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Currently drilling RC, starting from the earlier passages. Its taking me an average of 10 minutes and 45 seconds. But my accuracy has greatly improved (on my first RC sections I got like -13 un-timed now im getting -4, and its always a local question that i have to refer back to that eats up alot of time. In the allotted 35 minutes, im able to finish 3 passages and almost finish reading the 4th. so it usally works out to 18/19 correct out of the 21 i complete in about 33 minutes.

So far I've done 7 RC sections and most of the Manhattan RC. I usually spend 3.5-4 minutes reading the passage, and about 7 minutes answering questions, the local ones eat up my time.

My question is, Im writing in September, should i start limiting my time and forcing myself to work faster now, or will continuing to drill just make me naturally work more efficiently and faster and start limiting my time in July/August?

Thanks in advance, really appreciate the help

Super interested as well!

Hi everyone,

This is actually my first post, but I'm taking the LSAT for a second time (I got a disappointing 165 in October, then finished up my senior year). I'll be sitting in September.

I'm working on RC right now too. If you haven't tried spreeder, you should check it out. You'll notice that you can read much faster with comprehension than you thought. This is my approach to RC, and I usually do ok in it (I missed 3 questions on it on the real test last October, and I'll let you know if I improve on it):

Firstly, most RC sections are 27 questions. This is important because that means you can have one minute to answer each question if you aim to read the passage in 2 minutes your first time through. 8 minutes for passages + 27 for questions =35. While this should not be taken as a strict approach, I've found it conceptually useful in order to understand that I should be spending most of my time on the questions and referring back to the passage to confirm/disprove answer choices. I could have an entire minute to answer a question, if only I could read fast enough!

That said, reading is a misnomer. I read crap all the time. I just read a random news article and some random reddit posts. That's not what you should be doing with RC passages. Therefore, do not read the passage; rather, analyze the passage in these 6 ways:

1. read to create a mental map of where the information is. This means knowing what each paragraph talks about, so that you can refer back to that place and learn what that nonsense means if and only if a question asks you about it.

2. Find the overarching point of the passage. I.e., find the answer to the main point question that's virtually always there. (see the common theme? It's all about the questions)

3. Find the (author's) opinion. This is also tested, almost always. The step after this is to find the other people who have opinions in the text. I always try to put an "A" next to the author's opinion, and if I'm feeling on my game I'll underline where the passage says "some Critics" or whoever else might be important. underlining their actual opinion, however, is too much of a waste of time; you don't know if the test will even ask what their opinion is yet! But you can be ready to glance right back to where the critics etc are first mentioned because that's obviously going to be close the opinion you'll need for that question.

4. Pay attention to the end of the passage. There is almost always a question testing the fact that as you get to the end of a passage, you start feeling the time pressure, which makes you hurry, which hurts your comprehension. The oddest things are at the ends of RC passages. I try to make sure to understand especially what the last sentence says, and if I am lost with a question (that is, I don't know where to find the proof for the answers) I've learned to then reread the last sentence or two.

5. (Just for Comparative Passages) read them like point of disagreement LR questions--that is, find the overlap.

6. This might be the most important, but it's also perhaps the most vague. You should read quickly. Do NOT stop to contemplate or understand what you are reading--at least, this needs to be the disposition you take on. You will find yourself inevitably stopping to digest, but this is stupid and a waste of time. Remember this fact: You do not need to understand the passage. You need to answer the questions correctly. This means that the only parts of the passage you need to understand are the ones that the questions ask you to understand. Quit messing around with the passage, then, since you have no reason to understand what you are reading yet. You only need to analyze and organize the information so that you can refer back to it efficiently and solve the questions within a minute. Use spreeder when you are reading leisurely, since you can't use it on actual passages. It will help you develop a tendency to read words in groups of 3, at faster WPM than you would otherwise.

pkraft1 wrote:
6. This might be the most important, but it's also perhaps the most vague. You should read quickly. Do NOT stop to contemplate or understand what you are reading--at least, this needs to be the disposition you take on. You will find yourself inevitably stopping to digest, but this is stupid and a waste of time. Remember this fact: You do not need to understand the passage. You need to answer the questions correctly. This means that the only parts of the passage you need to understand are the ones that the questions ask you to understand. Quit messing around with the passage, then, since you have no reason to understand what you are reading yet. You only need to analyze and organize the information so that you can refer back to it efficiently and solve the questions within a minute. Use spreeder when you are reading leisurely, since you can't use it on actual passages. It will help you develop a tendency to read words in groups of 3, at faster WPM than you would otherwise.

Given how horribly wrong and backwards that piece of advice is (most of the rest of it is bad too since it's based on #6), I hope this is also your last advice giving post here.

