RC

[A.Kiran]

what will happen if we just shortlist the subjects of the RC that were asked in the OG/other prep materials ?

To be in brief:
1. Knowing the subjects and understanding the subjects (making the short notes of the essence in a paper regarding
various topics )of all the Rcs in the OG/other prep books.


Benefits:

I think once we know the Meaning of the various Topics of all the RCs.
like: Subjectivity Vs Objectivity , Plate-tectonics, suffragist, Feminism, Demand theory.., etc


When we counter the exam then if the essay is something related to any one of the above then would it not that we can understand at very ease ? knowing and classifying what is given in a easy way ?


By doing this , can it be useful ?
or would that be another wrong thing to prepare for the exam ??



I completely agree with the RON. https://www.beatthegmat.com/reading-comp ... 49411.html

where he says about the Table of contents. we can do it very easily once we have prior knowledge / understanding of the subject before we see in the exam



Negatives:

There is highly probabilty that we may see the RC for which we have not seen earlier during the preparation, but i feel that Gmat cant be that cruel/harsh to talk about the topics that they have not given on there OG format.

any views please.

[Testluv]

Sounds like a lot of work. The topics will always draw from the following broad fields: social sciences (30%), biological sciences (25%), business (25%), physical sciences (10%), other (10%). But you should take it as a given that no matter what you do there will always be a great likelihood that you will encounter topics unfamiliar to you. Moreover, even if one is familiar with the topic that the passage discusses, one still might not get any questions correct; in RC, you are not at all rewarded for using outside information. Here's a golden rule for RC: all the information you need to answer any question will always be contained directly in the passage.

Ron's post about table of contents was great. Remember that the passage did not fall from the sky; one author with one motivation--one purpose in view--wrote the passage. The passage exists for this reason, this purpose. And every paragraph contributes something--like a building block--to this purpose. The idea of making a roadmap or index to the passage is to ask of each paragraph: "why does it exist?" or "why did the author write this pargraph?" or "what has the author DONE in this paragraph?".

Here's another sample roadmap:

P1: Study says drug AZT decreases mother-to-fetus AIDS transmission--author doubts this

P2: (Author lists) two design flaws with study: a) ended too early; b) only looked at women with low viral load.

P3: (Author describes) health complications of AZT.

Note that in P2, we didn't actually have to list the two design flaws in our roadmap; if you are comfortable with the passage you would be comfortable not listing the actual design flaws of the study. So we could have also just roadmapped P2 as "2 flaws in the study". With this roadmap we undersand why the author has written the passage (to cast doubt on the study's conclusion), how each paragraph contributues to this purpose, and we have the structure of the passage nailed down. If we get a question about what the author agrees with, what the researchers agree with, or what the function of any paragraph is, it is very likely that we will be able to predict the correct answer and find a match.

[A.Kiran]

Thats right.

I have a query.


In the example : you used AZT term.

If we dont know at least the background of the AZT term ( like meaning what is AZT ? ) . It would be very difficult to know what the author is saying about.



The Idea is that:
Just to know the meaning of the Terms that commonly used . So that we know what it is and we can build the map as you have said easily.


Because if we dont know the meaning of that term/ background of the term.. Its highly tough to get the essence/ to make the road maps as you have said.




Does this make any sense ? or am wholly wrong about my concept ?

[Testluv]

Well, any field-specific jargon or terms (such as AZT) will either be defined in the passage or else the definition will be irrelevant for getting all the points in the passage (again b/c you are not expected to have any outside information about the topic).

What you do want to be familiar with are the six common kind of purposes that show up over and over again: to advocate; to rebut; to explain a phenomenon; to describe a process; to compare/contrast 2 or more theories; and to analyze.

When reading make sure you are constantly using the keywords, and asking yourself questions about what the author is DOING. ("It looks like the author is relating evidence that goes against theory 2"; "It looks like, in this paragraph, the author is discussing the advantages of using computer-generated visual displays in courtrooms"; etc). Because we are concerend with what the author is DOING, in our heads, we should be using verbs (or gerunds) to try to assess what the author is doing. You should also ask: "given that the author has done this, what will he likely to do next?" That is, if you get skilled at tracking what the author is doing, you will find that you will be able to start anticipating what he will do next (or else narrow it down).

[A.Kiran]

Thanks Testluv.

It is helpful thing.

but still am not able to be totally convince myself about what you have said that the Jargon/Topic when we encounter without any previous knowledge/ background it would be a easier ones.

(I am highly skeptical about the total information that they provide regarding the jargon with which we can understand completely . I feel there is something missing about the jargons/topic and i am not able to figure it out know what it is )

[Testluv]

Well, to the extent that there is a gray line between common vocabulary and field-specific jargon, you are correct. For example, some may argue that "tectonics" has come into our common vocabulary while others might argue that it remains a field-specific term. But learning about all of these fields would be a relatively poor usage of time (compared to other things you can do to improve). My advice would be to learn terms like "tectonics" as you go through your prep.

