If difficult RC comes?

Hey Nikhil,

I would not suggest that you guess all the answers, because guessing answers wrong consecutively will harm your score. I would suggest that you read the question, try reading the part that is required to answer the question.

Regards

Hi,

I know this is the worst case scenario but what I prefer to do in such a case is look at the question and then predict where I could find the answer. For example, if the question talks about a particular theory then I would skim the first few lines of each para to spot that theory, and once I find it, I would try to read relevant part and assume the background according to a rational person's understanding. This might get you a few questions correct in a relatively lesser time compared to what one would spend on a typical RC.


however, I strongly urge you to use this strategy only when you understand close to nothing or when the time is running really fast for you. Please refrain from this in normal circumstances.

Hi nkhl.goyal,

I don’t think that guessing on all the questions from a particular RC passage is a good strategy. Rather, I think that you need to focus on improving your RC skills, so you are positioned to have a real shot at correctly answering questions from any passage that is thrown at you. If you’d like further advice on how to improve your Reading Comprehension skills, feel free to reach out.
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Hello Scott,

Yes, I need advice as I am struggling in RC, which is not letting me get a higher score.

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.
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