Not getting em right enough

[vabhs192003]

Hi,

I have been practicing RCs for some time now, and also analyzing the mistakes. But I have been not able to achieve the required confidence to go behind me. There are still 3 months to go for my GMAT. (Feb-2013) I would need more practice and hence more material to pick GMAT like passages. I am almost through all my OG12's RC list my scores fluctuating within 50%-80%. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Vaibhav

[Kasia@EconomistGMAT]

Hi Vaibhav,

Could you describe briefly how you approach RC passages? What is your work order?

[vabhs192003]

Hi Kasia,

Thanks for noticing my post. Well I generally have a decent speed while going through RC text. I am mostly through RC text within 3-4 mins max. Its the questions which stump me and I suddenly find my self looking everywhere in RC text trying to find clues. I do get 3-4 Qs upon 6 questions in RC correct. But some times this number slumps to 3/6. Also I generally take a lot of time to get the questions answered. In general I take 3-4mins to read the passage and another 1.5mins to 2min to solve each question. So a lengthy passage(more than 50-60 lines) takes more than 10-11 mins to get through.
Any suggestions? I think I need more practice since I was not as bad as now last year, when I prepared for GMAT but couldn't take the test because of personal reasons. But I am unable to find decent collections of RCs to pick and solve. By decent I mean of GMAT standard or some where close to that.

Thanks,
Vaibhav.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

Hi Vaibhav,

I'm responding to your private message.

When reading an RC passage, you should be looking for very specific types of information to record on your noteboard. Your goal should be to read the passage once and never return to it. Instead, the information that you collected/summarized should be all you need to answer the questions. Of course, that's easier said than done .

If you're interested, we have a free set of comprehensive videos on RC strategies: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat- ... prehension

Cheers,
Brent

[Kasia@EconomistGMAT]

Do you ever take notes while reading the passage? Do you always read the whole text? Which question types seem more difficult?

[vabhs192003]

Do you ever take notes while reading the passage? Do you always read the whole text? Which question types seem more difficult?

Hi,

- No I haven't started the practice of taking notes. I find that very cumbersome and distracting.
- Yes, I always make it a point to read the whole text before I start answering the question. I try to understand as much as I can within the limits of time. Albeit that's not working 100% for me. I have to improve here.
- I have seen where ever the questions which require application of points discussed in passage, I get them mostly wrong. Also the question like intention of the passage, main idea are mostly getting hit badly. Direct questions are easy to go.

Your point.

-Vaibhav

[Kasia@EconomistGMAT]

What I can advise is that the first thing you do is read only a few first sentences of each paragraph to have a general picture what each paragraph is about. It is a good idea also to note down the function of each paragraph and whether it for example contradicts or confirms what is stated in other paragraphs.
The notes should be very concise - abbreviated versions of words and maybe some symbols. That way you will not spend a lot of time writing them down, you will have a map of the passage and you will not have to come back to the text to solve a structure question.
When you need to solve an Application Question or a Detail Question, use your map to locate the detail quicker. Then carefully read a few sentences around the detail, similarly like you read the argument in Critical Reasoning questions.

[vabhs192003]

What I can advise is that the first thing you do is read only a few first sentences of each paragraph to have a general picture what each paragraph is about. It is a good idea also to note down the function of each paragraph and whether it for example contradicts or confirms what is stated in other paragraphs.
The notes should be very concise - abbreviated versions of words and maybe some symbols. That way you will not spend a lot of time writing them down, you will have a map of the passage and you will not have to come back to the text to solve a structure question.
When you need to solve an Application Question or a Detail Question, use your map to locate the detail quicker. Then carefully read a few sentences around the detail, similarly like you read the argument in Critical Reasoning questions.

Valid thought and in line with my expectations. Do you suggest any other practice source for RC since I am kinda done and over with OG RCs list as mentioned earlier.

Thanks,
-Vaibhav

[Kasia@EconomistGMAT]

Did you go through the Verbal Review and the Official Guide 13th ed.?