FSpartan
Thanks
ScottTargetTestPrep yes, my score is in line with previous scores, which adjusted with test center stress means I performed at my best or even better, and to be fair I was satisfied when I saw 680 on the screen, but it feels as I was that close to getting 700+ score. Partially because I know where I've cut corners - particularly some basic quant topics(roots, exponents, inequalities), and surprisingly section which I always was confident about - RC. It's been an unpleasant surprise, I'm still perplexed how I misjudged my RC abilities. It is a section which I devoted least time, as my accuracy rate was always in 75%+ range, with 1:50 per question. But after I've received ESR I found out that RC is the weakest section for last 2 exams (23;31). Therefore I want to focus on those areas refresh all notes and give it another try. I'd love to hear your thoughts on RC, thanks for your support.
Hi FSpartan,
To improve in Reading Comprehension, you need to focus on understanding what you are reading. When you incorrectly answer Reading Comprehension questions, it’s partly because you didn’t truly understand what you read, right? Thus, you likely have to slow down in order to (eventually) speed up. At this point, your best bet is to focus on getting the correct answers to questions, taking as much time as you need to see key details and understand the logic of what you are reading. You have to learn to comprehend what you read, keep it all straight, and use what you are reading to arrive at correct answers. If you don't understand something, go back and read it one sentence at a time, even one word at a time, not moving on until you understand what you have just read. There is no way around this work. Your goal should be to take all the time you need to understand exactly what is being said and arrive at the correct answer. If you can learn to get answers taking your time, you can learn to speed up. Answering questions is like any task: The more times you do it carefully and successfully, the faster you become at doing it carefully and successfully.
Another component of understanding what you are reading is being “present” when reading. Don’t worry about how things are going at work, or what you will eat for dinner, or even how long you are taking to read through the passage. Just focus on what is in front of you, word by word, line by line. Furthermore, try to make reading fun. For example, even if you are reading about a topic that bores you, pretend that you are the person making the argument. By doing so, you will make the passage more relatable to YOU, and ultimately you should be able to read with greater focus.
One final component of Reading Comprehension that may be tripping you up is that RC questions contain one or more trap answers that seem to answer the question but don't really. So, a key part of training to correctly answer RC questions is learning to notice the differences between trap answers and correct answers. You have to learn to see how trap answers seem to follow from what the passages say, but don't really, while correct answers fit what the passages say exactly.