You're advice is counterproductive to achieving a high RC score, although it could help people that are struggling to get close to even half correct get a few more points.

canadianbrother wrote:Currently drilling RC, starting from the earlier passages. Its taking me an average of 10 minutes and 45 seconds. But my accuracy has greatly improved (on my first RC sections I got like -13 un-timed now im getting -4, and its always a local question that i have to refer back to that eats up alot of time. In the allotted 35 minutes, im able to finish 3 passages and almost finish reading the 4th. so it usally works out to 18/19 correct out of the 21 i complete in about 33 minutes.

So far I've done 7 RC sections and most of the Manhattan RC. I usually spend 3.5-4 minutes reading the passage, and about 7 minutes answering questions, the local ones eat up my time.

My question is, Im writing in September, should i start limiting my time and forcing myself to work faster now, or will continuing to drill just make me naturally work more efficiently and faster and start limiting my time in July/August?

Thanks in advance, really appreciate the help

Yes to the bolded part. Keep doing what you're doing and speed will continue to naturally increase as your skills get sharper from continued drilling with good review. You've got plenty of time before you should start focusing on full timed sections/full tests. That's phase 3 leading into test day. Keep focusing on building good processes, habits and skills for a while before heading into phase 3 in July/August.

Jeffort wrote:

pkraft1 wrote:
6. This might be the most important, but it's also perhaps the most vague. You should read quickly. Do NOT stop to contemplate or understand what you are reading--at least, this needs to be the disposition you take on. You will find yourself inevitably stopping to digest, but this is stupid and a waste of time. Remember this fact: You do not need to understand the passage. You need to answer the questions correctly. This means that the only parts of the passage you need to understand are the ones that the questions ask you to understand. Quit messing around with the passage, then, since you have no reason to understand what you are reading yet. You only need to analyze and organize the information so that you can refer back to it efficiently and solve the questions within a minute. Use spreeder when you are reading leisurely, since you can't use it on actual passages. It will help you develop a tendency to read words in groups of 3, at faster WPM than you would otherwise.

Given how horribly wrong and backwards that piece of advice is (most of the rest of it is bad too since it's based on #6), I hope this is also your last advice giving post here.

You're advice is counterproductive to achieving a high RC score, although it could help people that are struggling to get close to even half correct get a few more points.

Firstly, an applause is clearly in order for your magnificent advice--wait, you've provided none.

Secondly, your reading comprehension of my post is clearly lacking, since 1-5 do not depend on 6. Each are independent.

Clearly what works for some does not work for others. My advice is likely most beneficial for people who feel time pressured on RC. Individuals who do a lot of leisure reading sometimes adopt a slower than necessary reading speed. That's me, and this is what has delivered increases in RC for me specifically. -3 on the real thing is a big difference from your unwarranted assertion that this is only helpful if one is missing half the questions. While I am still learning from the LSAT, and perhaps my advice will change over time (something I note), you have failed to provide an argument as to why my advice isn't good, or more importantly a competitive alternative.

pkraft1 wrote:You do not need to understand the passage. You need to answer the questions correctly.

You sound very savvy

pkraft1 wrote:You should read quickly. Do NOT stop to contemplate or understand what you are reading--at least, this needs to be the disposition you take on. You will find yourself inevitably stopping to digest, but this is stupid and a waste of time. Remember this fact: You do not need to understand the passage.

Ugh...

pkraft1 wrote:

Jeffort wrote:

pkraft1 wrote:
6. This might be the most important, but it's also perhaps the most vague. You should read quickly. Do NOT stop to contemplate or understand what you are reading--at least, this needs to be the disposition you take on. You will find yourself inevitably stopping to digest, but this is stupid and a waste of time. Remember this fact: You do not need to understand the passage. You need to answer the questions correctly. This means that the only parts of the passage you need to understand are the ones that the questions ask you to understand. Quit messing around with the passage, then, since you have no reason to understand what you are reading yet. You only need to analyze and organize the information so that you can refer back to it efficiently and solve the questions within a minute. Use spreeder when you are reading leisurely, since you can't use it on actual passages. It will help you develop a tendency to read words in groups of 3, at faster WPM than you would otherwise.

Given how horribly wrong and backwards that piece of advice is (most of the rest of it is bad too since it's based on #6), I hope this is also your last advice giving post here.

You're advice is counterproductive to achieving a high RC score, although it could help people that are struggling to get close to even half correct get a few more points.

Firstly, an applause is clearly in order for your magnificent advice--wait, you've provided none.

Secondly, your reading comprehension of my post is clearly lacking, since 1-5 do not depend on 6. Each are independent.

