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Sj1020
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Reading Compreshension - Help Needed!!!! 09 Jan 2024, 23:25
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For a bit of context, I am an Indian Student and have been preparing and appearing for Competitive exams for almost an year now. I am just about to complete my third year.

GMAT- 580 V-22,Q-48 Gre- 318 V-159 Q-159 Appeared for multiple Indian entrance tests as well

Over the course of both the exams what I have realised that the ultimate hiccup point for me has been reading comprehension. Knowing this I have tried to improve my reading skills by practicing a lot following strategies such as passage map, holding a pen, active reading and what not even forming a reading habit, but still couldn’t improve this one crucial area. So, I really need to work ground up and improve my reading from the very basics, realising this took me almost an year so take notes if someone is in the same boat as me.

I am planning to appear again for the Gre again in March, with hopes to improve my score to get in the range of 330. I will start practicing quants using prepswift and greg’s 2 month plan.

I’ve shortlisted some books that can help me improve my basics of reading.

1. Practice Makes Perfect Advanced English Reading and Comprehension by Diane Engelhardt (Author)

2. how to read a book by Mortimer J. Adler (Author), Charles Van Doren (Author)

3. The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo

4. How to read better and faster by normal lewis

If anyone has any idea about these books and your reviews as well.

Moreover, if anyone has any ideas, advice, or insights which can help me please do share.

I am open to book recommendations, unique approaches and anything that can help me.

I will be posting this on other forums as well for more help.
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Reading Compreshension - Help Needed!!!! 10 Jan 2024, 01:00
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Sj1020
For a bit of context, I am an Indian Student and have been preparing and appearing for Competitive exams for almost an year now. I am just about to complete my third year.

GMAT- 580 V-22,Q-48 Gre- 318 V-159 Q-159 Appeared for multiple Indian entrance tests as well

Over the course of both the exams what I have realised that the ultimate hiccup point for me has been reading comprehension. Knowing this I have tried to improve my reading skills by practicing a lot following strategies such as passage map, holding a pen, active reading and what not even forming a reading habit, but still couldn’t improve this one crucial area. So, I really need to work ground up and improve my reading from the very basics, realising this took me almost an year so take notes if someone is in the same boat as me.

I am planning to appear again for the Gre again in March, with hopes to improve my score to get in the range of 330. I will start practicing quants using prepswift and greg’s 2 month plan.

I’ve shortlisted some books that can help me improve my basics of reading.

1. Practice Makes Perfect Advanced English Reading and Comprehension by Diane Engelhardt (Author)

2. how to read a book by Mortimer J. Adler (Author), Charles Van Doren (Author)

3. The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo

4. How to read better and faster by normal lewis

If anyone has any idea about these books and your reviews as well.

Moreover, if anyone has any ideas, advice, or insights which can help me please do share.

I am open to book recommendations, unique approaches and anything that can help me.

I will be posting this on other forums as well for more help.
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Well ! There is no one size fits all answer to this question (at least I have not found one).

I will share my two cents on the topic -

Reading is an individual trait and it 'depends' from person to person, and the process to hone that skill takes time. So, my answer to your question will depend on your response to these questions: "How much time do are you willing to devote until March?" and "What's your current level ?"

As you are targeting GRE in the next 2.5 months, probably reading articles from reputed journals such as WSJ, The Economist, NY Times, Scientific American etc. will help. You can subscribe to NY times or Economist. However this process, though effective, is time consuming and it may take weeks or months depending how comfortable you're with a topic.

An alternate approach is to attempt passage untimed initially and the gradually moving to a timed practice.

Start solving the easy one first(sub 600 ones that appear in GMAT or similar GRE equivalent) and build your way up. Practicing untimed is crucial so that you can focus on building skills rather than chasing the time limit. Once you've identified the topics or question types that you're not very good at, take passages of similar topics and similar difficulty level (or even a level lower) from the GRE / GMAT / LSAT bank and solve them untimed. At end of this exercise you will not only have read more on the topic that you're not comfortable with but also have solved those passages rather than just read the the passages like articles.

If you already know your level and / or topics that you're not great at - Take passages of similar topics and similar difficulty level (or even a level lower) from the GRE / GMAT bank and solve them untimed till you get comfortable with. At end of this exercise you will not only have read more on the topic that you're not comfortable with but also have solved those passages rather than just read the the passages like articles.

Hope this helps !

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