Reading Comp. Forum

UCFknights2012 · Post by **UCFknights2012** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:59 am

Recently took the June LSAT and did exceptionally bad on the RC section. This has always been my weak point, I knew that going into the test. I'm desperate. I NEED to do better in this section. What can I do to improve?

Susan_Walid · Post by **Susan_Walid** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:45 pm

Wow, me too. It completely killed my score. I don't know if the June RC was just abnormally hard....I have tried reading the Economist...but for some reason I just totally collapse during the real exam....

Right there with you

If you hear of any tips/strategies...please fill me in..

Verity · Post by **Verity** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:47 pm

Read a lot.

JamMasterJ · Post by **JamMasterJ** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:49 pm

The Economist thing is a good idea. Scientific American is the same. do every full section of RC ever, becuase you learn the tendencies of the testmakers such as which information will be questioned later. If you decide to do a strategy guide, Manhattan's is the best

Susan_Walid · Post by **Susan_Walid** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:01 pm

I haven't even checked how much I missed on RC. But I know it was particularly hard for me. I am on the lsac website now. Where do we see the breakdown of points? All I see are the PDFs..

Modus Ponens · Post by **Modus Ponens** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:04 pm

UCFknights2012 wrote:Recently took the June LSAT and did exceptionally bad on the RC section. This has always been my weak point, I knew that going into the test. I'm desperate. I NEED to do better in this section. What can I do to improve?

How many PTs have you completed? When I took the June LSAT, I was surprised at how 'in a fog' my mind was during the reading comp. I almost cancelled my score due to absolutely having no idea how many I missed. Turns out I only missed 1, and I think the only way that could have happened is to answer the questions out of habit. Do PT after PT, reading section after reading section, and eventually you'll have the patterns down to where you can do them on test day... whether you think you did or not.

bp shinners · Post by **bp shinners** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:09 pm

JamMasterJ wrote:becuase you learn the tendencies of the testmakers such as which information will be questioned later.

Outside of general reading ability, that is the best skill you can develop for RC. It comes with reading over each and every passage and the questions several times. However, once you get a feel for it, you can predict what's going to be asked by just looking at a passage; it makes the whole section significantly easier.

JamMasterJ · Post by **JamMasterJ** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:30 pm

bp shinners wrote:
JamMasterJ wrote:becuase you learn the tendencies of the testmakers such as which information will be questioned later.
Outside of general reading ability, that is the best skill you can develop for RC. It comes with reading over each and every passage and the questions several times. However, once you get a feel for it, you can predict what's going to be asked by just looking at a passage; it makes the whole section significantly easier.

I have run into passages when i was running out of time where I couldn't get a complete comprehension of the passage, but was able to go -1 in large part because of this.

caminante · Post by **caminante** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:49 pm

If you decide to read a lot of the Economist or Scientific American, etc. make sure to ask yourself questions about each article you read. For example, always ask yourself- What was the main point of the article? What was the tone of the author? What arguments were made? What was the logical structure of the piece?

This will force you to develop the comprehensive abilities tested on the LSAT rather than just getting used to reading complex passages.

nelaw2010 · Post by **nelaw2010** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:56 pm

This book will help you in every section of the LSAT:

How to Read Better and Faster by Norman Lewis (you can buy on Amazon).

I suspect you're reading at about 250 wpm, and your retention and diagramming are poor.

There are also posts on this site that give great advice.

Lastly, go to http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/ and read his tips.

You probably also go online and find a site that will tell you how fast you read. Reading speed is a huge problem for a lot of people on the LSAT, and it will hurt you in RC, LR, and LG.

JamMasterJ · Post by **JamMasterJ** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 4:30 pm

caminante wrote:If you decide to read a lot of the Economist or Scientific American, etc. make sure to ask yourself questions about each article you read. For example, always ask yourself- What was the main point of the article? What was the tone of the author? What arguments were made? What was the logical structure of the piece?

This will force you to develop the comprehensive abilities tested on the LSAT rather than just getting used to reading complex passages.

Yeah, my approach recommends printing out articles and marking them up as you normally would for an RC passage. It would be nice to do this with a partner, asking each other questions about the passage, but caminante's suggestion is also good

Verity · Post by **Verity** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:06 pm

Whatever you do, do not consider speed reading courses. The goal is to be able to read accurately at a constant rate.

EarlCat · Post by **EarlCat** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 6:34 pm

There are 264 actual RC passages floating around out there. You don't need supplemental material. Besides, spending three months reading the Economist is not going to make up for not reading over the last 15 years.

Verity · Post by **Verity** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 6:36 pm

EarlCat wrote:There are 264 actual RC passages floating around out there. You don't need supplemental material. Besides, spending three months reading the Economist is not going to make up for not reading over the last 15 years.

No, but it can't hurt either.

IamIn · Post by **IamIn** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:59 pm

nelaw2010 wrote:This book will help you in every section of the LSAT:

How to Read Better and Faster by Norman Lewis (you can buy on Amazon).

this book is supposed to be great.. just started to read it...

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