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gmatexam439
GMAT 1: 730 Q49 V41
Posts: 1,064
07 Jul 2018, 07:22
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Hi Everyone,
Lately, I have been getting a lot of questions pertaining to the preparation of RC. I thought it would be easy to share my detailed thoughts and approach in a post: hence the following post.
Like many people, I am not an avid reader and thus I too struggled with RCs in the initial stages of my prep. However, I followed a particular way to enhance my RC skills.
GMAT mostly tests three types of questions in the exam:
1. Inference/strengthen/weaken type -- These questions can be improved with improvements in CR skills
2. According to passage type -- These questions have answers hidden somewhere in the RC. You just need to pinpoint the information being talked about in the question in RC
3. Main point type -- These questions test your overall understanding of the RC
First things first, you should absolutely know that GMAT RCs are extracted from articles and they don't give you any background information on the topic talked about. Thus, your very first step should be to train yourself likewise.
During my prep phase, I used to read Scientific American and Oxford Journals. Before I started reading I made sure that I don't see the title of the article that I was going to read. For this activity, I usually took the help of my friends. I asked them to open any random page in the pdf that didn't contain the title and I asked them to be very careful the page they were going to present me for reading because the page shouldn't have had the beginning or end of the article. I made sure to start reading somewhere in the middle of the article. Once I was sorted out with the material to read, I started reading the first para and summarised it mentally. Please make a special note that I didn't take written notes during this activity. The purpose of the activity was to train my brain to remember as much stuff as it can alongside making myself comfortable with GMAT like language. After finishing summarization of the first paragraph, I read and summarised the next para. Similarly, after the second para, I read and summarised the third para. After completing the third para, I tried to connect the three summaries in order to understand the bigger picture. Once I had a good understanding, I checked out the title of the article to confirm my understanding. I performed this activity during my free time, mostly in the office, so that I didn't lose valuable practice time at home. Of course, while practicing RCs at home I made notes for each para.
While reading, I paid special attention to the transition words such as however, but, furthermore etc. because these are the words that tend to change the tone of the author. During the initial stages of my prep, I paid special attention to the first and last lines of each para because many times the author tends to place the twists in these lines. I would suggest you pay attention to the flow of information rather than going into the depths of jargons. For example, if you are reading a science passage and if scientific names are present in the passage then you might want to just make a note of the placement of those words in the RC, so that if any according to passage question pops up you would be able to pinpoint the location of that word. There is no point in writing the factual information while summarizing the para.
At times when I started reading the first paragraph of the RC, I would immediately start writing the notes. But soon I realized that I was taking the notes too soon. I changed my strategy and pushed myself to read more, to read the para first in the entirety and then make notes of that para. By doing so I improved my speed and overall comprehension of the para, hence the RC.
By following the above plan I was able to improve my RC skills.
P.S. This is not the only way to improve RC skills. Always search for ways in which you feel comfortable. Try to make GMAT part of your life as much as you can.
I hope this post helps !!
Best Regards,
Gmatexam439
Lately, I have been getting a lot of questions pertaining to the preparation of RC. I thought it would be easy to share my detailed thoughts and approach in a post: hence the following post.
Like many people, I am not an avid reader and thus I too struggled with RCs in the initial stages of my prep. However, I followed a particular way to enhance my RC skills.
GMAT mostly tests three types of questions in the exam:
1. Inference/strengthen/weaken type -- These questions can be improved with improvements in CR skills
2. According to passage type -- These questions have answers hidden somewhere in the RC. You just need to pinpoint the information being talked about in the question in RC
3. Main point type -- These questions test your overall understanding of the RC
First things first, you should absolutely know that GMAT RCs are extracted from articles and they don't give you any background information on the topic talked about. Thus, your very first step should be to train yourself likewise.
During my prep phase, I used to read Scientific American and Oxford Journals. Before I started reading I made sure that I don't see the title of the article that I was going to read. For this activity, I usually took the help of my friends. I asked them to open any random page in the pdf that didn't contain the title and I asked them to be very careful the page they were going to present me for reading because the page shouldn't have had the beginning or end of the article. I made sure to start reading somewhere in the middle of the article. Once I was sorted out with the material to read, I started reading the first para and summarised it mentally. Please make a special note that I didn't take written notes during this activity. The purpose of the activity was to train my brain to remember as much stuff as it can alongside making myself comfortable with GMAT like language. After finishing summarization of the first paragraph, I read and summarised the next para. Similarly, after the second para, I read and summarised the third para. After completing the third para, I tried to connect the three summaries in order to understand the bigger picture. Once I had a good understanding, I checked out the title of the article to confirm my understanding. I performed this activity during my free time, mostly in the office, so that I didn't lose valuable practice time at home. Of course, while practicing RCs at home I made notes for each para.
While reading, I paid special attention to the transition words such as however, but, furthermore etc. because these are the words that tend to change the tone of the author. During the initial stages of my prep, I paid special attention to the first and last lines of each para because many times the author tends to place the twists in these lines. I would suggest you pay attention to the flow of information rather than going into the depths of jargons. For example, if you are reading a science passage and if scientific names are present in the passage then you might want to just make a note of the placement of those words in the RC, so that if any according to passage question pops up you would be able to pinpoint the location of that word. There is no point in writing the factual information while summarizing the para.
At times when I started reading the first paragraph of the RC, I would immediately start writing the notes. But soon I realized that I was taking the notes too soon. I changed my strategy and pushed myself to read more, to read the para first in the entirety and then make notes of that para. By doing so I improved my speed and overall comprehension of the para, hence the RC.
By following the above plan I was able to improve my RC skills.
P.S. This is not the only way to improve RC skills. Always search for ways in which you feel comfortable. Try to make GMAT part of your life as much as you can.
I hope this post helps !!
Best Regards,
Gmatexam439
08 Jul 2018, 19:41
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Bookmarks
vaibhav1221
For RC - the best way to improve is to practice.
I highly recommend Harvard Magazine articles? Why? Because they have a lot of short articles - that are very similar to what you might see on the GMAT exam -- usually 4-6 paragraphs citing some kind of social or science research.
Favorite this:
https://harvardmagazine.com/topic/Research
Look for where it says: "Select a topic:" - Humanities, Social Science, Science, International
Go to the above link and read some of the articles.You'll see these are almost the exact topics you will see on the actual GMAT exam.
Here's one example:
https://harvardmagazine.com/2018/02/how ... lationship
Are you able to quickly read through it - ideally without reading every word - and identify WHO is writing it and WHY they are writing it - WHAT's the whole point to the author spending time to write these passages?
These are great for RC comprehension - with practice, time management becomes a non-issue.
This is what we recommend for our students!
See if this video helps: https://www.gmatpill.com/readingcomprehension/intro.mp4
You can also get more RC Practice with our online question bank:
https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-t ... questions/
---and the best material for RC is saved for our RC Pill course where we actually walk through dozens of RC passages showing you where to read and where not to read.
Just look for "Vishal" under the "Verbal Improvement" tab of
https://www.gmatpill.com/testimonials
-- read his story (and video) about RC improvement.
General Discussion
07 Jul 2018, 07:36
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gmatexam439
Thanks for this great insight. It will be really helpful.