Clearly what works for some does not work for others. My advice is likely most beneficial for people who feel time pressured on RC. Individuals who do a lot of leisure reading sometimes adopt a slower than necessary reading speed. That's me, and this is what has delivered increases in RC for me specifically. -3 on the real thing is a big difference from your unwarranted assertion that this is only helpful if one is missing half the questions. While I am still learning from the LSAT, and perhaps my advice will change over time (something I note), you have failed to provide an argument as to why my advice isn't good, or more importantly a competitive alternative.

I'm not going to argue with you, I don't participate on this board to pointlessly argue with strangers. I post here to help students prep effectively with good advice. You're a re-taker with a 165, I've been an LSAT teacher/tutor for 14 years and scored 177 when I took the LSAT. See my post history for RC advice I given beyond answering OPs question. A few of the things you said in your list weren't bad, but the main focus, especially what you enumerated in #6 is completely wrong.

Not trying to be sarcastic, but the word comprehension is part of the section title for a reason.

Very few RC CRs are just a paraphrase of something explicitly said or a basic inference that can be easily made from a specific sentence or two in the passage in isolation without a higher level contextual understanding of how the supporting text relates within paragraph and passage as a whole. It's really important to understand the meaning of the text when you read it to answer most of the questions.

If you want detailed information about the skills RC questions are designed to test and why just surface level speed reading the explicit text/portions of the passage in ways you suggest is a bad idea for trying to achieve a high RC score, please read this report from LSAC about how they designed the RC section, skills tested and question types:

http://www.testpublishers.org/assets/do ... l%2013.pdf

"lol" at claiming Jeffort hasn't provided any useful advice. Do you come here often?

Jeffort wrote:

canadianbrother wrote:Currently drilling RC, starting from the earlier passages. Its taking me an average of 10 minutes and 45 seconds. But my accuracy has greatly improved (on my first RC sections I got like -13 un-timed now im getting -4, and its always a local question that i have to refer back to that eats up alot of time. In the allotted 35 minutes, im able to finish 3 passages and almost finish reading the 4th. so it usally works out to 18/19 correct out of the 21 i complete in about 33 minutes.

So far I've done 7 RC sections and most of the Manhattan RC. I usually spend 3.5-4 minutes reading the passage, and about 7 minutes answering questions, the local ones eat up my time.

My question is, Im writing in September, should i start limiting my time and forcing myself to work faster now, or will continuing to drill just make me naturally work more efficiently and faster and start limiting my time in July/August?

Thanks in advance, really appreciate the help

Yes to the bolded part. Keep doing what you're doing and speed will continue to naturally increase as your skills get sharper from continued drilling with good review. You've got plenty of time before you should start focusing on full timed sections/full tests. That's phase 3 leading into test day. Keep focusing on building good processes, habits and skills for a while before heading into phase 3 in July/August.

I find that local questions eat up a lot of time as well (one where you have to go to the passage to look for specific details that pertains to the question), and often I get them wrong despite spending excess time on them.

This leads me to believe that although the RC section largely tests one's ability to read for the reasoning structure of a text, one's general reading comprehension skills (i.e. remembering some details) is also very important, which makes me queasy because I'm not a strong reader for details in general (I know I should have read more in my undergrad). And knowing that the more recent PTs are harder because the questions are getting more detail-oriented scares me even more.

Jeffort, what are your thoughts on this? What should a LSAT test taker do to improve his/her ability to remember text details in, say, three months, on top of reading more in general?

Hello all! I'm an ex English major and typically get -0 to -2 on my Reading Comprehension sections, with a few minutes to spare at the end of the section. I'm going to try my best to outline the strategy that I use when I do RC, hopefully you find it helpful. It's the same strategy that I use when I read 250+ novels and have to tease out the key parts and important details.


1. All of the work is done in the passage and how you read it. This seems really obvious, but looking at the other RC threads, some posters have suggested looked at the questions first and shaping your primary reading to match the passage. This takes away from heart of what Reading Comprehension is: reading something and understanding what on earth you just read. If you read and understood the passage, there won't be questions that you don't at least know where in the passage you can find your answer.

Obviously the questions are the most important part, because that's where the points come from, but the questions are designed to reflect the passage you just read.

What I'm trying to emphasize is that if you're having problems with Reading Comprehension, it's not the questions that are the problem, but the way you read. If it's specific question types, it means you're not reading the way the exam wants you to.

You can't get better at RC without learning how to read better or differently.

2. Learn how to speed read. I attribute all of my RC scores to this. If you don't know how to speed read, learn. It seems like there are a lot of good resources to teach you how to speed read on this site; use them and practice. I taught myself out of necessity, it's not really possible to read and comprehend 150+ pages of Russian literature a night without it.

