Question

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
hii 
i am getting poor scores because of RC 
i have done all RC from OG and kaplan 
now from where do i get RC to practise from 
i think repeating the same RC wont help 
actually i take a lot of time with RC that i eventually fall short of time in case of SC and CR (i am comfortable with them) 
but still i am getting 25 in PR 
70%wrong in RC 
90%correct in CR AND SC 
i will be taking GMAT after a month 
but i get lost while practising RC .infact i have stopped practising RC since i am not improving in it.instead i am practising other sections 
is it possible for me to improve in a short time 
if yes then how 
please let me know 
thanks

hota · Answer

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago the first time I took the GMAT. RC was defiitely my weak area. 

When I took the Princeton Review class prior to my first GMAT, the instructor told me not to read the passage, but to go to the question and then skim to find the answer.  This strategy is totally wrong!  RC tests your comprehension, the ability to understand and put information together from different parts of the passage, not just to look up answers in the text.

What really helped me was to read the RC passage with the intent of the author in mind. I would think to myself, "what was the author's purpose for including this paragraph?" I would also take brief notes on each paragraph, which helped me understand the topic better as well as the overall theme. I believe I took about 3-4 minutes throughly reading each passage.

Only after I had read the entire passage would I even read the first question. This is very important as you don't want the question to distract you during your initial reading.

Approach answering the questions by a process of elimination. The answer choices may be reworded or stated in a different way, so make sure you understand the meaning of each answer before eliminating it. Also, pay attention to the verbs used in the answer choices, making sure they fit the theme of the passage. For example, you should be able to eliminate answers to purpose questions just by the first word (argue vs. discuss vs. analyze vs. refute vs. propose, etc...).

chihao · Answer

Hi hota
Great comment about RC.............
I think it is very helpful for tackling RC in GMAT test............
Chih-Hao

jlyngal · Answer

I followed the following strategy for RC and found that it really helped me focus on the passage and understand it. 

1. Read the first paragraph.
2. Write one sentence summaraizing the point of the first paragraph. 
3. Repeat steps 1&2 for each paragraph.
4. Be sure to note if there is a shift in the passage. For example, if the passage describes a traditional view of something, but then starts discussing an alternative. 

When you finish, you'll end up with an outline of the passage and a very clear idea of where things are in the passage, making it faster for you to find answers. Actually, after making this outline, I found that I really didn't even need to refer to the outline when I went to look for answers--- I already knew where to look in the passage because the process of making the outline helped me truly understand the passage and its structure the first time around.

AD · Answer

thxs a lot for ur valuable comments

skul · Answer

AD,

There are a few things which I found helpful:

1: Read the first para carefully and get 'oriented'. Get a good feel for topic, scope, direction and intention of passage. The jump into the rest of the para. If you are comfortable with the first, then the rest are usaully easy to comprehend.

2: After looking at OG explanations, I realized that in many questions its just a matter of skimming the passage for the right answer. Look for facts that you know are mentioned in the passage. Dont guess.

3: For inference questions, ans is usually the one which cant be disputed. You need to ask youself if you can really defend your ans.

AD · Answer

thxs skul

Vicky · Answer

AD
if u are done with all RC passages that you had, try this site. It has Lsat RC & CR questions... tougher than OG.

https://www.studa.com/newexam/list.asp?boardid=174

Use the strategies that other members have mentioned on these sample questions. i am sure u will improve.
best of luck

AD · Answer

thxs vicky

singapore · Answer

Where to get the answer after we try the questions found at https://www.studa.com/newexam/list.asp?boardid=174

pitts20042006 · Answer

I know that the answers are in the posts titled "TEST # KEY " where # stands for the test number.

But where to we get the explanations?

perfectstranger · Answer

Does reading National Geographic , Science Magazine and The Economist improve your score on RC ? Do you have any suggestions?

bb · Answer

Here are my suggestions: GMAT Fiction Also, see these posts: 1. https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-improv ... 59140.html 2. https://gmatclub.com/forum/new-to-the-ve ... 77546.html 3. https://gmatclub.com/forum/720-q42-v47-h ... 50635.html

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards