DESPERATELY NEED HELP WITH RC speed

Question

Dear GMAT masters,
I have hard time reading the passage in RC. though each passage should be read within 3mins, I often spend around 10-15min to digest all the information presented, same amount to answer all the questions. To me, the passages are very confusing in many ways: no linearity, no rheme-theme structure, elaborate linking scope.... Can you please please please share some tips to speed up reading?
I desperately need help

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear oldest , I'm happy to help. :-)

My friend, I am going to give you an answer that you may not want to hear. There are a few shortcuts that can cut down a little bit of time, but if it is taking 10-15 minutes to get through the passage, you are in need of serious help. Not surprisingly, the best way to prepare for GMAT RC is to read . I would strongly recommend a serious daily habit of reading. See this blog: How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score You need to push yourself to read every single day, for at least an hour a day. That is hard work, and the progress will be slow at first, but you have to stick with it to improve. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

oldest · Answer

Yep, thanks, Mikemcgarry, I think that I am in serious trouble with reading since I read like my grandpa

an hour/ a day for me is do-able.

GMATPILLBILL · Answer

Hi oldest,

To improve RC - you really need visual guidance. Don't read articles about how to improve reading. You improve by actually doing or watching someone else do.

That's why you might find these video walkthroughs helpful: https://www.gmatpill.com/practicequestio ... tions.html

On average, you should be aiming to answer each question, in less than two minutes.

When it comes to the timing aspects of the test and stress management - make sure you think extreme positivity and pay attention to this critical element of the test. We highly recommend that you read through the timing tips that we put together for you on this blog post:
https://www.gmatpill.com/about/studying- ... trategies/

Also, in case you haven't seen, the GMAT Timer is just one of many features we already have in the Practice Pill Platform: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-test/

You can time yourself for each question, get a video explanation explained the GMAT PILL way, and post questions / get answers to your questions.

Best of luck - and we are here to help.

ccooley · Answer

I agree with Mike: the best way to get better at reading is to practice reading. Ideally, practice reading GMAT-like content (either read actual GMAT passages, or read high-quality nonfiction essays and news articles.)

I'll also add one more note. You  don't need to 'digest all the information presented' . The passages contain a  lot  of information, and much of it will be unfamiliar to you, unless you happen to have studied the field already. Test-takers who are reading a passage in 3 minutes aren't reading it faster than you because they're somehow understanding the unfamiliar information faster than you are, or because they know more to begin with. They're actually just judiciously skimming/ignoring large bits of the passage once they realize that they already 'basically get what it's saying', ignoring the details unless they're asked about them in a question, and accepting that they'll never walk away from a GMAT RC passage with the feeling that they actually understand the topic. If you finish reading and feel like you've learned something, you aren't doing it right. You want to sketch out the general, overall structure of what the passage is saying and how it's saying it (does it contrast a topic with something else? Does it give multiple examples? etc.) but keep it as broad and general as possible. Forget the content.

GMATPILLBILL · Answer

Hi oldest,

To improve RC - you really need visual guidance. Don't read articles about how to improve reading. You improve by actually doing or watching someone else do.

That's why you might find these video walkthroughs helpful: https://www.gmatpill.com/practicequestio ... tions.html

Also, in case you haven't seen, the GMAT Timer is just one of many features we already have in the Practice Pill Platform: https://www.gmatpill.com/gmat-practice-test/

You can time yourself for each question, get a video explanation explained the GMAT PILL way, and post questions / get answers to your questions.

Best of luck - and we are here to help.

oldest · Answer

Thank you guys,
your advice is very helpful. at least now I feel relief reading those passages.

DESPERATELY NEED HELP WITH RC speed

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