Practice until it becomes second nature. Do it at the gym, do it whenever you have a free second at work, between classes, whenever. Articles from The Economist and Scientific American are also great to practice this with.

Eventually it becomes effortless, you'll be able to turn your brain into speed reader mode, and RC will become much easier and less of a race against the clock.

3. Once you know how to speed read, read the passage twice, once in speed mode and once in slower comprehension mode. Speed mode allows you to get the general, global understanding of the passage, and the second time helps to understand and digest the specifics and how they play into the larger, big picture argument.

4. Underline and make little notes the first time through, so you know what to focus on in your second reading. When you're speeding through a passage, you'll recognize intuitively the sentences that contain the main point, supporting points, the author's opinions; don't stop, digest, and think about them just yet; underline them so you know where they are and know what you need to pay attention to the second time you read it.

5. Go through the questions and answer them, referencing back to the passage constantly to check your answers. By this point, you should know the answers to the questions, and know where in the passage you can find them. It takes about 10 seconds to glance over and find the support needed to justify your answer. About 1 or two questions require a bit more than that, but after a thorough reading and understanding of the passage, you won't be at a loss. You'll know where to go and where to look.


I hope this was clear and you find it helpful. It's a little difficult for me to explain such an intuitive process as reading, but this is how I do it and what works for me.

ThisWillDo23 wrote:Hello all! I'm an ex English major and typically get -0 to -2 on my Reading Comprehension sections, with a few minutes to spare at the end of the section. I'm going to try my best to outline the strategy that I use when I do RC, hopefully you find it helpful. It's the same strategy that I use when I read 250+ novels and have to tease out the key parts and important details.


1. All of the work is done in the passage and how you read it. This seems really obvious, but looking at the other RC threads, some posters have suggested looked at the questions first and shaping your primary reading to match the passage. This takes away from heart of what Reading Comprehension is: reading something and understanding what on earth you just read. If you read and understood the passage, there won't be questions that you don't at least know where in the passage you can find your answer.

Obviously the questions are the most important part, because that's where the points come from, but the questions are designed to reflect the passage you just read.

What I'm trying to emphasize is that if you're having problems with Reading Comprehension, it's not the questions that are the problem, but the way you read. If it's specific question types, it means you're not reading the way the exam wants you to.

You can't get better at RC without learning how to read better or differently.

2. Learn how to speed read. I attribute all of my RC scores to this. If you don't know how to speed read, learn. It seems like there are a lot of good resources to teach you how to speed read on this site; use them and practice. I taught myself out of necessity, it's not really possible to read and comprehend 150+ pages of Russian literature a night without it.

Practice until it becomes second nature. Do it at the gym, do it whenever you have a free second at work, between classes, whenever. Articles from The Economist and Scientific American are also great to practice this with.

Eventually it becomes effortless, you'll be able to turn your brain into speed reader mode, and RC will become much easier and less of a race against the clock.

3. Once you know how to speed read, read the passage twice, once in speed mode and once in slower comprehension mode. Speed mode allows you to get the general, global understanding of the passage, and the second time helps to understand and digest the specifics and how they play into the larger, big picture argument.

4. Underline and make little notes the first time through, so you know what to focus on in your second reading. When you're speeding through a passage, you'll recognize intuitively the sentences that contain the main point, supporting points, the author's opinions; don't stop, digest, and think about them just yet; underline them so you know where they are and know what you need to pay attention to the second time you read it.

5. Go through the questions and answer them, referencing back to the passage constantly to check your answers. By this point, you should know the answers to the questions, and know where in the passage you can find them. It takes about 10 seconds to glance over and find the support needed to justify your answer. About 1 or two questions require a bit more than that, but after a thorough reading and understanding of the passage, you won't be at a loss. You'll know where to go and where to look.


I hope this was clear and you find it helpful. It's a little difficult for me to explain such an intuitive process as reading, but this is how I do it and what works for me.

Sounds like a waste of time
I'm skeptical that, for most students, the marginal benefit from your method offsets the lost time spent reading passages twice and the lost prep time spent learning how to speed read (if they were even able to learn it effectively given the time frame and their already packed schedules)

Brut wrote:

ThisWillDo23 wrote:Hello all! I'm an ex English major and typically get -0 to -2 on my Reading Comprehension sections, with a few minutes to spare at the end of the section. I'm going to try my best to outline the strategy that I use when I do RC, hopefully you find it helpful. It's the same strategy that I use when I read 250+ novels and have to tease out the key parts and important details.


