 minutes to finish reading the passage and taking the notes. Another 6 minutes for a answering the 6 questions.

Overall, I have got 38 answers wrong out of 141 questions. Hence, my accuracy rate is around 73%.

Below is a detailed breakup of the wrong answers.

1-47 questions => 13 wrong answers
48-94 questions => 9 wrong answers
95-141questions => 16 wrong answers.

I am not happy with a dip in the performance in the last part of RC passages. But, I guess the passages towards the end were tough. I think one can only get better at RC with practice.

Is this a good start? What is the accuracy rate we should be aiming for?

I think my problem is reading speed. I have gone through resources section of the site for improving my reading speed. I have been using the website https://www.alienetworks.com/srtest.cfm to increase my reading speed. Currently, my wpm speed is 231 compared to 178 twenty days back. However, I think that the site is not really helping me a lot. My understanding by reading at 400 wpm is around 60%. However, the GMAT passages require a thorough understanding. Hence, the speed while reading the GMAT passage is different. I want to know how to increase my reading speed while maintaining the thorough understanding of the GMAT passage.

What are the books suggested for more RC? I will start GMAT verbal review tomorrow and should be done in couple of days.

Please advice.

Thanks
Vinay
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by Jose Ferreira » Sat May 02, 2009 10:52 am
So, I am not familiar with alienetworks, but improving reading speed is instrumental for success on the GMAT. Just make sure that you're not sacrificing accuracy.

The speed reading gurus who can read "Dr. Zhivago" in 45 minutes are in a category of their own. For the rest of us, reading on the GMAT is often more about Reference than it is about Retention. DO NOT try to absorb everything in a GMAT passage on your first read. Instead, try to establish the structure of the passage. For example:

Paragraph 1: The author establishes two sides to an ongoing debate.
Paragraph 2: Evidence for the PRO side of the debate.
Paragraph 3: A counter-example is mentioned, and then debunked.
Main idea: The author is on the PRO side of the debate.

This is the sort of structure you can get good at nailing down in 2-3 minutes at the most. And then, when they ask you for a specific detail in a question, not only will you know where to look, but you'll have a good sense of the context of that detail. (There are questions along the lines of "How does the authors mention of 'socialists' in Paragraph 3 relate to the passage as a whole?")

Another hint I give to all students: read dense Science articles. They are the biggest stumbling blocks for business-minded students who might not be the biggest science fans. A familiarity with science-ish terms, as well as a familiarity with the business terms used on business related RC passages, will help you focus on the Global Structure -- so you don't get mired in the details.
Last edited by Jose Ferreira on Mon May 04, 2009 7:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by vinaynp » Sat May 02, 2009 12:19 pm
Thanks a lot for the reply. I thought nobody will ever reply to my post.

I have started following the strategy that you have mentioned. I will certainly read more science passages. Thanks for the pointer.

Roughly, I take around three and half minutes to finish reading and taking notes. So, I think am fine with the speed now.

My observation is that I take 13 minutes for a 7 question passage and 15 minutes for a 9 question passage. My accuracy is 80% on an average.

I delved a further into timing analysis and found the below:

a) In every passage, I am stuck on one or two questions that take me almost 3 minutes. These "stuck" questions are mostly "inference" or "According to the passage". I know "According to the passage" doesn't sound good :-(.

I am taking almost 2-3 minutes extra per passage. I am trying hard to improve on this and hopefully will reach a perfection point. I have started to apply the good word and bad word for answer choices very recently and that will probably help me.

I will update this thread when I reach the desired timing with the strategy that worked for me.

Thanks again.
Vinay
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by vinaynp » Thu May 14, 2009 11:55 pm
vinaynp wrote:Thanks a lot for the reply. I thought nobody will ever reply to my post.

I have started following the strategy that you have mentioned. I will certainly read more science passages. Thanks for the pointer.

Roughly, I take around three and half minutes to finish reading and taking notes. So, I think am fine with the speed now.

My observation is that I take 13 minutes for a 7 question passage and 15 minutes for a 9 question passage. My accuracy is 80% on an average.

I delved a further into timing analysis and found the below:

a) In every passage, I am stuck on one or two questions that take me almost 3 minutes. These "stuck" questions are mostly "inference" or "According to the passage". I know "According to the passage" doesn't sound good :-(.

I am taking almost 2-3 minutes extra per passage. I am trying hard to improve on this and hopefully will reach a perfection point. I have started to apply the good word and bad word for answer choices very recently and that will probably help me.

I will update this thread when I reach the desired timing with the strategy that worked for me.

Thanks again.
Vinay
Now, I have started to enjoy doing Reading Comprehension. Mostly, I am getting all the questions right or at the most one question wrong. What is the trick?

The trick is go back to the passage and don't rely on your memory or interpretation of the passage. One thing that has helped me a lot is solving CR questions. Now, I am getting RC inference questions right.

However, I am still not able to improve the time taken for solving the RC. I am taking 2-3 minutes extra for each RC. I think my problem is the answer elimination process. I am working on it and will post more information when I am able to nail it down.
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by rah_pandey » Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:13 pm
Vinay,
Any breakthrough? Please do keep us posted.

Rahul
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