My RC Verbal Puzzle needs a permanent fix.

Question

I don't get how one could "do" the RC questions and still finish in time.
They are lengthy and obscure and need rereading.
What are the strategies for answering them?
I'm sure there must be.
I "skip"most of the RC questions in my CAT so as to finish and my score suffers cos I pick wrong answers.
They are not unanswerable by any means.
But you need to read them very very well to answer the questions that follow.
But there is practically no time to do that in the exam.
any solution?

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

Hi Nez, The RC questions are there in the test, because they are meant to be done in the time frame

You need a lot of practice and some strategies to solve the question. You can try doing the following strategies: 1. Pay attention to the first and the last lines of each paragraph 2. Pay attention to the transition words. 3. Make a passage map (although this is time consuming, but it makes sure that you understand the passage properly) What is your comfort level with the other two sections SC and CR? Are you following and preparatory course? When are you planning to take the GMAT?

Ekland · Answer

Chewing on your generous reply.
SC and CR are less of a worry. I spend more time on difficult questions (btw 2.10 & 3. I guess that's a prob) but then I answer some less difficult ones in less than 40 seconds. CR is normal n appeals to my mind.
SC seems more challenging than CR most times.
I'm done with tutors.
I've had a deluge of tutorials.
I see that practice is the only way to ensure improvement.
From what I'm seeing on gmatclub, I guess I used some substandard tutors before coming here.
I'm now pushing it with practice.
Planning to write GMAT on February.
Your advice will be put to immense use.
I'll appreciate further ones even.
thank you

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Nez,

Whether you believe it or not, 75 minutes IS enough time to properly deal with the Verbal section of the GMAT. The pacing issues that you describe are due to 'your way' of dealing with the Verbal section. In real basic terms, the methods that you currently use are taking too long, so you'll likely have to learn/practice some new Tactics.

1) How long have you been studying for the GMAT?
2) What study resources have you been using?
3) What 'steps' do you do when working through a typical SC, RC or CR prompt?

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

KarishmaB · Answer

RC questions are answerable - really! The GMAT world does not have a Kobayashi Maru! Everything is do-able with some learning and practice. If you find that you are short on time in Verbal, it could be that you are a slow reader/you lose focus midway/you take too much time to comprehend/your general comfort with the language is not strong or a combination of some such factors. Depending on what your problem(s) is, you can work toward improving it and find enough time for all questions. To increase speed, you need to push yourself to read faster. Give yourself 2 mins for a passage - at the end of it, try to recap what it says without looking. Increasing reading speed takes time because you need to break old bad habits of reading slowly, but it is certainly possible. Your comprehension might suffer in the beginning but slowly, it will catch up. No matter what you are reading (as part of your daily routine), try to read it faster. Here is a post describing some strategies that will help you save time in RC: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2014/07 ... questions/

Ekland · Answer

It really is.

I believe, that's why I'm here.

(1) Since september
(2) primarily Kaplan Premier, M-gmat strategy guides, OG, GMATprep software, then, kaplan800, Advanced Gmat Quant (manhattan), M-gmat online resources(CATs and questions banks in flashcards)
(3) before the Veritas advice above, my step for RC has been much of "skip" or answer them correctly and see my timer in red with many questions to go. For SC, I read the question then if i didnt see any mistake outright, i'll term it difficult level question and start eliminating. For CR, I usually try to formulate assumption or inference before looking at the options, and often, i see my assumption in the option and i pick. I also employ elimination for all sections in verbal.

Thank you.

Ekland · Answer

Thanks a lot Karishma.
But I don't know if that sample RC question in the link became quite too easy because of the strategy i applied or cos the "schooling fish" passage is quite hackneyed as i could almost recite it, having seen it in all verbal platforms I know. 
I'll apply my learning strategies into more obscure ones i'll come across and see how it works out. And you are right about my needing to read faster. It's a bad habit I've ignored cos i used to think it's right to comprehend the passage all at once. but I think the habit of drooling on passages is about to be broken. Let me quickly go grab some dailies.
Thanks so much.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Nez,

From what you describe, it sounds like 'your approach' to the Verbal section is a 'mish-mash' of different things that you've learned, but your steps seem to be missing consistency and strategy. The Verbal section of the GMAT is as predictable and standardized as the Quant section is, so there ARE consistent Tactics that you can use, patterns you can take advantage of, etc. to correctly answer questions and raise your score. You would likely benefit either by committing to one of the sets of Tactics that you've learned or (if the material you've used so far has not made the process of dealing with the Verbal section easier) investing in some new practice resources and learning/practicing the Tactics that they teach.

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

Ekland · Answer

OK lemme be more practical now.
I read this article below in exactly 14 minutes. It's longer than GMAT's.
If you take a look at the length, you can look me in the face and tell me the home truth which might be: "fast enough. just work on your gmat RC" or "You are a chronic slow reader. Seek help".
I still need to be exactly sure what my problem is from an "an expert's point of view". May be i might register for a new lesson on RC alone.
please take a look below.

https://www.economist.com/news/christmas ... ing-global

GMATPill · Answer

Hi Nez, As a demonstration, check out how we "do" RC questions here: https://www.gmatpill.com/practicequestio ... tions.html Notice that we don't actually read every single word in an RC passage. This is a skill that will take time to master, but you can get a sense for how it's done. We highlight just the keywords and transition words -- and then can still comprehend the general structure of the passage without paying attention to every detail. Only when the question asks us to examine a specific area do we re-read it in detail --but just that portion.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

HI Nez,

Rather than 'measure' your RC reading skills against a random passage on a random subject from the Ecconomist website, how are your skills against a GMAC RC passage (for example, ANY of the passages from ANY of the 4 GMAC CATs?). How long does it take you to read the passage and take some basic notes? That information would be far more relevant to evaluating your current skills in that area than a random non-GMAT passage that isn't necessarily written with the same structure and style of what you'll face on Test Day.

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

My RC Verbal Puzzle needs a permanent fix.

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