1. All of the work is done in the passage and how you read it. This seems really obvious, but looking at the other RC threads, some posters have suggested looked at the questions first and shaping your primary reading to match the passage. This takes away from heart of what Reading Comprehension is: reading something and understanding what on earth you just read. If you read and understood the passage, there won't be questions that you don't at least know where in the passage you can find your answer.

Obviously the questions are the most important part, because that's where the points come from, but the questions are designed to reflect the passage you just read.

What I'm trying to emphasize is that if you're having problems with Reading Comprehension, it's not the questions that are the problem, but the way you read. If it's specific question types, it means you're not reading the way the exam wants you to.

You can't get better at RC without learning how to read better or differently.

2. Learn how to speed read. I attribute all of my RC scores to this. If you don't know how to speed read, learn. It seems like there are a lot of good resources to teach you how to speed read on this site; use them and practice. I taught myself out of necessity, it's not really possible to read and comprehend 150+ pages of Russian literature a night without it.

Practice until it becomes second nature. Do it at the gym, do it whenever you have a free second at work, between classes, whenever. Articles from The Economist and Scientific American are also great to practice this with.

Eventually it becomes effortless, you'll be able to turn your brain into speed reader mode, and RC will become much easier and less of a race against the clock.

3. Once you know how to speed read, read the passage twice, once in speed mode and once in slower comprehension mode. Speed mode allows you to get the general, global understanding of the passage, and the second time helps to understand and digest the specifics and how they play into the larger, big picture argument.

4. Underline and make little notes the first time through, so you know what to focus on in your second reading. When you're speeding through a passage, you'll recognize intuitively the sentences that contain the main point, supporting points, the author's opinions; don't stop, digest, and think about them just yet; underline them so you know where they are and know what you need to pay attention to the second time you read it.

5. Go through the questions and answer them, referencing back to the passage constantly to check your answers. By this point, you should know the answers to the questions, and know where in the passage you can find them. It takes about 10 seconds to glance over and find the support needed to justify your answer. About 1 or two questions require a bit more than that, but after a thorough reading and understanding of the passage, you won't be at a loss. You'll know where to go and where to look.


I hope this was clear and you find it helpful. It's a little difficult for me to explain such an intuitive process as reading, but this is how I do it and what works for me.

Sounds like a waste of time
I'm skeptical that, for most students, the marginal benefit from your method offsets the lost time spent reading passages twice and the lost prep time spent learning how to speed read (if they were even able to learn it effectively given the time frame and their already packed schedules)

If someone has a weakness in RC, allotting extra study time to improving one's RC score isn't a waste of prep time. Reading a passage twice doesn't take much time if you read quickly and efficiently. From what I've gathered, RC is difficult for most people because of the time limit. Encouraging people to learn how to read quickly and efficiently is a suggested solution. With all of that said, these are the tips I have to offer. It's what works consistently for me. It might work for some or seem like a waste of time to others.

I found that my RC score and comprehension started to go up once I started reading just a tad slower and read the whole passage like one giant "which one of the following is most strongly supported" LR question.

Reading two times through because you didn't catch the details the first time is the opposite of quick and efficient. Obviously I don't have a problem with people allotting more time to RC prep, but this strategy seems like a time suck. Glad it works for you, but I suggest people reading steer clear.

h3jk5h wrote:

Jeffort wrote:

canadianbrother wrote:Currently drilling RC, starting from the earlier passages. Its taking me an average of 10 minutes and 45 seconds. But my accuracy has greatly improved (on my first RC sections I got like -13 un-timed now im getting -4, and its always a local question that i have to refer back to that eats up alot of time. In the allotted 35 minutes, im able to finish 3 passages and almost finish reading the 4th. so it usally works out to 18/19 correct out of the 21 i complete in about 33 minutes.

So far I've done 7 RC sections and most of the Manhattan RC. I usually spend 3.5-4 minutes reading the passage, and about 7 minutes answering questions, the local ones eat up my time.

My question is, Im writing in September, should i start limiting my time and forcing myself to work faster now, or will continuing to drill just make me naturally work more efficiently and faster and start limiting my time in July/August?

Thanks in advance, really appreciate the help

Yes to the bolded part. Keep doing what you're doing and speed will continue to naturally increase as your skills get sharper from continued drilling with good review. You've got plenty of time before you should start focusing on full timed sections/full tests. That's phase 3 leading into test day. Keep focusing on building good processes, habits and skills for a while before heading into phase 3 in July/August.

I find that local questions eat up a lot of time as well (one where you have to go to the passage to look for specific details that pertains to the question), and often I get them wrong despite spending excess time on them.