[lunarpower]

yeah. trying to read up on every single topic that has ever shown up on the RC is going to be a complete waste of time.

here's the deal:

* you'll probably see the same GENERAL TOPIC AREAS that you've seen in previous passages. in other words, if there have been passages about legislation regulating business in some way, then there will probably be more passages about legislation regulating business. if there have been passages about the pharmaceutical industry, then there will probably be more passages about the pharmaceutical industry. etc.

* however, the chance that you'll see another passage about the SAME SPECIFICS is slim to none.
i.e., if you saw a passage about AZT, it's unlikely that you'll see another passage about AZT (even though you may well see other passages about pharmaceuticals).
etc.

so memorizing the specifics is going to be a waste of your time (although you might learn about some cool things along the way).

--

also, as test-luv said above, ANY unfamiliar terms WILL be defined in the passage.

--

[lunarpower]

finally, one point that testluv didn't explicity mention, but was probably at least thinking about:
even if you know about the subject material ahead of time, you are still unlikely to have an advantage at answering the questions themselves.

i.e., you won't get questions that are like, "what is AZT?" they NEVER ask these sorts of questions.

* on "main idea" questions, the main idea is the main IDEA; it's never a concrete piece of knowledge. so, even if you already know what AZT is all about, it's still unlikely that you'll be able to identify a main idea any more quickly than you would have anyway.
MAIN IDEAS, for a passage about AZT, could/would be stuff like this:
argue for the government to subsidize it
describe its pro's and con's
describe new studies that call its effectiveness into question
etc.
you can have all the memory in the world, and that's not going to help you identify these sorts of themes. in fact, if you memorize too many facts, you will probably become less able to discern main ideas as a result, since you'll probably wind up concentrating excessively on those facts.

* on detail questions, they are so obnoxiously detail-oriented that you wouldn't be doing any better with extant basic knowledge.

[maihuna]

Ok Ron and TestLuv,
Already a lot of useful info by you guys, I have one more subtle query. It will be great if you can demystify my following query: In GmatPrep and in my earlier attempts at actual gmat, when I am doing quite well in beginning CR and SC, in gmatprep let us say I did all the first 7/9/11 correct and am slightly behind the time, may be by 10 questions I am behind by 5 minutes, timing is not an issue as of now, but two things are running in my mind, one I am not sure how I have done so far, a little behind, but know could just tick 2-3 Q along the way, but what kills me now is the following:
A one para 7-8 line RC, with equally dense Q in right side of the computer screen, I am freeze, neither I am able to make any sense of what is written in passage nor the right screen Q, what should I do?

In post analysis I have found in such cases, in gmatprep, all the prev Q were right, now I am in a situation where either I spent lot of lot of time, may be around 10-15 minutes to make a few Q correct or run through the prospects of making a serial mistakes of 3 Q in a row, and if god -willing got another unusual following Q, even more, killing all my prospects. What should be my strategy here, to minimize loss, due to this single most weakness I have postponed my tests twice this month. I Scored a 37 in V in my last attempt and hoping for a 41/42 this time, so I know I will run through this issue in actual exam.

Any help to improve on this front will be greatly appreciated.

[lunarpower]

Ok Ron and TestLuv,
Already a lot of useful info by you guys, I have one more subtle query. It will be great if you can demystify my following query: In GmatPrep and in my earlier attempts at actual gmat, when I am doing quite well in beginning CR and SC, in gmatprep let us say I did all the first 7/9/11 correct and am slightly behind the time, may be by 10 questions I am behind by 5 minutes, timing is not an issue as of now, but two things are running in my mind, one I am not sure how I have done so far, a little behind, but know could just tick 2-3 Q along the way, but what kills me now is the following:
A one para 7-8 line RC, with equally dense Q in right side of the computer screen, I am freeze, neither I am able to make any sense of what is written in passage nor the right screen Q, what should I do?

In post analysis I have found in such cases, in gmatprep, all the prev Q were right, now I am in a situation where either I spent lot of lot of time, may be around 10-15 minutes to make a few Q correct or run through the prospects of making a serial mistakes of 3 Q in a row, and if god -willing got another unusual following Q, even more, killing all my prospects. What should be my strategy here, to minimize loss, due to this single most weakness I have postponed my tests twice this month. I Scored a 37 in V in my last attempt and hoping for a 41/42 this time, so I know I will run through this issue in actual exam.

Any help to improve on this front will be greatly appreciated.

hi - not sure i understand exactly what context you're talking about here. are you saying that you get RC passages that are only seven to eight lines long, and only one paragraph? that's highly unusual.

in any case:
* if you truly understand nothing in the passage - and you're already down on time - then it is incumbent on you to just guess, immediately. this is the only reasonable course of action.

* even if you wind up missing 3-4 questions in a row, you are still much better off than you would be leaving the last 3-4 questions blank.

also:

* if you get really difficult RC's, then you should probably guess on the main-idea questions, and concentrate on the detail-oriented questions.
you don't really have much of a chance at main-idea questions unless you understand the essence of the passage. however, detail questions can almost always be answered on the basis of very little evidence (usually 1, max 2, sentences from the passage), so you've got a better shot at those.

[maihuna]

hi - not sure i understand exactly what context you're talking about here. are you saying that you get RC passages that are only seven to eight lines long, and only one paragraph? that's highly unusual.

