RC RC RC

I'm going to disagree with abhijit_sen regarding the speed reading.

There really are no (NONE!) books to help you with reading comp. Don't believe what others say here. They're probably the high-flying reading comp fanatics. I'm guessing you're in the same boat as me. I'm a terrible reader.

So, the bright side--You have to figure out whether you're a skimmer or an immerser. I am an immerser. I read slowly and take my time. I tried to FULLY understand the passage. That way, I went back to the passage minimally and were able to answer the questions rather quickly.

If you're a skimmer, you go through the passage quickly collecting some basic ideas and getting the framework of the passage so that you can go back more efficiently.

It's you're call. Try both techniques and see which technique is better for you.

As for the questions, there are two types -- general and inference. General questions are the baby questions. There's pretty much no reason to get them wrong. Ask yourself, what was the purpose of the author writing this passage? If you can sum up his point in one concise sentence, what would it be? That one statement will answer all general questions.

The inference questions are the ones that separate the boys from the men, and in order to answer them, you have to not only know the content of the passage, but also be able to recognize arguments (ala CR section) from the knowledge of the passage. You cannot do this if you do not understand the passage.

Again, there are some brilliant people here who can understand the passage by skimming. I, and I'm sure you fall in this category, cannot.

There are some books (I distinctly remember PR saying this) that say, spend most of your time on the questions not on the passage!!! You get points for answering the questions, not reading the passage. That is the most backward a$$ logic. It is tantamount to saying, "Don't go to school, start working now! You don't get paid to go to school!"

From my experience, if you take the requisite time to read and understand the passage, you will breeze through the questions. You will begin to formulate answers before seeing the answer choices. When you skim, you find yourself going back and forth from question to passage.

Furthermore, start reading Time magazine, The Economist and so forth. While you're reading, ask yourself, "What's this guy talking about? What's he saying?" Also, look for idioms in the articles. Ask yourself, how is the author going about supporting his point? This will help reinforce all three aspects of the verbal section.

If you're not a runner, the best way to get started is to run. If you're not a reader, the best way to get started is to, well, read. btw, Maxim, the NY Post, blogs etc do not count.

Sorry for the winded advice. Good luck.