Reading Comprehension WTF!!! Forum

[Sweeny12]

I have always scored well on the reading sections of past standardized tests, but the LSAT is a beast as everyone knows! I can work on a RC section by itself during prep and only miss 3-5 each time (which isn't bad). However, whenever I get to the RC section in a PT, I always seem to eat it, missing between 9-13.

Any tips or advice on how to change that and improve? What has worked for you if you have been in a similar situation?

[LionelHutzJD]

You need to read for structure and authors point of view. Don't worry so much about content. Figure out the purpose of each paragraph and how it fits into the authors argument. Figure out what side of the argument or hypthesis or whatever it may be, the author is on. This is important not only to answering questions correctly, but in my view, to eliminating wrong answer choices which is just as crucial.

[Cerebro]

You need to read for structure and authors point of view. Don't worry so much about content. Figure out the purpose of each paragraph and how it fits into the authors argument. Figure out what side of the argument or hypthesis or whatever it may be, the author is on. This is important not only to answering questions correctly, but in my view, to eliminating wrong answer choices which is just as crucial.

Pretty much this. In addition, if you are marking up the passage as you read, I would focus on the elements mentioned here, but be sure to mark them consistently. With some practice, pretty soon instead of "Reading Comprehension WTF!!!" you will be posting "Reading Comprehension FTW!!!"

[bp shinners]

Any tips or advice on how to change that and improve? What has worked for you if you have been in a similar situation?

Can we get some more info? How long are you taking when you're just practicing the section without time constraints? Which questions are you getting wrong the most?

[LionelHutzJD]

You need to read for structure and authors point of view. Don't worry so much about content. Figure out the purpose of each paragraph and how it fits into the authors argument. Figure out what side of the argument or hypthesis or whatever it may be, the author is on. This is important not only to answering questions correctly, but in my view, to eliminating wrong answer choices which is just as crucial.

Pretty much this. In addition, if you are marking up the passage as you read, I would focus on the elements mentioned here, but be sure to mark them consistently. With some practice, pretty soon instead of "Reading Comprehension WTF!!!" you will be posting "Reading Comprehension FTW!!!"

yes yes. Forget to mention the annotating part. Only annotate main points and the roles of each paragraph not tiny details.

[Sweeny12]

Thanks for the comments, they are helpful

@ bp shinners I have been taking the RC section under time restraints, I took a local prep course back in the spring, and that got my LG down to -0 to -2 consistently , and LR is low also when I prep under time conditions, usually -2 to -4 per LR section. (during PT it jumps up to -4 to -7)

but when i get in the PT situation I seem to drop in performance (in everything put LG). During prep I do each section with time restraint of 33 min (LSAT proctor app) I do fairly well, but as you can see it changes during PT time.

This is frustrating because my PTs are coming out in the mid 160s or so, but I could be in the lower 170s if my prep results were happening in the PTs.

btw if I do it without restraints and go for perfection rather than speed, I end up with between 35-40 min per section, and -2 or -3 consistently.

Most the time it is inference type questions...which I usually don't have a problem with during LR

[googlesearch]

You need to read for structure and authors point of view. Don't worry so much about content. Figure out the purpose of each paragraph and how it fits into the authors argument. Figure out what side of the argument or hypthesis or whatever it may be, the author is on. This is important not only to answering questions correctly, but in my view, to eliminating wrong answer choices which is just as crucial.

I'm also terrible with RC. It's my worst and most variant section, by far. I can go anywhere from -1 to -9 in a test.

I know I can do better, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Don't worry about content? So when you read.. what do you do? Skim?

[Tiago Splitter]

Try ripping through a few passages while only giving yourself 5-6 minutes on each one. You will be forced to skim and almost certainly won't get all of the questions right, but you might be surprised by how well you do.

[TomThompson]

I'm not sure if my input is that useful as I haven't studied very much on RC and scoring around -2/-3, but I tend to underline 'key' phrases in almost every sentence, as I feel it helps me absorb them- maybe it's just the physical act of pencil on paper? Then as I'm scanning questions if I can't remember it immediately I can usually find it fairly quickly, by glancing back.