Many thanks Ron for the detailed response. Say it seven line or seven statement, consider them as one paragraph very densely written, one paragraph one. They are impossible for me to make any sense in usual 2-3 minutes that I have to read and then answer. May be it is freaking on my part, as I am able to make better sense for same passages without time constraints.

But combination of time pressure and those densely written one para rc's are making me insane. My attempt at LSAT RC's too is not helping gain any significant advantage. Actually at the time when I am looking to speed now, there is a big barrier which forget about speeding, even normal pace is not making any sense. Probably that is my issue. Since I am preparing for a final fight, want to be comfortable with certain past exposed weakness, but here I have no luck so far.

I will keep an eye on detailed oriented Q as suggested by you though.

See a seven statement, though 35 line, passage below:
===========================================
There is no consensus among
researchers regarding what qualifies a
substance as a pheromone. While most
Line agree on a basic definition of pheromones
(5) as chemicals released by one individual
of a species which, when detected by
another individual of the same species,
elicit a specific behavioral or physiological
response, some researchers also specify
(10) that the response to pheromones must be
unconscious. In addition, the distinction
between pheromones and odorants-
chemicals that are consciously detected
as odors---can be blurry, and some
(15) researchers classify pheromones as a
type of odorant. Evidence that pheromone
responses may not involve conscious odor
perception comes from the finding that in
many species, pheromones are processed
(20) by the vomeronasal (or accessory olfactory)
system, which uses a special structure in
the nose, the vomeronasal organ (VNO),
to receive chemical signals. The neural
connections between the VNO and the
(25) brain are separate from those of the main
olfactory system, whose processing of
odorants triggers sensations of smell. But
while the VNO does process many animal
pheromone signals, not all animal phero-
(30) mones work through the VNO. Conversely,
not all chemical signals transmitted via the
VNO quality as pheromones. For example,
garter snakes detect a chemical signal from
earthworms-one of their favorite foods-via
(35) the VNO, and they use this signal to track
their prey.
================================
In actual screen of gmatprep it looks like one quarter of the screen on left side.

[maihuna]

Here are the questions accompanying the prev passage:
Q7 It can be inferred from the passage that in classifying pheromones as a type of odorant, the researchers referred to in
highlighted text(some researchers at Line 15) posit that
A. pheromones are perceived consciously
B. most pheromones are processed by the VNO
C. most chemical signals processed by the VNO are pheromones
D. Pheromone perception does not occur exclusively between members of the same species.
E. pheromones do not always elicit a specific behavioral or physiological response
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q8 According to the passage, the fact that pheromones are processed by the VNO in many animal species has been taken
as evidence of which of the following?
A. The accessory and main olfactory systems are not separate
B. Odorants and pheromones are not distinct types of chemicals.
C. Odorants and pheromones both elicit a specific behavioral response.
D. Pheromones do not trigger conscious sensations of smell.
E. Pheromones aid animals in tracking prey.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q9 The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. compare and contrast the ways in which the vomeronasal organ and the main olfactory system process chemicals.
B. summarize the debate over the role the vomeronasal organ plays in odor perception
C. present some of the issues involved in the debate over what constitutes a pheromone
D. propose a new definition of pheromones based on recent research
E. argue that pheromones should be classified as a type of odorant
===============================================================

Surprisingly I was able to answer main point with confidence and found it hard with detailed one.

[lunarpower]

I will keep an eye on detailed oriented Q as suggested by you though.

take note, though: if you have a short RC passage, then the FIRST SENTENCE of the paragraph should be the TOPIC SENTENCE. often, this one sentence will already give you a solid idea of the main point of the passage - sometimes to an extent where you can actually answer "main idea" problems based on that one sentence alone.
in the posted passage (the "VNO" passage), you can actually do this; the first sentence is descriptive enough to give you a fairly accurate picture of the whole thing.

this generally won't happen with longer paragraphs, though; in order to figure out the main idea of a longer paragraph, you'll have to piece together the ideas of the different body paragraphs as well as the intro.

my point was this: IF YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what the passage is talking about - even in the first sentence - THEN you should pretty much guess on the main-idea problems.
if the first sentence makes sense, though, you may have better odds with the main-idea problems than with the other problems.

[maihuna]

Thanks a lot Ron. I will follow your advice.

Regards,
maihuna

[Stacey Koprince]

Received a PM asking me to reply re: the original topic here. I like what Ron and Testluv have to say above - great stuff.

I agree that learning the terms / details of OG RC passages is not a good use of time - those specific details are highly unlikely to appear on the real test. You may want to take some time to go over those OG RC passages, though, to specifically note how little you often need to know in order to answer questions correctly. If there's a weird term, even if the term is defined, you often don't need to know much more than "ok, that's some chemical in the human body and it's linked to some disease" or something like that. In other words: dumb it down (simplify) as much as you can.

Seriously, try it - go back to some of those passages and show yourself that it's actually okay not to fully understand whatever the weird term is. If you don't get hung up on not knowing exactly what it is, and just come up with a more general (though accurate) description in your own words, you're usually fine.