Long RC passage taking me 6-6.5 minutes. How to cut it to 3.5min?

You shouldn't get lost in to the details. Just think why the author is giving the details ? Is it to support the previous statement or refute? You should not focus on the what feature. Try with this thinking.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

No reread
First & Last sentence of each para
Special attention for things between "___"
Special attention for things with date or %
Lookout for marker words - Contrast, Modifier, etc
Ignore details or additional information (unless asked in question, you know where it is)

Hi mkarthik1,

As a general rule, most paragraphs in an RC prompt are written to serve one purpose. For example, a paragraph might describe details about a scientific theory. A paragraph might also argue for a particular point of view or refute someone else's point of view. Regardless of the length of the paragraph or the 'sophistication' of the words, the bulk of the paragraph is just details. For most RC questions, the little details don't matter (although you will see a few "Detail" questions on Test Day that will ask you to locate a particular fact in the RC prompt). As such, you usually don't need to understand those little details; you just have to recognize that they're there (and that they're meant to serve the larger purpose of the paragraph that they're in).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.