This leads me to believe that although the RC section largely tests one's ability to read for the reasoning structure of a text, one's general reading comprehension skills (i.e. remembering some details) is also very important, which makes me queasy because I'm not a strong reader for details in general (I know I should have read more in my undergrad). And knowing that the more recent PTs are harder because the questions are getting more detail-oriented scares me even more.

Jeffort, what are your thoughts on this? What should a LSAT test taker do to improve his/her ability to remember text details in, say, three months, on top of reading more in general?

Actively reading/analyzing the passage contents is really important and works to enhance detain retention without you consciously trying to 'memorize' any details while reading. It's actually rather simple.

While reading, when sentences contain what seems to be details rather than main ideas/conclusions/opinions, simply ask "why is the author telling me this stuff? What's the point of this mishmash information?" and use surrounding context info to figure out which bigger idea/POV/sub conclusion/etc. those details are there to support/relate to in a significant way. Think like that instead of being in the mindset of trying to memorize/remember everything explicitly said. Reading with the conscious focus/intention of trying to remember everything leads to information overload and a confusing blob of info in your head instead of a simple clear big picture of the main things and how they relate in your head at the end of reading the passage.

When reading actively your mind should be primarily focused on figuring out the main ideas and how they relate to each other, and you do that by consciously noticing and analyzing the supporting evidence with the goal of figuring out what ideas/points the various details are there to make/support/illustrate/give an example of/etc. By actively reading/analyzing this way, asking as you read "Why is the author telling me these details?" and figuring out while reading which idea(s) they support/relate to, it creates mental anchors between the various details and which ideas they are associated with that help you deal with answer choices that mention details. These types of mental anchors created by active reading are gold for seeing right through and avoiding blenderized details attractive trap answers, which there are tons of in every section.

This part of active reading is part of what reading for structure involves. Figuring out which things build bigger ideas which add up to an even bigger overall main idea. Passages are a set of arguments with premises/evidence and conclusions along with background information to establish the main topic and specific aspects of the topic the author of the passage cares about. They all add up to a big picture, and the test writers want to see if you saw and understood the big picture properly. That's what most questions and CRs are about, bigger ideas/relationships. The details are mostly used in ACs to generate attractive traps. Actively reading means you are always consciously reading with a specific purpose, seeking the answer to this question: "What is the authors agenda for writing this passage? What main things does (s)he want to convey to readers(what are the bigger takeaways) from all this information?"

When you read with that type of focus instead of mainly focusing on/trying to remember everything you read without analyzing, organizing and synthesizing while you read, it's actually much less mentally taxing. You get a good recollection of details and which ones are associated with which bigger ideas as a natural byproduct of properly reading for structure and main ideas with a mental 'building the bigger picture in my head' focus with everything all the way from the ground up foundation details to the sub conclusions to the bigger main points/ideas they add up to that are the pillars of the passage.

Every RC passage boils down to just roughly a handful of main ideas/points at most. Focus on synthesizing/drawing those out from the background and details, analyzing from an aerial point of view how those ideas relate to each other big picture, getting that stuff into your mind and memory, and you should be good to go with the questions with minimal need to re-read much of the passage to answer the questions. Straight up regurgitate the details questions are only a very small percentage of questions asked per section, literally just a few per section and you can flip back to verify if need be for those. The CRs for the overwhelming majority of questions are about bigger picture inference/synthesis/had to do some analysis while you read types of things instead of being about ideas you can get/'remember' from a fast superficial read done with main mental focus/mindset of mainly just trying to remember what was explicitly said. The good attractive traps for lots of those questions explicitly mention details to get your recognition attention but blenderize/mismatch details incorrectly with other ideas from the passage. It makes them sound like something you read and makes you want to flip back and re-read to verify since it 'sounds familiar', thus wasting your time on a wild goose chase. When you're clear about which details were related to which ideas with big picture view along with the mental anchors created by reading actively, those traps become silly and easy to eliminate quickly when you read them.


This make sense?

^
Although it's a lot easier said than done, it makes a lot of sense.

Thanks Jeff.

pkraft1 wrote: read to create a mental map of where the information is. This means knowing what each paragraph talks about, so that you can refer back to that place and learn what that nonsense means if and only if a question asks you about it.

+1
Those making unnecessary idiot comment against the poster to pump themselves are being ass. pkraft, RC approach varies highly depending on personal style. Do what works for you doesn't apply better to any other section.

ThisWillDo23 wrote:Hello all! I'm an ex English major and typically get -0 to -2 on my Reading Comprehension sections, with a few minutes to spare at the end of the section. I'm going to try my best to outline the strategy that I use when I do RC, hopefully you find it helpful. It's the same strategy that I use when I read 250+ novels and have to tease out the key parts and important details.


