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I have completed at least 5 timed LR sections within a month or so. At first, I was having difficulty completing within 35 minutes, but now I am able to. The problem is that I still get between 5 - 10 wrong. Should I start placing a 40 minute timer and reduce one minute each time I drill an LR section? Or should I do something else? Please let me know. Thanks.

Don't juggle.
Forget about timing and work on accuracy. I did that with RC; got me nowhere (-10).
I still struggle with time, but it's a whole lot better now: -6. Same goes for LG and LR.

WeightliftingThinker wrote:I have completed at least 5 timed LR sections within a month or so. At first, I was having difficulty completing within 35 minutes, but now I am able to. The problem is that I still get between 5 - 10 wrong. Should I start placing a 40 minute timer and reduce one minute each time I drill an LR section? Or should I do something else? Please let me know. Thanks.

Stop, right now.

Go back to the sections you've done, and review them all. Every question you got wrong, every q you got right but weren't sure about, write out by hand why the right answer was right, and the wrong ones were wrong. Five explanations per q (so at least 50 explanations where you got 10 wrong).

When you've done that, take a new section, and do it again, untimed. Focus on getting it right, and deconstructing the logic.

Timing only comes after you can reliably get a very good score. It doesn't matter how fast you're going if you're being slipshod, and don't understand the task you're performing.

kindofcanuck wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:I have completed at least 5 timed LR sections within a month or so. At first, I was having difficulty completing within 35 minutes, but now I am able to. The problem is that I still get between 5 - 10 wrong. Should I start placing a 40 minute timer and reduce one minute each time I drill an LR section? Or should I do something else? Please let me know. Thanks.

Stop, right now.

Go back to the sections you've done, and review them all. Every question you got wrong, every q you got right but weren't sure about, write out by hand why the right answer was right, and the wrong ones were wrong. Five explanations per q (so at least 50 explanations where you got 10 wrong).

When you've done that, take a new section, and do it again, untimed. Focus on getting it right, and deconstructing the logic.

Timing only comes after you can reliably get a very good score. It doesn't matter how fast you're going if you're being slipshod, and don't understand the task you're performing.

I failed to mention that I review the section after I complete it.

I write down why the wrong choice was wrong and the right choice was right. I also write down takeaways for that question type if there is something significant.

I then type it up and print it.

You don't think reviewing the 4 wrong choices is unnecessarily copious? I used to do that early in my prep, but it was just a few words next to the choice, like "OOS" (out-of-scope), etc.

WeightliftingThinker wrote:
I failed to mention that I review the section after I complete it.

I write down why the wrong choice was wrong and the right choice was right. I also write down takeaways for that question type if there is something significant.

I then type it up and print it.

You don't think reviewing the 4 wrong choices is unnecessarily copious? I used to do that early in my prep, but it was just a few words next to the choice, like "OOS" (out-of-scope), etc.

It doesn't need to be long - "OOS"/"irrelevant"/"weakens" (if q was strengthens etc) is all fine. But ruling out why the wrong ones are wrong is necessary to be sure the right one is right. You'll often easily knock out three, and be left with two - one right, one trap. You have to learn to avoid the trap answers, quickly and efficiently. That means knowing the enemy.

kindofcanuck wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:
I failed to mention that I review the section after I complete it.

I write down why the wrong choice was wrong and the right choice was right. I also write down takeaways for that question type if there is something significant.

I then type it up and print it.

You don't think reviewing the 4 wrong choices is unnecessarily copious? I used to do that early in my prep, but it was just a few words next to the choice, like "OOS" (out-of-scope), etc.

It doesn't need to be long - "OOS"/"irrelevant"/"weakens" (if q was strengthens etc) is all fine. But ruling out why the wrong ones are wrong is necessary to be sure the right one is right. You'll often easily knock out three, and be left with two - one right, one trap. You have to learn to avoid the trap answers, quickly and efficiently. That means knowing the enemy.

I tend to get stuck between 2 choices.

I should also note that all of these drilled LR sections are from the '90s (11, 14, etc.).

I agree with the posts above. Accuracy is the most important part of prep. Do not sacrifice that for time right now. Focus on the fundamentals and getting questions correct and then you can focus on adding in the time element. Everyone is different, but I found that once i had a mastery of questions and thus get questions correct the majority of the time; I was able to complete them faster (aka your goal in finishing in 35 min). Time is easier to improve on then accuracy, so drill for accuracy now and then speed will come with time, comfort, and practice.

even if it takes you 45 minutes to go -1-2 and you never get faster, you'll still be scoring better than you are now! Forget timed sections for at least a month I'd say

kindofcanuck wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:I have completed at least 5 timed LR sections within a month or so. At first, I was having difficulty completing within 35 minutes, but now I am able to. The problem is that I still get between 5 - 10 wrong. Should I start placing a 40 minute timer and reduce one minute each time I drill an LR section? Or should I do something else? Please let me know. Thanks.

Stop, right now.

Go back to the sections you've done, and review them all. Every question you got wrong, every q you got right but weren't sure about, write out by hand why the right answer was right, and the wrong ones were wrong. Five explanations per q (so at least 50 explanations where you got 10 wrong).

When you've done that, take a new section, and do it again, untimed. Focus on getting it right, and deconstructing the logic.

Timing only comes after you can reliably get a very good score. It doesn't matter how fast you're going if you're being slipshod, and don't understand the task you're performing.

Really big fan of this approach. I basically did this and went from missing 6/7 per section down to 3/4. Takes a long time, but it is worth it.

Barack O'Drama wrote:

kindofcanuck wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:I have completed at least 5 timed LR sections within a month or so. At first, I was having difficulty completing within 35 minutes, but now I am able to. The problem is that I still get between 5 - 10 wrong. Should I start placing a 40 minute timer and reduce one minute each time I drill an LR section? Or should I do something else? Please let me know. Thanks.