[Cerebro]

You need to read for structure and authors point of view. Don't worry so much about content. Figure out the purpose of each paragraph and how it fits into the authors argument. Figure out what side of the argument or hypthesis or whatever it may be, the author is on. This is important not only to answering questions correctly, but in my view, to eliminating wrong answer choices which is just as crucial.

I'm also terrible with RC. It's my worst and most variant section, by far. I can go anywhere from -1 to -9 in a test.

I know I can do better, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Don't worry about content? So when you read.. what do you do? Skim?

No, don't skim. Obviously content matters, insofar as it relates to viewpoint, argument, and structure, but it is not important for its own sake; if a question asks about a specific detail, you should have some kind of a mental map that will tell you exactly where to look for that detail in the passage. A good example might be the way a passage intruduces examples. Should you skim the examples? No. Should you strive to understand every detail of the example that is provided? No. Should you try to understand how the example relates to the author's argument? Absolutely! In what way does the example support the argument? What purpose does the example serve? If there are other details in the example, you don't have to focus intently on those details.

When I read a passage, there are two (or more?) "tracks" operating in my mind. There is a track that represents the passage itself as I'm reading (and comprehending) it (NOTE: Ths is where the content is), and there is a track that functions as the meta-passage. Although I am conscious of both tracks simultaneously, I am more focused on the meta-passage: structure, argument, relationships between parts and of parts to the whole, etc. I don't know if other people read like this, or if I've described it accurately, but this is what I've observed about the way that I'm reading the passages. I'm currently missing 2-3 questions per RC section, primarily due to timing issues. So, I definitely have more work to do; therefore, take my opinion FWIW.

[Sweeny12]

You need to read for structure and authors point of view. Don't worry so much about content. Figure out the purpose of each paragraph and how it fits into the authors argument. Figure out what side of the argument or hypthesis or whatever it may be, the author is on. This is important not only to answering questions correctly, but in my view, to eliminating wrong answer choices which is just as crucial.

I'm also terrible with RC. It's my worst and most variant section, by far. I can go anywhere from -1 to -9 in a test.

I know I can do better, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Don't worry about content? So when you read.. what do you do? Skim?

No, don't skim. Obviously content matters, insofar as it relates to viewpoint, argument, and structure, but it is not important for its own sake; if a question asks about a specific detail, you should have some kind of a mental map that will tell you exactly where to look for that detail in the passage. A good example might be the way a passage intruduces examples. Should you skim the examples? No. Should you strive to understand every detail of the example that is provided? No. Should you try to understand how the example relates to the author's argument? Absolutely! In what way does the example support the argument? What purpose does the example serve? If there are other details in the example, you don't have to focus intently on those details.

When I read a passage, there are two (or more?) "tracks" operating in my mind. There is a track that represents the passage itself as I'm reading (and comprehending) it (NOTE: Ths is where the content is), and there is a track that functions as the meta-passage. Although I am conscious of both tracks simultaneously, I am more focused on the meta-passage: structure, argument, relationships between parts and of parts to the whole, etc. I don't know if other people read like this, or if I've described it accurately, but this is what I've observed about the way that I'm reading the passages. I'm currently missing 2-3 questions per RC section, primarily due to timing issues. So, I definitely have more work to do; therefore, take my opinion FWIW.

Skimming definitely doesn't seem to be the answer. It seems like the best thing to do is focus on the structure and how the paragraphs in the passage all work together, and on their own (the whole double track thinking is great—practice is best for that i've found). Since I've been doing that seen a modest increase in right answers. now just translating that over to actual PTs

[bp shinners]

Only annotate main points and the roles of each paragraph not tiny details.

The following tiny details should be annotated, as they almost always show up in questions:
1) Comparisons
2) Exceptionally strong statements
3) Commonly-held beliefs/traditional views
4) Lists of traits/characteristics
5) Any type of list, for that matter
6) Surprising/counterintuitive information
7) Flaws/assumptions pointed out in arguments

[specialsnowflake]

tag

[naillsat]

tag

+1 tag/notify me

[buddyt]

tag

+1 tag/notify me