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Reading Comp Preparation

Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 7:33 pm
by DGLitcH
RC is my weakest section and I'm looking for improvement in this area. I still have more than half a year until the LSAT, so I have some time to work on it.

1) Out of all the prep companies, which ones are the best in giving guidance on improving RC score?

2) In terms of self prep, what kind of reading materials can I do to improve my RC skill? I have tried the Economist but they have a lot of articles on politicians from specific geographic locations. I am not very into politics and reading about leaders from South America or Africa really makes me lose focus sometimes.

Thanks guys!

Re: Reading Comp Preparation

Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 7:54 pm
by Sandro
do you think the topics on the LSAT will be enjoyable to read?

Re: Reading Comp Preparation

Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:16 pm
by SOCRATiC
DGLitcH wrote:RC is my weakest section and I'm looking for improvement in this area. I still have more than half a year until the LSAT, so I have some time to work on it.

1) Out of all the prep companies, which ones are the best in giving guidance on improving RC score?

2) In terms of self prep, what kind of reading materials can I do to improve my RC skill? I have tried the Economist but they have a lot of articles on politicians from specific geographic locations. I am not very into politics and reading about leaders from South America or Africa really makes me lose focus sometimes.

Thanks guys!
The whole point of reading the Economist is to engage in dense material that a lot of people don't find as interesting. Not that many people actually care about the electoral fraud in Afghanistan. People really don't care about the wars in Yemen and Vietnamese politics. It's boring. A description of the fifth stage of photosynthesis of some godforsaken plant, coupled with its authors thesis is even more boring. One of your goals is to develop a sense of purpose while reading (no matter how boring the material is).

Re: Reading Comp Preparation

Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:58 pm
by ilovethelsat
Read quality writing (e.g. NYT, WSJ, Economist, classic novels) for several hours a day.

Re: Reading Comp Preparation

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 2:05 pm
by dynomite
DGLitcH wrote:2) In terms of self prep, what kind of reading materials can I do to improve my RC skill? I have tried the Economist but they have a lot of articles on politicians from specific geographic locations. I am not very into politics and reading about leaders from South America or Africa really makes me lose focus sometimes.
ilovethelsat wrote:Read quality writing (e.g. NYT, WSJ, Economist, classic novels) for several hours a day.
I think the bolded part is especially important. I'm of the opinion that reading dense material trains your brain to read other dense material. So, my advice would be to find subjects that you are interested in and read appropriately.

Re: Reading Comp Preparation

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:51 pm
by DGLitcH
ilovethelsat wrote:Read quality writing (e.g. NYT, WSJ, Economist, classic novels) for several hours a day.
My background is in business, so a lot of the business related articles from WSJ, Economist are not too bad for me. I want to get some extra exposure to humanities passages (literature, philosophy, ethics and language). Any idea where I can find these humanities articles that will be similar to what I will be facing on the LSAT? Thanks

Re: Reading Comp Preparation

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:54 pm
by 09042014
I hadn't read a book in about 4 years before the lsat, and I got a -2 on RC by just just doing a shit load of individual passages timed strictly. I'm pissed two because I should have gotten a -1, but I misread a question stem.

Re: Reading Comp Preparation

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:00 pm
by thisguy456
I've said this a few times on these boards, so sorry for repeating myself, but I've found Stanley Fish's column in NYTimes to be decent prep for RC, as decent as it gets without actually reading real LSAT RC sections. He has bit more of an academic bent to his writing. He writes about different topics, but usually topical, and usually about an argument. And best of all, it's free.

Re: Reading Comp Preparation

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:50 pm
by uganik
I recommend reading Sigmund Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams".

After reading the Economist & Scientific American for several hours per day I find Freud's work to be considerably more challenging, and more valuable with regard to insight gained.