How To Solve Reading Comprehension Problems

How To Solve Reading Comprehension Problems

The process to solve an RC problem is very similar to that of a CR problem. Let us consider this Question for the Official Guide.


Some observers have attributed the dramatic growth in temporary employment that occurred in the United States during the 1980s to increased participation in the workforce by certain groups, such as first-time or reentering workers, who supposedly prefer such arrangements. However, statistical analyses reveal that demographic changes in the workforce did not correlate with variations in the total number of temporary workers. Instead, these analyses suggest that factors affecting employers account for the rise in temporary employment. One factor is product demand: temporary employment is favored by employers who are adapting to fluctuating demand for products while at the same time seeking to reduce overall labor costs. Another factor is labor’s reduced bargaining strength, which allows employers more control over the terms of employment. Given the analyses, which reveal that growth in temporary employment now far exceeds the level explainable by recent workforce entry rates of groups said to prefer temporary jobs, firms should be discouraged from creating excessive numbers of temporary positions. Government policymakers should consider mandating benefit coverage for temporary employees, promoting pay equity between temporary and permanent workers, assisting labor unions in organizing temporary workers, and encouraging firms to assign temporary jobs primarily to employees who explicitly indicate that preference.



According to the passage, which of the following is true of the “factors affecting employers” that are mentioned in the passage?


(A) Most experts cite them as having initiated the growth in temporary employment that occurred during the 1980s.

(B) They may account for the increase in the total number of temporary workers during the 1980s.

(C) They were less important than demographic change in accounting for the increase of temporary employment during the 1980s.

(D) They included a sharp increase in the cost of labor during the 1980s.

(E) They are more difficult to account for than are other factors involved in the growth of temporary employment during the 1980s.


Just to remind you again, here is out framework

Identify
Read
Reflect and Write
Organize and Solve



1. Let us start by following our algorithm. The first step is to IDENTIFY the type of the problem

Identified the Problem as RC. In the RC problems, just like the CR problems, we have to identify one more thing apart from the problem type. The question stem should be the portion which you need to read first, even before the premise. This will help you identify the problem type and will help in pre thinking.

The various question types can be

Strengthen
Weaken
Assumption
Inference
Conclusion
Bold Face
Specific Details
For the question at hand, we can identify the problem to be a specific detail problem. If you encounter “According to the passage …,” you can safely assume the question to be a specific detail


2. The second step asks us to READ the problem.

Here you have a lot of reading to do. In the case of RC, you do not simply glance through the passage; instead you read the passage thoroughly and make a passage map of the passage. Reading the passage in view of the question can help at times especially in the case of a specific detail question. You can preview the first RC question if you want, but the other questions will only be revealed to you after you’ve read the passage and answered the first one.

In the case of RC, while reading keep in mind the type of the question that we identified in the previous step. This type of reading helps us to arrive at the answer quickly. If we know that we have to find the specific detail, then we can directly jump to that section of the passage and then arrive at the correct answer.


3. Here we will club the next two steps: REFLECT and WRITE

This is where you decide on how to solve the problem, which information given to you is relevant and what do you need to solve this problem.

From the previous step, we have found that the problem wants us to answer something about the specific detail mentioned in the passage. The information in the question stem will tell you where do you need to go and look for the information in the passage in order to answer the question.

The next part is the Write part. Go ahead and Read the question in full, writing down anything you think is important.

If I were to write, I would write the type of the problem as SD (Specific Detail) and just so that I do not lose focus and do not wander around in the passage, I would write:

vs employer
Employer: Reduced bargain and prod demand
Figure out where you need to go in the passage to learn more about factors affecting employers. Re-read that info and Reflect. Predict, in your own words, what the answer should say in order to address the question.


4. At this point, again we will club the next two steps: ORGANIZE and SOLVE

This step will help us Organize the information and the pre thinking part will help us with the direction in which we need to progress.

(A) Most experts cite them as having initiated the growth in temporary employment that occurred during the 1980s.

The statement says that the experts cite the features to have initiated the growth, whereas on re reading the passage, we can clearly see that it has been revealed by the statistical analyses. Hence we can neglect this option.

(B) They may account for the increase in the total number of temporary workers during the 1980s.

This looks tempting. The lines under consideration clearly suggest that the factors accounted for an increase in the total number of temporary workers. Safe to keep this option for further consideration.

(C) They were less important than demographic change in accounting for the increase of temporary employment during the 1980s.

This statement tells us just the opposite of what has been given in the passage. The passage suggests that these factors were more important than demographic changes in explaining the rise. We can easily strike off this option.

(D) They included a sharp increase in the cost of labor during the 1980s.

Although there is some suggestion that employers at some point experienced difficulty from the cost of labor, the passage does not suggest that a sharp increase in that cost occurred in the 1980s. In fact it even suggests that labor costs may have decreased because of labor’s reduced bargaining strength.

(E) They are more difficult to account for than are other factors involved in the growth of temporary employment during the 1980s

Nowhere does the passage talk about how to account those factors. So the issue of whether those factors are more difficult to account than other factors is not raised in the passage. Since this option talks about something that has not been discussed in the passage, we can easily strike it off.

Key Takeaways for Every RC Problem You Will Ever Do

(1) On RC problems, start reading from the question stem: what kind of RC question is it? In this case, the language according to the passage signals a Specific Detail question, so you know that you are going to need to find some specific detail in the passage

(2) Next, re-Read the relevant passage text. Then Reflect on the information and try to predict your own answer to the question.

(3) Now you can Solve your way through the answer choices, eliminating as you go. If any one of the earlier steps fails (can’t identify the question type? can’t find the relevant text? can’t predict your own answer?), then you know that this is a tough nut to crack. You might guess and randomly or narrow down the answers based on things that don’t seem to fit the overall story.