Need help to improve reading speed with effective comprehension

Question

Hi, GMAT experts,

This is my first post in the forum. I know that i am not asking related to GMAT content, but i would like to address some issues before start of full fledged GMAT preparation.

I just started GMAT preparation with a few official CR questions, but i observe that i am too slow in reading and comprehending the passages. For example, finishing CR question takes 3-5 minutes and i guess in exam, we can have ~ 2 minutes per question in hand. The similar case i observed for quant questions too. So, how can i improve my reading speed along with better comprehension?

I observe that after doing some, let me say 10, questions, my nerves were loosing concentration/attention and i mentally felt tired (might be i started studying after long long time). So, how can i overcome attention deficiency after solving some questions?

Suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi asd56,

Since you are just starting out wtih your GMAT prep, you really do not need to be concerned with your speed when answering questions. At this point, your focus should be accuracy. As you improve your quant and verbal skills, you’ll get faster. To improve your quant and verbal skills, you need to ensure that you are following a linear and structured study plan that allows you to learn each GMAT quant and verbal topic individually and then practice each topic int obtain mastery. Certainly, if you’d like specific advice on how to improve your verbal and quant skills, feel free to reach out. Lastly, you may find it helpful to read the following article:

The Phases of Preparing for the GMAT

Raxit85 · Answer

@ScottTargetTestPrep/EmpowerGMATRich/VeritasPrepKarishma,

I also do face similar type of issues what asd56 is facing. I am spending too much time (more than 50 minutes for initial 18 questions) in the first two blocks of verbal section, leading to rush to finish the remaining questions. I am getting around 70 % accuracy in those initial 18 questions and bombing remaining questions.
I have never practiced to note down points in the verbal section but i do the same for quant questions. I am rigorously preparing myself for GMAT since last 6 months. I am having the GMAT exam after three days. It may be incorrect to learn anything new in last couple of days before the exam, but still is there any scope of improvement in 3 days (although i know it's highly improbable unless any miracles happen)?

Regards,
Raxit T.

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

asd56 - Welcome to GMAT Club. Did you review the below GMAT Clb RC mega-thread? https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-club-rc ... 64834.html

asd56 · Answer

Thank you ScottTargetTestPrep and DisciplinedPrep ScottTargetTestPrep Yes, i'd like to improve verbal skills. How can i improve them? DisciplinedPrep , This mega-thread is really mega. Thanks a ton.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi asd56,

Since it sounds like you're just beginning your studies, then it would be a good idea to take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test; you can take 2 for free at www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). If you want to do a little studying first, so that you can familiarize yourself with the basic content and question types, then that's okay - but you shouldn't wait too long to take that initial CAT. That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 3.5 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have those scores, you should report back here and we can come up with a study plan.

I'd like to know a bit more about your timeline and goals:
1) What is your goal score?
2) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

Many GMATers face pacing issues in the Quant section, the Verbal section, or both - so your concerns are shared by many Test Takers. That having been said, accuracy has to come before speed. You will find that as you practice more - and start to recognize the patterns that all GMAT questions are based on - that you become more efficient with your work (and thus, take less time to answer questions). It's also worth noting that most GMAT questions can be approached in more than one way - so learning the most efficient and easiest Tactics early on in your studies can help you to improve quicker over time.

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

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Raxit85,

Since you're so close to your Test Date, there isn't a practical way to make any big changes to how you 'see' (or respond to) the Exam. In simple terms, "your way" of approaching the GMAT is probably really ingrained at that point - and it would take some significant time and effort to get you to approach the GMAT in new ways.

In these last few days, you should limit your studies to general practice and light review (NO CATs and NO 'cramming') - you would be better served by getting some extra rest so that you can go into Test Day calm, clear-headed and ready to work. After you've taken the GMAT, you should post in the Shared Experience Forum (and you can feel free to contact me directly) and we can discuss your Score, how you feel about it and (if you're not happy with your Score) what you might do next to improve.

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

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Here is some advice you can follow to improve your verbal skills. I'll start with CR.

When studying Critical Reasoning, you need to ensure that you fully understand the essence of the various question types. Do you know the importance of an assumption within an argument? Can you easily spot a conclusion? Do you know how to resolve a paradox? Do you know how to properly evaluate cause and effect? Do you know how to properly weaken or strengthen an argument? These are just a few examples; you really need to take a deep dive into the individual Critical Reasoning topics to develop the necessary skills to properly attack any Critical Reasoning questions that you encounter.

As you learn each Critical Reasoning problem type, do focused practice so that you can track your skill in answering each type. If, for example, you incorrectly answered a Weaken the Argument question, ask yourself why. Did you make a careless mistake? Did you not recognize the specific question type? Were you doing too much analysis in your head? Did you skip over a keyword in an answer choice? You must thoroughly analyze your mistakes and seek to turn weaknesses into strengths by focusing on the question types you dread seeing and the questions you take a long time to answer correctly.

