How do you approach [detail] questions on RC? Forum

[roranoa]

The questions I get wrong on RC are mostly detail questions.

I usually just do them based on memory but then I usually
doubt my answer and try to go back and forth looking for the right evidence.

I especially have trouble with EXCEPT questions or the ones that ask you to pick out an answer choice that was NOT discussed in the passage.


Can anyone suggest an effective way to approach these questions?

[tourdeforcex]

1) i'm not sure what method you are using to attack the RC. consider what i did. i read through the passage very quickly, not actively memorizing anything, just getting a feeling for main idea, tone, and *important* noting the "geography" of the paragraph. where can i go back to find out more about Artist 1 or Artist 2 vs Artist 3? in using this strategy, i have a lot of time for questions. so i just go back and reread the relevant paragraph, this time actively engaging and seeking the answer.

2) EXCEPT questions suck. i leave these until the end when i have extra time to really scour the passage. no easy way to go about it. leave until the end. maybe the other questions can actually help to eliminate a few answer choices for the EXCEPT question

[clone22]

Yea, except + detail questions suck, especially with dual passages. One thing I've found slightly useful is to skim the questions before heading to the reading, that way you know what you're looking for, and you can mark up the passage better because you'll know what general things the questions will be asking about later.

[roranoa]

Thanks for the info above!

But I would like to BUMP for more advice on EXCEPT+detail questions.

[Shooter]

Usually for the EXCEPT+detail questions, I am able to cross out 2-3 answer choices because I remember them being discussed. Then I only have to find 1-2 details in the passage to deduce the right answer.

[cowgirl_bebop]

This is what I do:

1) Scan the question stems for specific questions, (for example what did the author say in line XX/paragraph X). I go ahead and mark/underline the word they are referring to and write the number of the question next to it. That way I save time looking for where the information was in the paragraph.

2) For except, I always circle the word "Except" just to ensure that I dont get confused and pick an AC that was mentioned. Then I go back into the paragraph and find the ones that WERE mentioned and mark them off. Often all of the ACs are listed in a relatively small portion of the passage, so if you find one just look around for others. Remember to avoid making leaps of logic to justify wrong ACs.

3) For comparative passages, read the questions and mark them as either A, B, or AB. Lets say there are 2 Qs only about passage A, one about B, and 4 about A & B. Then read one passage A ONLY. Answer those Qs first. Read passage B. Answer those next. Lastly do the AB questions. Whichever passage has more specific Qs about it gets read and answered first. This was you have less opportunity to mistake something mentioned in one passage as being mentioned in the other. Plus it saves you time trying to distinguish between the two.