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RC Strategy

by sanalnnair » Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:41 am
I want to know how to tackle RC questions??? I have tried working with every strategies.... I tried with kaplan's strategy like reading each passage and jotting down points on the work sheet and like wise U do it for all passages for then answer questions... but to be frank it takes time...

one of my friend told me that he reads the passage 2-3 times and then answers the questions and he never goes back after reading it 2-3 times.....

another friend of mine told me that she just reads the passages first paragraph and last paragraph to get a brief idea and then reads questions and answers it... as it follows... in other words she says the first questions answer would be in first passage and similarly for the others.... But i am sure for every passage it wont be the same...

I am just confused with RC... sometimes i get 5/6 and sometimes only 2/6... i don't know if its the concentration or the strategy part which i need to work on... I would really appreciate if you could suggest me how do u solve RC passages???
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by David@VeritasPrep » Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:10 pm
I guess that everyone does have a different strategy for addressing reading comprehension. But, no matter what strategy you use, the most important thing is that you find a way to get engaged in reading the passage at the correct level of detail. I can see problems in the way that the strategies you mention might be implemented. For example, the suggestion to read only the first and last paragraph, or any suggestion to skim the passage would be counter-productive because you need to know several things when you have finished reading the passage: the main idea of the passage, the tone of the passage, and what is in each paragraph so that you can return to find specific answers. By the way, the notion that the first questions will ask about the first paragraph and so forth is not true of the GMAT, it is true of the SAT! On the GMAT the first question is often the purpose of the entire passage. So, to have not read the entire passage could be potentially very problematic.

It is also unproductive to read the passage 2 or 3 times and then not return to the passage at all. About 75% of reading comp questions can best be addressed by returning to the passage and rereading the correct portion. Reading the passage over and over would not be a substitute for this and would take way too long. Better to stop at the end of each paragraph and write down just a few words (6-12) that capture the main idea of the paragraph - this will help you return to get correct answers.

I am not sure about what you are writing down on a worksheet, this seems like a little much, but writing down the main idea for each paragraph does not take too long. Also, you should be actively reading, anticipating what the author is going to say next and noting when the author makes her opinion known. Be thinking in terms of the scope of the passage and the tone as well. Don't be afraid to take some time to read the passage and to understand it. There are only 3-4 passages, while there are 14 questions and 70 answer choices. It is in the answer choices that you can save time. Understand each passage, not at the level of writing down dates and names - this actually obscures the main point of the passage - but rather at the level of the main idea of each paragraph. And take the time to look into each question before you answer it. If it is a question that is specific enough to send you back to a specific paragraph take the time to go there.

By the way, your differing performance on different passages indicates that you do well when you understand the passage at the right level. Students of mine who have a pattern of performance like yours are often found to have pushed through "reading" a passage even when they did not fully comprehend (or even really pay attention to) the first paragraph. Stopping after each paragraph to make sure you understand what was said is a good well to prevent those 2 out of 6 right passages you mention since these are often based on answering the questions after a poor reading of the passage...

Hope that helps!
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by GMATMadeEasy » Wed Sep 15, 2010 3:05 pm
wonderful piece of advice. Basically, there has to be an optimum way of reading that is not to read too much neither to ignore too much and to stay tuned with the author (scope, tone,primary purpose) . And to pretend as if you just LOVE these terribly complicated RCs :) .

Thank you very much. I believe one needs to practise enough to reach to the above mentioned objective and make it a habit.
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by frank1 » Fri Sep 17, 2010 6:11 am
Ok,
(I can guess you are non native english speaker)

Following the instructions provided by the guru(above) will definately help you.


But while you consider those things also remember
RC to native and non native is completely different story game;they fight to find logic;Non native fight first to read,then to understand and then find logic.
So most of tutorial,article writer are native speakers(with very good english),they may be able to understand a economist article with in 2 minutes,because they are habituated to it and have been doing that kind of things from many years(from their childhood).So,the difficulties of non natives are most of then time foreseen.So consider your situation.
I dont mean that bow that ....that means you need right frame of mind

Most of the time so called 700-800 question have either
runner up option (answer)
different answer from normal track....one that expect you to think in different way
or explanation you dont agree with

so we often fall in that trap...

Ok i am just talking from my experience...what i feel and it may not be that i am 100% right
but for now,i am confident that i am not 100% wrong either

thanks
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