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anjalimathur1003
GMAT 1: 730 Q49 V41
Posts: 5
Updated on: 16 Dec 2015, 04:15
Originally posted by anjalimathur1003 on 10 May 2015, 13:56.
Last edited by anjalimathur1003 on 16 Dec 2015, 04:15, edited 3 times in total.
Last edited by anjalimathur1003 on 16 Dec 2015, 04:15, edited 3 times in total.
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solitaryreaper
Joined: 23 Sep 2013
Last visit: 21 Feb 2023
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10 May 2015, 23:42
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Hi Anjali !
That's a nice de-brief. I have been procrastinating lately and it's been a month when I last studied for GMAT. I hope your story acts as a dose of inspiration for me
Few questions:
I was facing difficulty in CR and RC. Any methodology/tips for improvement in these areas?
In RC , I never hit 100% accuracy in any passage. Even in the easiest or average passage I tend to get atleast 1 answer wrong. In tougher 700-level passages I hardly surpass 50-60% accuracy
Regards,
SR
That's a nice de-brief. I have been procrastinating lately and it's been a month when I last studied for GMAT. I hope your story acts as a dose of inspiration for me
Few questions:
I was facing difficulty in CR and RC. Any methodology/tips for improvement in these areas?
In RC , I never hit 100% accuracy in any passage. Even in the easiest or average passage I tend to get atleast 1 answer wrong. In tougher 700-level passages I hardly surpass 50-60% accuracy
Regards,
SR
anjalimathur1003
11 May 2015, 03:18
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Responding to a few PMs as well.
Hi SR,
Thank you very much!
Sharing a few tips that worked for me in RC
1. There are multiple strategies floating around on how to attack RC questions. What worked for me is reading the passage the first time and taking notes alongside. The noted needn't be detailed. Anything pictorial (with graphs/arrows/tick marks/question marks) does the trick. This comes very handy especially in answering 'opinion of the author/tone of the passage' questions. I would put double tick marks when the author would praise/talk highly about the subject of the passage, put crosses each time the author would criticise etc. This will help you gauge whether the author is praising, criticising, or just presenting facts. You can make such signs/symbols that would work for you and ensure you don't waste too much time taking notes.
People often suggest 'speed reading' however, I am totally against this because it has never worked for me. GMAT tests your ability to comprehend information and not the pace at which you read. A certain amount of inference is required in RCs that cannot come with speed reading. It is important to give the passage one good read before looking at the questions. This often reduces the need to look at the passage again and again for subsequent questions and averages out the total time taken per passage.
2. Never select an answer choice. ALWAYS work by elimination. Often you will see answer choices that all sound good. This makes it important for us to look at the choices carefully and eliminate any option over-stating/wrongly inferring facts.
How do you eliminate wrong answer choices?
1. Be vary of extreme/exaggerated words.
To illustrate, " most cases of gum diseases are plague related". Here, be careful of the usage of the word 'most'. Has the author explicitly mentioned this fact? The passage may have mentioned that 2 out of the 3 patients of a given doctor had plague related diseases but does that in any way infer that most cases of all gum diseases are plague related? NO!
Hence, unless explicitly mentioned by the author, answer choices with extreme/exaggerated words are incorrect. (Extreme words- most, all, many, best, most advanced, latest, solely because of, none, only etc.)
2. Ensure that each word of the answer choice holds true
GMAT loves confusing students by providing choices that use certain words that are dropped straight from the passage. This is done to make an answer choice look more appealing to the test taker. Do not fall into this trap. Choices with attractive words taken directly from the passage are often incorrect.
For example: One of the answer choice reads: Periodontitis can be associated with a number of systemic diseases, including type 1 diabetes.
Now you remember reading the phrase 'systemic disease' somewhere in the paragraph and hence you are highly drawn towards this option. Do not, however, select, this choice until you confirm every other word mentioned in the sentence. Ask yourself- did the passage say that periodontitis itself can be associated? Did the passage mention a number of systemic diseases or just one? Is type 1 Diabetes an accurate example here?
Once you follow the steps I've mentioned above, it'll be very easy to eliminate most of the incorrect options. As I mentioned earlier, RC was always my strong point since I've been an avid reader all my life. It is crucial to train your mind to both read and quickly absorb information that lies outside your comfort zone. For this, I'd recommend reading some non-fiction books, Wall Street Journal etc. Be invested and involved with the content of the passage and you'll soon see your efforts bear fruition.
All the very best for your prep!
Hi SR,
Thank you very much!
Sharing a few tips that worked for me in RC
1. There are multiple strategies floating around on how to attack RC questions. What worked for me is reading the passage the first time and taking notes alongside. The noted needn't be detailed. Anything pictorial (with graphs/arrows/tick marks/question marks) does the trick. This comes very handy especially in answering 'opinion of the author/tone of the passage' questions. I would put double tick marks when the author would praise/talk highly about the subject of the passage, put crosses each time the author would criticise etc. This will help you gauge whether the author is praising, criticising, or just presenting facts. You can make such signs/symbols that would work for you and ensure you don't waste too much time taking notes.
People often suggest 'speed reading' however, I am totally against this because it has never worked for me. GMAT tests your ability to comprehend information and not the pace at which you read. A certain amount of inference is required in RCs that cannot come with speed reading. It is important to give the passage one good read before looking at the questions. This often reduces the need to look at the passage again and again for subsequent questions and averages out the total time taken per passage.
2. Never select an answer choice. ALWAYS work by elimination. Often you will see answer choices that all sound good. This makes it important for us to look at the choices carefully and eliminate any option over-stating/wrongly inferring facts.
How do you eliminate wrong answer choices?
1. Be vary of extreme/exaggerated words.
To illustrate, " most cases of gum diseases are plague related". Here, be careful of the usage of the word 'most'. Has the author explicitly mentioned this fact? The passage may have mentioned that 2 out of the 3 patients of a given doctor had plague related diseases but does that in any way infer that most cases of all gum diseases are plague related? NO!
Hence, unless explicitly mentioned by the author, answer choices with extreme/exaggerated words are incorrect. (Extreme words- most, all, many, best, most advanced, latest, solely because of, none, only etc.)
2. Ensure that each word of the answer choice holds true
GMAT loves confusing students by providing choices that use certain words that are dropped straight from the passage. This is done to make an answer choice look more appealing to the test taker. Do not fall into this trap. Choices with attractive words taken directly from the passage are often incorrect.
For example: One of the answer choice reads: Periodontitis can be associated with a number of systemic diseases, including type 1 diabetes.
Now you remember reading the phrase 'systemic disease' somewhere in the paragraph and hence you are highly drawn towards this option. Do not, however, select, this choice until you confirm every other word mentioned in the sentence. Ask yourself- did the passage say that periodontitis itself can be associated? Did the passage mention a number of systemic diseases or just one? Is type 1 Diabetes an accurate example here?
Once you follow the steps I've mentioned above, it'll be very easy to eliminate most of the incorrect options. As I mentioned earlier, RC was always my strong point since I've been an avid reader all my life. It is crucial to train your mind to both read and quickly absorb information that lies outside your comfort zone. For this, I'd recommend reading some non-fiction books, Wall Street Journal etc. Be invested and involved with the content of the passage and you'll soon see your efforts bear fruition.
All the very best for your prep!