When practicing Reading Comprehension, you need to develop a reading strategy that is both efficient and thorough. Reading too fast and not understanding what you have read are equally as harmful as reading too slow and using up too much time. When attacking Reading Comprehension passages, you must have one clear goal in mind: to understand the context of what you are reading. However, you must do so efficiently, so you need to avoid getting bogged down in the details of each paragraph and focus on understanding the main point of each paragraph. That being said, do not fall into the trap of thinking that you can just read the intro and the conclusion and comprehend the main idea of a paragraph. As you read a paragraph, consider how the context of the paragraph relates to previous paragraphs, so you can continue developing your overall understanding of the passage. Furthermore, as you practice Reading Comprehension, focus on the exact types of questions with which you struggle: Find the Main Idea, Inference, Author’s Tone, etc. As with Critical Reasoning, analyze your incorrect answers to better determine why you tend to get a particular question type wrong, and then improve upon your weaknesses. You can perfect your reading strategy with a lot of practice, but keep in mind that GMAT Reading Comprehension passages are not meant to be stimulating. So, to better prepare yourself to tackle such bland passages, read magazines with similar content and style, such as the New York Times, Scientific American, and Smithsonian.
 
Sentence Correction is a bit of a different animal compared to Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. There are three aspects to getting correct answers to GMAT Sentence Correction questions: what you know, such as grammar rules, what you see, such as violations of grammar rules and the logic of sentence structure, and what you do, such as carefully considering each answer choice in the context of the non-underlined portion of the sentence. To drive up your Sentence Correction score, you likely will have to work on all three of those aspects. Furthermore, the likely reason that your Sentence Correction performance has not improved is that you have not been working on all three of those aspects. 
 
Regarding what you know, to be successful in Sentence Correction, first and foremost, you MUST know your grammar rules. Let's be clear, though: GMAT Sentence Correction is not just a test of knowledge of grammar rules. The reason for learning grammar rules is so that you can determine what sentences convey and whether sentences are well-constructed. In fact, in many cases, incorrect answers to Sentence Correction questions are grammatically flawless. Thus, often your task is to use your knowledge of grammar rules to determine which answer choice creates the most logical sentence meaning and structure.
 
This determination of whether sentences are well-constructed and logical is the second aspect of finding correct answers to Sentence Correction questions, what you see. To develop this skill, you probably have to slow way down. You won't develop this skill by spending less than two minutes per question. For a while, anyway, you have to spend time with each question, maybe even ten or fifteen minutes on one question sometimes, analyzing every answer choice until you see the details that you have to see in order to choose the correct answer. As you go through the answer choices, consider the meaning conveyed by each version of the sentence. Does the meaning make sense? Even if you can tell what the version is SUPPOSED to convey, does the version really convey that meaning? Is there a verb to go with the subject? Do all pronouns clearly refer to nouns? By slowing way down and looking for these details, you learn to see what you have to see in order to clearly understand which answer to a Sentence Correction question is correct.
 
There is only one correct answer to any Sentence Correction question, there are clear reasons why that choice is correct and the others are not, and none of those reasons are that the correct version simply "sounds right." In fact, the correct version often sounds a little off at first. That correct answers may sound a little off is not surprising. If the correct answers were always the ones that sounded right, then most people most of the time would get Sentence Correction questions correct, without really knowing why the wrong answers were wrong and the correct answers were correct. So, you have to go beyond choosing what "sounds right" and learn to clearly see the logical reasons why one choice is better than all of the others.
 
As for the third aspect of getting Sentence Correction questions correct, what you do, the main thing you have to do is be very careful. You have to make sure that you are truly considering the structures of sentences and the meanings conveyed rather than allowing yourself to be tricked into choosing trap answers that sound right but don't convey meanings that make sense. You also have to make sure that you put some real energy into finding the correct answers. Finding the correct answer to a Sentence Correction question may take bouncing from choice to choice repeatedly until you start to see the differences between the choices that make all choices wrong except for one. Often, when you first look at the choices, only one or two seem obviously incorrect. Getting the right answers takes a certain work ethic. You have to put in the necessary time to see the differences between answers and to figure out the precise reasons that one choice is correct.
 
To improve what you do when you answer Sentence Correction questions, seek to become aware of how you are going about answering them. Are you being careful and looking for logic and details, or are you quickly eliminating choices that sound a little off and then choosing the best of the rest? If you choose an incorrect answer, consider what you did to arrive at that answer and what you could do differently to arrive at correct answers more consistently. Furthermore, see how many questions you can get correct in a row as you practice. If you break your streak by missing one, consider what you could do differently to extend your streak.

As with your Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension regimens, after learning a particular Sentence Correction topic, engage in focused practice with 30 questions or more that involve that topic. As your skills improve, you’ll then want to practice with questions that test you on skills from multiple SC topics.

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