Improving accuracyin RC

Question

I am facing issue in solving RCs because of that I cannnot breach my 85 score target. I sometimes end up overspending my time in a particular RC leaving me short of time in other questions. How to optimize my speed so that I dont have to re read as well as I can get the accuracy upto the mark.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi ajain12,

The good news is that this is a very fixable problem. What you're describing (overspending on one passage and then scrambling on the rest) is one of the most common RC timing traps, and it almost always has the same root cause: reading too fast the first time.

Let me break this down into a few areas.

Why you're re-reading (and how to stop) 
Re-reading usually isn't a speed problem, it's a comprehension problem masquerading as one. When students rush through a passage trying to save time, they reach the end without a solid mental picture of what they just read. Then they have to go back. That back-and-forth actually costs  more  time than slower, deliberate reading would have.

The fix is to read at a pace that allows for full comprehension on the first pass. That means checking in with yourself sentence by sentence. If you hit a sentence and realize you're not sure what it just said, stop right there. Back up one or two sentences and re-read carefully before moving on. Doing this in real time (rather than at the end of the passage) keeps re-reading targeted and brief instead of a full passage restart.

This takes a little discipline to build as a habit, but once it clicks, it dramatically reduces the need to re-read at all.

The right pacing targets 
Here's a concrete framework to work from:
 
 Short passage (typically 1–2 paragraphs): aim for roughly  2 minutes  of reading 
 Long passage (typically 3–4 paragraphs): aim for roughly  3 to 4 minutes  of reading 
 Each question associated with a passage: roughly  1 minute  per question

So a short passage with 3 questions should take you about 5 minutes total. A long passage with 4 questions should take about 7–8 minutes. If you're blowing past those ranges on a single passage, that's your signal, not to speed up your reading, but to check whether you're getting lost in the details rather than tracking the main thread.

What to track while reading 
You don't need to memorize every detail of a passage. What you do need is a clear mental (or written) map of:
 
 What is the main point of this passage? 
 What is the author's tone or attitude toward the topic? 
 What does each paragraph contribute to that main point?

Taking brief notes as you read (even just a few words per paragraph) forces you to actively process the content rather than passively moving your eyes across the text. It also gives you a quick reference when you get to questions, so you know exactly where to look rather than scanning the whole passage.

Answering questions without getting stuck 
One other timing killer worth flagging: answering from memory instead of going back to the passage. It's tempting to think "I remember this" and pick an answer quickly, but GMAT RC answer choices are carefully written to trip up students who don't verify. When a question asks about a specific detail or inference, locate the relevant part of the passage and read it again before committing. This adds a few seconds per question but dramatically improves accuracy.

The bottom line 
Your timing issue and your re-reading issue are linked, and they're both downstream of the same thing: not getting enough comprehension on the first pass. Slow down slightly when reading, check in with yourself actively as you go, take quick structural notes, and trust the process of returning to the passage for answers. The time you "save" by rushing through a passage is always lost later.

As you practice this approach, your pacing will naturally calibrate. You'll start to develop an instinct for how much time a given passage is taking and whether you're on track.
Hope this helps get you unstuck.

Improving accuracyin RC

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