Is it best to start LR sections at the beginning or the end? Forum
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Is it best to start LR sections at the beginning or the end?
Do you think it's better to start each LR section with Q20 (Q17?), finish most of the hardest questions first, while your brain is still fresh, and then move onto the simpler questions 1-16/20? Or do you prefer to warm up your brain first with easier questions?
If you've done both strategies, which one did you settle on in the end?
Which one do you think is better?
If you've done both strategies, which one did you settle on in the end?
Which one do you think is better?
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Re: Is it best to start LR sections at the beginning or the end?
While I do point out to my students that you can do either, I start at the beginning and work my way to the end, skipping a few time-consuming or difficult questions along the way if I feel like it, and I've found that most of my students do best this way. Make sure you get the easy points that you can get first, and then spend the rest of the time getting the points that you may or may not get anyway. If you run out of time as you're working on hard questions that you might have gotten wrong anyway, that's much better than if you run out of time on easy questions that you were going to get right.
Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.
Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.
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Re: Is it best to start LR sections at the beginning or the end?
It's just that I occasionally make mistakes closer to the end of the section that I know I shouldn't have made, and I attribute it to fatigue. So I thought that attacking the difficult questions first would be a better idea. Even fatigued, I'm not likely to make a mistake on easy, obvious questions.
Anyone had a similar experience/thought?
Anyone had a similar experience/thought?
- chicoalto0649
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Re: Is it best to start LR sections at the beginning or the end?
Don't assume that just because the first ten or so questions are usually easier, you will get them all right/not make silly mistakes. Suppose you start off doing all the hard stuff first, wouldn't you be fatigued towards the end of LR and be prone to make silly mistakes with the last 10 questions?
I just find it easier to do it from beginning to end and work up some confidence. Plus my whole timing system was finish the first 10-12 questions in 12 minutes. After I successfully do that I get an even bigger confidence boost! Alot of it is about building your mojo.
EDIT: Mistakes can and will happen in the first ten questions. As much as you try to prevent it, some of those questions are just plain tricky! For reference do preptests 56-59
I just find it easier to do it from beginning to end and work up some confidence. Plus my whole timing system was finish the first 10-12 questions in 12 minutes. After I successfully do that I get an even bigger confidence boost! Alot of it is about building your mojo.
EDIT: Mistakes can and will happen in the first ten questions. As much as you try to prevent it, some of those questions are just plain tricky! For reference do preptests 56-59
Last edited by chicoalto0649 on Fri Feb 26, 2010 1:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- emciosn
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Re: Is it best to start LR sections at the beginning or the end?
I felt like I usually cruised through the first fifteen or so questions, had trouble with like 17-22 then the ending ones were pretty easy. It seems that the first fifteen are the easiest for most and you should make sure you get those points. The harder (and usually longer) questions are put and the end to test your mental stamina and you will likely miss a couple of them. I would say take the points you can. You never know if you will run out of time and wouldn't you want to make sure you get the easy one's answered and leave the ones you may get wrong either way until the end?
In short, I would say start at the beginning.
In short, I would say start at the beginning.
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Re: Is it best to start LR sections at the beginning or the end?
I tried starting at the end a few times. I didn't like it one bit and didn't find it helped me at all. Just do them in order, skipping questions that trouble you and coming back to them later.
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Re: Is it best to start LR sections at the beginning or the end?
I'm going to do PT 50-59 in May/early June.
I'm trying to figure out how to consistently get -0/-1 on each LR section. Time is not an issue, and neither is the difficulty of questions. Most of my mistakes are due to misreadings/jumping to my own assumptions: in short, carelessness.
I'm trying to figure out how to consistently get -0/-1 on each LR section. Time is not an issue, and neither is the difficulty of questions. Most of my mistakes are due to misreadings/jumping to my own assumptions: in short, carelessness.
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Re: Is it best to start LR sections at the beginning or the end?
Shrimps! I would suggest whatever you feel most comfortable with. If your not scoring up to par with your current method it definitely makes sense to try something new. I do best when working from beginning to end. Starting with the easier questions serves to warm up my LR thinking, and as others have said, "build confidence". Going from difficult to easy seems counterintuitive to me. Are you studying for June?