RC issues Forum

[eddie3636]

Hey everyone,

I seem to have to rush on RC for than any other section. I think that rushing is why I keep getting the inference questions wrong.

Any suggestions on how to speed up ? Also, any tips on inference questions in RC? I have no trouble with them in LR so do I have to think about them differently in RC?

Thanks

[rinkrat19]

How long does it take you to read the passage? You shouldn't be spending more than 2-3 minutes reading it. The faster you read, the more time you have to answer the questions.

[vegso]

As a person who now regularly murders (in a positive way!) inference questions, what really helped me was to do quick little summaries beside the end of each paragraph and make sure i completely understand the flow of the passage. And when i choose an answer to the may point question i kind of sit back and visualize how all the pieces of it fit together, then when the inference question hits only one answer ever makes any sense at all. It never feels like there's a trap answer really

As for speeding up, it can be tough. RC it certainly my tightest section time wise - but you could just practice reading a tiny bit faster to slowly get quicker without compromising accuracy.

[cahwc12]

As a person who now regularly murders (in a positive way!) inference questions, what really helped me was to do quick little summaries beside the end of each paragraph and make sure i completely understand the flow of the passage. And when i choose an answer to the may point question i kind of sit back and visualize how all the pieces of it fit together, then when the inference question hits only one answer ever makes any sense at all. It never feels like there's a trap answer really

I try to do this, except I just mark it mentally and hope my short-term memory doesn't fail me. The pieces, summaries, etc I always do. And one thing I've started doing that does help speed is re-reading if I don't get something the first time. What I mean is if I'm halfway through the first paragraph and am like "zuh??" I'll reread that again. It's better to cut your losses and lose 10-15 seconds than extend your confusion through potentially several more paragraphs.

Inference questions must always be based on information in the text. LSAT writers' answers must always be justifiable from the information there, so look for it. When in doubt, pick the more passive answer.

Also, if you get a chance, I recommend picking up MLSAT's RC guide, if for no other reason than to check out the very last section of the book, where it shows a "180 perspective" and logs how a consistently perfect RC test-taker breaks down passages/questions in his mind as he does them. Take the section before you read it, and then check out how your thought process differs from the one described there. I found it to be quite insightful.

[bp shinners]

Inference questions must always be based on information in the text. LSAT writers' answers must always be justifiable from the information there, so look for it. When in doubt, pick the more passive answer.

This x1000. For the inference questions, I'd always prefer a weaker answer choice unless I can find language that SPECIFICALLY speaks to the question and is NOTICEABLY stronger. Since I usually pull out strong statements while reading (since they are used by the writers of the LSAT to justify their questions), it shouldn't be hard to find that info. If I can't, weak answer choice time.

[eddie3636]

Alright so the last few days I have been working almost exclusively on RC. I have tried the kaplan method of going through the passage and taking extensive notes (usually 5mins of reading/note taking), and I have tried my own personal way of just reading it at a medium pace with almost no notes and just making sure that I understand the big picture (usually 2:30 mins of reading/not taking)

What I have found is that when I have more time to answer the questions I can actually go back and try to prove the inferences, instead of rushing because I spent too much time taking notes. Also, notes always seemed like it took too much time for what I was getting out of them, I almost never referred to them.

I still have a decent amount of trouble with inference questions no matter which method I use but I was hoping anyone has had success with little to no note taking?

Thanks

[rinkrat19]

Alright so the last few days I have been working almost exclusively on RC. I have tried the kaplan method of going through the passage and taking extensive notes (usually 5mins of reading/note taking), and I have tried my own personal way of just reading it at a medium pace with almost no notes and just making sure that I understand the big picture (usually 2:30 mins of reading/not taking)

What I have found is that when I have more time to answer the questions I can actually go back and try to prove the inferences, instead of rushing because I spent too much time taking notes. Also, notes always seemed like it took too much time for what I was getting out of them, I almost never referred to them.

I still have a decent amount of trouble with inference questions no matter which method I use but I was hoping anyone has had success with little to no note taking?

Thanks

I personally never took any notes or marked up the passage in any way and did fine. I'm sure there are people who need notes, but also people who don't.