1. All of the work is done in the passage and how you read it. This seems really obvious, but looking at the other RC threads, some posters have suggested looked at the questions first and shaping your primary reading to match the passage. This takes away from heart of what Reading Comprehension is: reading something and understanding what on earth you just read. If you read and understood the passage, there won't be questions that you don't at least know where in the passage you can find your answer.

Obviously the questions are the most important part, because that's where the points come from, but the questions are designed to reflect the passage you just read.

What I'm trying to emphasize is that if you're having problems with Reading Comprehension, it's not the questions that are the problem, but the way you read. If it's specific question types, it means you're not reading the way the exam wants you to.

You can't get better at RC without learning how to read better or differently.

2. Learn how to speed read. I attribute all of my RC scores to this. If you don't know how to speed read, learn. It seems like there are a lot of good resources to teach you how to speed read on this site; use them and practice. I taught myself out of necessity, it's not really possible to read and comprehend 150+ pages of Russian literature a night without it.

Practice until it becomes second nature. Do it at the gym, do it whenever you have a free second at work, between classes, whenever. Articles from The Economist and Scientific American are also great to practice this with.

Eventually it becomes effortless, you'll be able to turn your brain into speed reader mode, and RC will become much easier and less of a race against the clock.

3. Once you know how to speed read, read the passage twice, once in speed mode and once in slower comprehension mode. Speed mode allows you to get the general, global understanding of the passage, and the second time helps to understand and digest the specifics and how they play into the larger, big picture argument.

4. Underline and make little notes the first time through, so you know what to focus on in your second reading. When you're speeding through a passage, you'll recognize intuitively the sentences that contain the main point, supporting points, the author's opinions; don't stop, digest, and think about them just yet; underline them so you know where they are and know what you need to pay attention to the second time you read it.

5. Go through the questions and answer them, referencing back to the passage constantly to check your answers. By this point, you should know the answers to the questions, and know where in the passage you can find them. It takes about 10 seconds to glance over and find the support needed to justify your answer. About 1 or two questions require a bit more than that, but after a thorough reading and understanding of the passage, you won't be at a loss. You'll know where to go and where to look.


I hope this was clear and you find it helpful. It's a little difficult for me to explain such an intuitive process as reading, but this is how I do it and what works for me.

+1
effective approach.

Do you think redoing RC is useful? Currently i get 4-6 wrong but that takes me 38-40 and this is on the old RC pt1-15.

Im just a slow a reader, and im thinking of redoing them judge to help my reading speed

canadianbrother wrote:Do you think redoing RC is useful? Currently i get 4-6 wrong but that takes me 38-40 and this is on the old RC pt1-15.

Im just a slow a reader, and im thinking of redoing them judge to help my reading speed

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=150072

Time seems to be my biggest downfall as well with RC. I just got perfect on the first 3 passages, but realized at the start of the 4th that I only had 3 1/2 minutes left, so I had to go right to the specific location questions.

Hi all, I've received a few RC questions lately that I thought would be helpful to address on this forum. It's less general advice than responses to a couple common questions.

1. "Should I read the questions before reading the passage?
An interesting idea, but not something I would suggest for RC. Instead, I've found both as an LSAT student and instructor that the most effective way to approach Reading Comprehension is to annotate and underline the passage. Here at Blueprint, we call it Tagging. Another effective strategy is identifying what we refer to as the Primary and Secondary Structure of the passage. The Primary structure, for example, identifies the subject of the passage, the author(s)' opinion on said subject, and how many points of view are expressed. Those three concepts comprise a substantial portion of RC questions, so we give them a lot of attention.

2. "I've been reading for a couple decades now, so I don't think I need to study much for Reading Comprehension."
That's silly. Reading Comprehension may seem pretty familiar compared to the Mauve Dinosaur game, but the LSAT will test your skills in a very different way than your highschool SATs or your university's Narrative Literature course. Practicing RCs will help you notice recurring patterns on the LSAT, and eventually you'll be able to predict the upcoming questions as you read the passage.
It's also worth noting that, while RC does require lots of practice, you're less likely to come across a really screwy question (something you just can't figure out) there than you are in Logic Games or Logical Reasoning. As such, its all the more important to secure those points for yourself, and set the bar high.

ThisWillDo23 wrote:

Brut wrote:

ThisWillDo23 wrote:Hello all! I'm an ex English major and typically get -0 to -2 on my Reading Comprehension sections, with a few minutes to spare at the end of the section. I'm going to try my best to outline the strategy that I use when I do RC, hopefully you find it helpful. It's the same strategy that I use when I read 250+ novels and have to tease out the key parts and important details.


