Reading Comprehension

Hey,

Last year when I first started sitting down for GMAT, I was scoring in the 20's on my verbal. I gave up on the GMAT and from January till about now, I would occasionally read articles from the NY times, read books on self improvement, etc...

The past 2 weeks, after I was confident and got the 'reading bug', I started reading to 'comprehend'. I would read a paragraph from the NY times iphone applicaiton, summarize the paragraph, move to the next one, till I hit the end. I would also summarize every 3 paragraph chunks so I stayed on track. I would slow down because it would make me think. At the end of the article, I would summarize what I learned.

It was pretty cool because it seems like it WORKS for me. I retain more information by reading, reciting, and reviewing my material. I also started looking at structure. So not only did I understand what the author was saying, I was starting to also ask myself what is he doing? Is he making a general assumption in the first paragraph? Is he then providing 'evidence' of his hypothesis? Is he then refuting it with another perspective? Is this chronological? etc...

I took my first diagnostic exam yesterday because I wanted to start studying for my GMAT again, and to my shock, I got a 30 on my verbal WITHOUT even remember my SC and CR stuff. I am actually pretty damn happy about this.

My question to you guys: What else should I do when I'm reading my articles?

I read it, recite each paragraph, then review every paragraphs, and the entire article. I then also look at structure.

What else would help?

I'm dedicated to read 1 article from HBR and/or SCIMAG a day.

Lastly, I'm starting to enjoy reading this stuff. I read an article about how women are not treated equally compared to men in the business world. Kind of sucks eh? The author does see hope though

piyush,

One way of improving RC skills is to "practice ruthlessly".

I suggest you to solve as many RC passages frm LSAT as they can really predict your level of comprehending things.

My Guess is if u get 5/7 in LSAT RC..thats superb...LSAT RC is the toughest ....

Piyush, It sounds like you're doing a good job of reading/summarizing articles with GMAT RC in mind. Also, of course, working a ton of RC passages will help (I agree that LSAT RC is fine for practice, as gmatmachoman says, and you should also work a lot of GMAT RC passages). Before you begin practicing passages, be sure that you have your approach down because "practicing PERFECT makes perfect." In other words, you want to practice right so you develop good habits rather than bad ones.

Here's some advice on GMAT RC before you begin practicing:

1. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/ ... geted-skim

2. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... -questions

Hope this helps, Piyush--good luck!

gmatmachoman wrote:piyush,

One way of improving RC skills is to "practice ruthlessly".

I suggest you to solve as many RC passages frm LSAT as they can really predict your level of comprehending things.

My Guess is if u get 5/7 in LSAT RC..thats superb...LSAT RC is the toughest ....

Hi Gmatmachoman -
(or to anyone who can answer these questions)

1. Where can I pick up the reading comprehension passages for the LSAT exam? I'd like to go ahead and practice those. I'd prefer books rather than soft copies, because I'm always on the move. Any recommended books?

2. To your point, if I can do well on the LSAT RC passages, I will be successful on the GMAT RC passages because the passages are easier on the GMAT exam. Should I work with just the LSAT RC passages?

3. What's the best strategy on RC passage usage during my practice training? GMAT or LSAT to begin with when learning my fundamentals and training?

4. Does it make sense to practice my comprehension with LSAT RC passages and put the test on GMAT RC passages?

eliazashin wrote:Piyush, It sounds like you're doing a good job of reading/summarizing articles with GMAT RC in mind. Also, of course, working a ton of RC passages will help (I agree that LSAT RC is fine for practice, as gmatmachoman says, and you should also work a lot of GMAT RC passages). Before you begin practicing passages, be sure that you have your approach down because "practicing PERFECT makes perfect." In other words, you want to practice right so you develop good habits rather than bad ones.

Here's some advice on GMAT RC before you begin practicing:

1. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/ ... geted-skim

2. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... -questions

Hope this helps, Piyush--good luck!

Eliazashin -

Thanks much. I'm going to go ahead and read these articles, recite them, review them, and test my application - ha!

It's so wierd how every article I read, at work, at home, even notes stamped in elevators and on top of mailboxes, I think about my GMAT. I've turned into a freak.

Another note to point is that I've become cautious not to skip headings of titles. I have a bad habit of just jumping to the text, without reading the title, headings etc...

The forceful reading of passages (infact, anything and everything), slows me down, but feels like it works. I've been reading Mcdonalds style and now I'm slowly moving on to Paleo.

eliazashin wrote:Piyush, It sounds like you're doing a good job of reading/summarizing articles with GMAT RC in mind. Also, of course, working a ton of RC passages will help (I agree that LSAT RC is fine for practice, as gmatmachoman says, and you should also work a lot of GMAT RC passages). Before you begin practicing passages, be sure that you have your approach down because "practicing PERFECT makes perfect." In other words, you want to practice right so you develop good habits rather than bad ones.

Here's some advice on GMAT RC before you begin practicing:

1. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/01/ ... geted-skim

2. https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/02/ ... -questions

Hope this helps, Piyush--good luck!

Hi Eliaza,

I've read the articles and you provide a structured approach, so thank you for that. I'm fortunate that because the weekend is really my 'first' real study period that I can try this early on and see if this works for me.

When I'm reading HBR, SCIMAG, or FT, should I employ the Target Skim approach on the articles contained? I mean, I 'do' want to learn current affairs, but if your system works, like you said, I don't want to develop bad habits.

Thoughts?

Hi Piyush, When you're reading magazine articles, etc. (non-GMAT stuff), you don't need to use the Targeted Skim--you're already doing a good job of skill-building by summarizing each paragraph/section of the articles. It wouldn't hurt to try the Targeted Skim on these articles, but the important thing is that you apply it when you're working actual RC passages. Good luck!

Piyush, Concerning your question about obtaining some LSAT RC passages, etc.:

There should be plenty of books available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, or the like. However, you should definitely practice GMAT RC as well because GMAT (unlike LSAT) is ON THE COMPUTER. Doing RC onscreen is somewhat different than doing it out of a booklet. The other issue is that LSAT passages have more questions; you need to get used to the particular style/format of GMAT RC, and practicing GMAT RC on the computer is the best way to do that. Thus, you should download the GMAC PowerPrep software from mba.com (this gives you 2 free practice tests by GMAC itself!). In addition, there's other practice material available online at various sites.

As for practicing the Targeted Skim approach initially, you can apply it to any RC passage you do (LSAT or GMAT). Don't forget GMAC's Official Guide to the GMAT (12th Ed.) as a source of practice material as well. Good luck!

Thank all of you

I have problem with reading and I am reading "the ecomomist" which is recommended by Kaplan books

this practice seems good to me. I see I can read more easily

Can any of you tell me which material I should read? I am in Vietnam and I can read internet only.

NEWYORK REVIEW OF BOOK and THE ECONOMIST are recemmende by Kaplan. Are they good?

Duongthang, The New York Review of Books and The Economist are fine sources for online reading practice. Good luck!