Stop, right now.

Go back to the sections you've done, and review them all. Every question you got wrong, every q you got right but weren't sure about, write out by hand why the right answer was right, and the wrong ones were wrong. Five explanations per q (so at least 50 explanations where you got 10 wrong).

When you've done that, take a new section, and do it again, untimed. Focus on getting it right, and deconstructing the logic.

Timing only comes after you can reliably get a very good score. It doesn't matter how fast you're going if you're being slipshod, and don't understand the task you're performing.

Really big fan of this approach. I basically did this and went from missing 6/7 per section down to 3/4. Takes a long time, but it is worth it.

How long did it take you?

WeightliftingThinker wrote:

Barack O'Drama wrote:

kindofcanuck wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:I have completed at least 5 timed LR sections within a month or so. At first, I was having difficulty completing within 35 minutes, but now I am able to. The problem is that I still get between 5 - 10 wrong. Should I start placing a 40 minute timer and reduce one minute each time I drill an LR section? Or should I do something else? Please let me know. Thanks.

Stop, right now.

Go back to the sections you've done, and review them all. Every question you got wrong, every q you got right but weren't sure about, write out by hand why the right answer was right, and the wrong ones were wrong. Five explanations per q (so at least 50 explanations where you got 10 wrong).

When you've done that, take a new section, and do it again, untimed. Focus on getting it right, and deconstructing the logic.

Timing only comes after you can reliably get a very good score. It doesn't matter how fast you're going if you're being slipshod, and don't understand the task you're performing.

Really big fan of this approach. I basically did this and went from missing 6/7 per section down to 3/4. Takes a long time, but it is worth it.

How long did it take you?

Probably a good month.

Barack O'Drama wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:

Barack O'Drama wrote:

kindofcanuck wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:I have completed at least 5 timed LR sections within a month or so. At first, I was having difficulty completing within 35 minutes, but now I am able to. The problem is that I still get between 5 - 10 wrong. Should I start placing a 40 minute timer and reduce one minute each time I drill an LR section? Or should I do something else? Please let me know. Thanks.

Stop, right now.

Go back to the sections you've done, and review them all. Every question you got wrong, every q you got right but weren't sure about, write out by hand why the right answer was right, and the wrong ones were wrong. Five explanations per q (so at least 50 explanations where you got 10 wrong).

When you've done that, take a new section, and do it again, untimed. Focus on getting it right, and deconstructing the logic.

Timing only comes after you can reliably get a very good score. It doesn't matter how fast you're going if you're being slipshod, and don't understand the task you're performing.

Really big fan of this approach. I basically did this and went from missing 6/7 per section down to 3/4. Takes a long time, but it is worth it.

How long did it take you?

Probably a good month.

That's good. How many separate LR sections did you go through?

WeightliftingThinker wrote:

Barack O'Drama wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:

Barack O'Drama wrote:

kindofcanuck wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:I have completed at least 5 timed LR sections within a month or so. At first, I was having difficulty completing within 35 minutes, but now I am able to. The problem is that I still get between 5 - 10 wrong. Should I start placing a 40 minute timer and reduce one minute each time I drill an LR section? Or should I do something else? Please let me know. Thanks.

Stop, right now.

Go back to the sections you've done, and review them all. Every question you got wrong, every q you got right but weren't sure about, write out by hand why the right answer was right, and the wrong ones were wrong. Five explanations per q (so at least 50 explanations where you got 10 wrong).

When you've done that, take a new section, and do it again, untimed. Focus on getting it right, and deconstructing the logic.

Timing only comes after you can reliably get a very good score. It doesn't matter how fast you're going if you're being slipshod, and don't understand the task you're performing.

Really big fan of this approach. I basically did this and went from missing 6/7 per section down to 3/4. Takes a long time, but it is worth it.

How long did it take you?

Probably a good month.

That's good. How many separate LR sections did you go through?

I drill the Cambridge by type packets from PTs 1-38 and a lot of the individual LR sections from PTs 1-38 as well. I got a lot out of doing questions multiple times, especially ones I got wrong or didn't really understand. Taking the time to write out explanations and dissecting the argument structure really helped.

I'm not sure exactly how many full LR sections I did untimed though. Probably 30. I think drilling is useful, but often mixed review is underrated.

kindofcanuck wrote:

WeightliftingThinker wrote:I have completed at least 5 timed LR sections within a month or so. At first, I was having difficulty completing within 35 minutes, but now I am able to. The problem is that I still get between 5 - 10 wrong. Should I start placing a 40 minute timer and reduce one minute each time I drill an LR section? Or should I do something else? Please let me know. Thanks.

Stop, right now.

Go back to the sections you've done, and review them all. Every question you got wrong, every q you got right but weren't sure about, write out by hand why the right answer was right, and the wrong ones were wrong. Five explanations per q (so at least 50 explanations where you got 10 wrong).

When you've done that, take a new section, and do it again, untimed. Focus on getting it right, and deconstructing the logic.

Timing only comes after you can reliably get a very good score. It doesn't matter how fast you're going if you're being slipshod, and don't understand the task you're performing.

As others have said: forget about timing, concentrate on accuracy. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

Also: if stuck between two answers (trap v. the correct answer), move on to a few other questions first (say, the rest of that double page). Then come back with a somewhat fresh eye and try to eliminate one of the two remaining answers rather than confirm one. That often helps.

If still stuck (both answers feel kinda wrong): you may have completely misread the question or the stimulus. Restart from scratch, read slowly and re-read all five answers. Or, if time constrained, move on.