1. All of the work is done in the passage and how you read it. This seems really obvious, but looking at the other RC threads, some posters have suggested looked at the questions first and shaping your primary reading to match the passage. This takes away from heart of what Reading Comprehension is: reading something and understanding what on earth you just read. If you read and understood the passage, there won't be questions that you don't at least know where in the passage you can find your answer.

Obviously the questions are the most important part, because that's where the points come from, but the questions are designed to reflect the passage you just read.

What I'm trying to emphasize is that if you're having problems with Reading Comprehension, it's not the questions that are the problem, but the way you read. If it's specific question types, it means you're not reading the way the exam wants you to.

You can't get better at RC without learning how to read better or differently.

2. Learn how to speed read. I attribute all of my RC scores to this. If you don't know how to speed read, learn. It seems like there are a lot of good resources to teach you how to speed read on this site; use them and practice. I taught myself out of necessity, it's not really possible to read and comprehend 150+ pages of Russian literature a night without it.

Practice until it becomes second nature. Do it at the gym, do it whenever you have a free second at work, between classes, whenever. Articles from The Economist and Scientific American are also great to practice this with.

Eventually it becomes effortless, you'll be able to turn your brain into speed reader mode, and RC will become much easier and less of a race against the clock.

3. Once you know how to speed read, read the passage twice, once in speed mode and once in slower comprehension mode. Speed mode allows you to get the general, global understanding of the passage, and the second time helps to understand and digest the specifics and how they play into the larger, big picture argument.

4. Underline and make little notes the first time through, so you know what to focus on in your second reading. When you're speeding through a passage, you'll recognize intuitively the sentences that contain the main point, supporting points, the author's opinions; don't stop, digest, and think about them just yet; underline them so you know where they are and know what you need to pay attention to the second time you read it.

5. Go through the questions and answer them, referencing back to the passage constantly to check your answers. By this point, you should know the answers to the questions, and know where in the passage you can find them. It takes about 10 seconds to glance over and find the support needed to justify your answer. About 1 or two questions require a bit more than that, but after a thorough reading and understanding of the passage, you won't be at a loss. You'll know where to go and where to look.


I hope this was clear and you find it helpful. It's a little difficult for me to explain such an intuitive process as reading, but this is how I do it and what works for me.

Sounds like a waste of time
I'm skeptical that, for most students, the marginal benefit from your method offsets the lost time spent reading passages twice and the lost prep time spent learning how to speed read (if they were even able to learn it effectively given the time frame and their already packed schedules)

If someone has a weakness in RC, allotting extra study time to improving one's RC score isn't a waste of prep time. Reading a passage twice doesn't take much time if you read quickly and efficiently. From what I've gathered, RC is difficult for most people because of the time limit. Encouraging people to learn how to read quickly and efficiently is a suggested solution. With all of that said, these are the tips I have to offer. It's what works consistently for me. It might work for some or seem like a waste of time to others.

I would never NOT read a passage twice. Never. The idea horrifies me.

The first time, I read for general ideas and structure. The second is an opportunity for me to notate details of likely import, so, pulling out key examples, definitions of critical terminology, author bias, and the like.

Jeffort wrote:

canadianbrother wrote:Currently drilling RC, starting from the earlier passages. Its taking me an average of 10 minutes and 45 seconds. But my accuracy has greatly improved (on my first RC sections I got like -13 un-timed now im getting -4, and its always a local question that i have to refer back to that eats up alot of time. In the allotted 35 minutes, im able to finish 3 passages and almost finish reading the 4th. so it usally works out to 18/19 correct out of the 21 i complete in about 33 minutes.

So far I've done 7 RC sections and most of the Manhattan RC. I usually spend 3.5-4 minutes reading the passage, and about 7 minutes answering questions, the local ones eat up my time.

My question is, Im writing in September, should i start limiting my time and forcing myself to work faster now, or will continuing to drill just make me naturally work more efficiently and faster and start limiting my time in July/August?

Thanks in advance, really appreciate the help

Yes to the bolded part. Keep doing what you're doing and speed will continue to naturally increase as your skills get sharper from continued drilling with good review. You've got plenty of time before you should start focusing on full timed sections/full tests. That's phase 3 leading into test day. Keep focusing on building good processes, habits and skills for a while before heading into phase 3 in July/August.

Golden advice! Now about 10 weeks later, I always finish and on my most recent 3 sections, 46-48, i got -2/-2/-2. Practice makes perfect, after doing so many, I find my self reading the argument and catching patterns and knowing that theyll ask me about the purpose of this paragraph.