sd2611 wrote:Hi Brent,

Thank you for your response. Please find my responses to your questions:

What do you feel is the main barrier to RC questions for you? <SD2611: My main barrier is that I take too long to read the passage and answer each question. My notes are too detailed and I usually take a lot of time to capture the notes.>
Do you have enough time to read the passage and answer the related questions? <SD2611: I am focusing on getting my concepts right first and hence I have timing issues. Sometimes, I reread sentences and paragraphs many times to understand/relate information>
Do you find it difficult to summarize each paragraph in a concise manner? <SD2611: Yes, usually my notes are very detailed>
Are there issues with vocabulary? <SD2611: Not as such, I am able to relate the words to the context and understand their meaning, even if I am not familiar with some words>
Or perhaps there are other issues? <SD2611: Usually I am able to narrow down to only 2 answer choices and then I always select the incorrect answer . In general, I face issues in inference type of questions>

Any guidance from you on this will really be helpful.

Thanks,
Sd2611

A lot of people struggle with the time constraints of the Verbal section. If you consistently run out of time on the Verbal section, I suggest that you look for certain questions to guess and skip. For example, if you find Assumption CR questions particularly difficult, you might skip any of these you encounter. Or you might consider skipping 2 or 3 CR questions that have exceptionally long passages. By building in some (2 to 4) questions to skip, you may have enough time to read all 4 RC passages (and take notes) in the given time. Keep in mind that you can get some questions wrong and still score 800.

Also, when it comes to taking notes, we need to be very brief. I believe you should identify and summarize:
- the theme of each paragraph (4 to 8 words)
- conflicting points of view (4 to 8 words)
- main idea (4 to 8 words)

So, we're talking about 20 to 30 words altogether (and you can use shorthand and acronyms to use fewer words).

Having said all of that, I should note that, when it comes to Reading Comprehension questions, I don't believe that there's one specific approach that works best for everyone. I always recommend that students spend some time experimenting with different strategies to see which one best suits their memory, reading speed and English proficiency.

I hope that helps.

Cheers,
Brent