HOW TO DESTROY READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGES BY RHYME

Oh sounds great!!! but sounds quite bold approach...

Will surely try it out on official Qs.

My problem with RC is timing because a lot of time is lost on reading the passage, resulting in dip in my accuracy too since I have to go through the question in a very hurried manner.

Let me give it a try because this will solve timing prob if it works for me.

Thanks!!

Sheer brilliance is all that comes to my head with this!

Thanks a lot, though taking notes well is also pretty key in this strategy.

Hey Guys, Just chk out this website www(dot)rcprep(dot)com

It is by far the best simulator I've seen on the net and we can post our passages to..Anybody who has a list of passages with them can register and help people out.

FYI...Help me out too...

Hi, I've got a question... how can you tell when the new paragraph starts? On the test text paragraphs are not separated by new lines, so sometimes it's not clear for me where the new paragraph starts how can I read only the 1st sentence of each new paragraph when I can't even tell which those paragraphs are?

Could you explain, please? Cheers

Is not difficult at all

A new paragraph starts when, basically, a concept is explained or for instance a contrast word comes in

the passage above


where you see bold is the beginning of a new one.

generally is the same always

I see. It seems I just have to train my eyes to spot these words so I can get my way around the text. Thanks!

with a kudos you say thanks to the others help

Does this amazing technique works also for short passages?.

Surpringly, I've found more complicated to apply that technique to short passages, but for long passages it defenitely works!!

I wonder if any of the GMAC faculty monitor GMATClub's forums to see how students try and 'crack' their testing methods and rectify them in their tests. I guess this is where the questions that aren't marked on the official test that come into play. Since rhyme's method was established in 2006, I am just wondering if it is outdated? i.e. GMAC have become non the wiser to it.

I was wondering the same thing!

Hi Rhyme:
Thanks so much for your very detailed and interesting thread. After read and apply your strategies, I feel they're really helpful for long passages. For short and having only one paragraph passages (frankly, they're much trickier than long passages), however, I'm quite perplexed at applying your method. Please recommend how your strategies - reading first paragraph and 1st sentence of each following paragraphs - could be applied effectively for that kind of passage.

Thank you in advance.

Thanks so much Rhyme for the wonderful thread. I am taking lot of time to answer RC. I will try this approach.

Hi,

Its amazing this strategy is working, but im always going wrong with inference questions. Is there any thing i could do with this. Request you to reply me and suggest if any.

Thanks & regards,
Sana

Hi Rhyme,

Thanks for your post. It was helpful in certain RCs but I was not able to crack this RC pasted below. I've included my notes too. Could you help me out?

Passage -

Between the eighth and eleventh centuries A. D., the Byzantine Empire staged an almost unparalleled economic and cultural revival, a recovery that is all the more striking because it followed a long period of severe internal decline. By the early eighth century, the empire had lost roughly two-thirds of the territory it had possessed in the year 600, and its remaining area was being raided by Arabs and Bulgarians, who at times threatened to take Constantinople and extinguish the empire altogether. The wealth of the state and its subjects was greatly diminished, and artistic and literary production had virtually ceased. By the early eleventh century, however, the empire had regained almost half of its lost possessions, its new frontiers were secure, and its influence extended far beyond its borders. The economy had recovered, the treasury was full, and art and scholarship had advanced.
To consider the Byzantine military, cultural, and economic advances as differentiated aspects of a single phenomenon is reasonable. After all, these three forms of progress have gone together in a number of states and civilizations. Rome under Augustus and fifth-century Athens provide the most obvious examples in antiquity. Moreover, an examination of the apparent sequential connections among military, economic, and cultural forms of progress might help explain the dynamics of historical change.
The common explanation of these apparent connections in the case of Byzantium would run like this: when the empire had turned back enemy raids on its own territory and had begun to raid and conquer enemy territory, Byzantine resources naturally expanded and more money became available to patronize art and literature. Therefore, Byzantine military achievements led to economic advances, which in turn led to cultural revival.
No doubt this hypothetical pattern did apply at times during the course of the recovery. Yet it is not clear that military advances invariably came first, economic advances second, and intellectual advances third. In the 860’s the Byzantine Empire began to recover from Arab incursions so that by 872 the military balance with the Abbasid Caliphate had been permanently altered in the empire’s favor. The beginning of the empire’s economic revival, however, can be placed between 810 and 830. Finally, the Byzantine revival of learning appears to have begun even earlier. A number of notable scholars and writers appeared by 788 and, by the last decade of the eighth century, a cultural revival was in full bloom, a revival that lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Thus the commonly expected order of military revival followed by economic and then by cultural recovery was reversed in Byzantium. In fact, the revival of Byzantine learning may itself have influenced the subsequent economic and military expansion.

Questions -

1. Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?
(A) The Byzantine Empire was a unique case in which the usual order of military and economic revival preceding cultural revival was reversed.
(B) The economic, cultural, and military revival in the Byzantine Empire between the eighth and eleventh centuries was similar in its order to the sequence of revivals in Augustan Rome and fifth century Athens.
(C) After 810 Byzantine economic recovery spurred a military and, later, cultural expansion that lasted until 1453.
(D) The eighth-century revival of Byzantine learning is an inexplicable phenomenon, and its economic and military precursors have yet to be discovered.
(E) The revival of the Byzantine Empire between the eighth and eleventh centuries shows cultural rebirth preceding economic and military revival, the reverse of the commonly accepted order of progress.

2. The primary purpose of the second paragraph is which of the following?
(A) To establish the uniqueness of the Byzantine revival
(B) To show that Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens are examples of cultural, economic, and military expansion against which all subsequent cases must be measured
(C) To suggest that cultural, economic, and military advances have tended to be closely interrelated in different societies
(D) To argue that, while the revivals of Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens were similar, they are unrelated to other historical examples
(E) To indicate that, wherever possible, historians should seek to make comparisons with the earliest chronological examples of revival

3. It can be inferred from the passage that by the eleventh century the Byzantine military forces
(A) had reached their peak and begun to decline
(B) had eliminated the Bulgarian army
(C) were comparable in size to the army of Rome under Augustus
(D) were strong enough to withstand the Abbasid Caliphate’s military forces
(E) had achieved control of Byzantine governmental structures

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the Byzantine Empire sustained significant territorial losses
(A) in 600
(B) during the seventh century
(C) a century after the cultural achievements of the Byzantine Empire had been lost
(D) soon after the revival of Byzantine learning
(E) in the century after 873

5. In the third paragraph, the author most probably provides an explanation of the apparent connections among economic, military, and cultural development in order to
(A) suggest that the process of revival in Byzantium accords with this model
(B) set up an order of events that is then shown to be not generally applicable to the case of Byzantium
(C) cast aspersions on traditional historical scholarship about Byzantium
(D) suggest that Byzantium represents a case for which no historical precedent exists
(E) argue that military conquest is the paramount element in the growth of empires

6. Which of the following does the author mention as crucial evidence concerning the manner in which the Byzantine revival began?
(A) The Byzantine military revival of the 860’s led to economic and cultural advances.
(B) The Byzantine cultural revival lasted until 1453.
(C) The Byzantine economic recovery began in the 900’s.
(D) The revival of Byzantine learning began toward the end of the eighth century.
(E) By the early eleventh century the Byzantine Empire had regained much of its lost territory.

7. According to the author, “The common explanation” (line 28) of connections between economic, military, and cultural development is
(A) revolutionary and too new to have been applied to the history of the Byzantine Empire
(B) reasonable, but an antiquated theory of the nature of progress
(C) not applicable to the Byzantine revival as a whole, but does perhaps accurately describe limited periods during the revival
(D) equally applicable to the Byzantine case as a whole and to the history of military, economic, and cultural advances in ancient Greece and Rome
(E) essentially not helpful, because military, economic, and cultural advances are part of a single phenomenon


My Notes
Byz cultural revival was striking because it was followed by long period of decline. between 600 and 8th century it lost 2/3rds and remaining area was raided by arabs ansd bulgs who threatened to take constantinople. wealth reduced and art/literary value production almost stopped.
things improved in 11th cent and empire regained more than half of lost stuff, seucre borders and greater influencem economy recovered, treasury full and scolarship advanced.

military,cultural and economic advances was becauseof common phenomenon but differentiated aspects.
rome, augustus, 5th cent, athens, dynamics of hist change

byz empire fought enemies and also conquered enemy terr resulting in more resourses and moremoney to support art and literature.
military and economic advances, cultural revival.

some hypothetical pattern did apply in course of victory. not sure what occured first- economic, military or cultural advances
860,872,abbasid caliphate, 810,830, fallof constatniople in 1453,

Dear rhyme,
Could you explain your RC strategy, for the OG Verbal Review 2nd Ed. paragraph in page #40 and questions from 50 to 55?

I tried your strategy in the following way for the above mentioned paragraph.
Notes:
Para#1:
superior service – competitive advantage, but not all time
inv in srvc – prod, dist = otr inv => direct, tangible – cost (--), revenue (++)
company = competitor by srvc avoid damaging repu=> inv in higher srvc wasted
srvc deciding factor – only xtrm
Para#2:
This truth, managers, regional bank – failed to ++ competitive pos eventhough inv in wait time –
manager, did not recog, inertia, inconvenience in switching banks
no analysis, srvc ++ attract new cust, difficult to copy
only merit, easy description

And I tried answering the Qs using this notes and got 5/6 wrongs.
For this total exercise I took 15m:46s.
Could you guide me where I went wrong?

okay, i'm bumping this as well as asking if the answer is A?
Also, i took like 1:52,1:12,1:51,2:08 for the 4 paragraphs respectively Total: around 7 minutes
and I answered the question in 1:06
How to improve, please help @rhyme and @walletless