Reading Comp Help

[czilla24]

Hi.

I currently in the online summer session 1.
I feel like I am learning alot, although I wasnt very happy after preptest #2.
Still working on that though.

I think one of the major problems I am running into is the reading comp section.
I got 4 right on the entire section on that test, and it put me into panic mode a bit.

I seemed to have picked up on the strategies implored by the class, since I am reading the material and studying my notes, but when I get to the Must Be True questions on reading comp, i am having alot of trouble and I do not know what to do.

So I decided to just start drilling reading comp sections every day. Still, we're 2 months away from test day. So I need to make an adjustment somewhere, because I am missing far to many questions in this section. HELP ME PLEASE!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi czilla24!

Thanks for your question--The vast majority of questions in the Reading Comprehension section are some form of Must Be True question so mastering that question type is definitely important. One thing to keep in mind is that MBT questions in RC are very similar to Logical Reasoning MBT questions. Many of the same strategies you applied to the MBT LR Qs in Lesson 1 also apply to the MBT RC Qs. You should remember to apply the Fact Test--make sure that the answer choice you choose is proven by the facts in the passage. The correct answer to a MBT question is generally either a paraphrase of a statement in the passage or it may result from combining two or more statements in the passage. Be tough on the answer choices--get rid of answer choices that contain "new" information, are exaggerated, are only things that could be true or even likely to be true, are the opposite of the facts in the passage, or contain familiar elements that have been changed so that they are incorrect (shell game) or have been rearranged (reverse answer).

Of course the difference with MBT in RC is that you're dealing with much more information. Knowing the structure of the passage can really come in handy here. If you have a question that says something like: "Which one of the following assertions about the results of the Downstate campaign does the author affirm in the passage?", then you should know that the results of the campaign are discussed in paragraph 3 and you should go right to that paragraph to find the correct answer. Knowing the structure of the passage also helps with the broader Must Be True questions (i.e. "The passage most supports which one of the following statements?"). For these, you may be able to eliminate one or two answers because they are directly contrary to the facts in the stimulus but you'll probably need to check a few of them in the passage since the test makers are so good at making an answer choice sound familiar and super tempting, even though it's ultimately not quite what was stated in the passage. But if you know the structure well, you know right where to go back to for each answer choice so that you can check it quickly against the facts.

Hope this helps! Let us know if you have further questions.

Kelsey

[Jon Denning]

Hi czilla - thanks for the question. First off, complete and total agreement with everything Kelsey says! Great advice, start to finish.

Reading Comp is a real challenge for a lot of test takers, in part, I think, because it's a fairly unfamiliar exercise. That is, while most people have done some reading and question answering in academia, rarely is the text this dense and convoluted, the questions/answers this detailed and intentionally deceptive, and the timing this intense. So with that in mind my first piece of advice is just KEEP AT IT! You'll find that the more you expose yourself to these passage sets the more comfortable you get with the way in which they're written, the faster you can read and recognize key elements, and the better you'll get at determining what can and cannot be proven based on the text (what must be true). I know it feels like test day is fast approaching, but remember that you're still in the VERY early stages of your course and you've still got a lot to learn in the next two months. Stay calm and confident and trust that with time and the consistent application of proper strategies you'll see significant improvement.

Secondly, there's a comprehensive discussion of how to best tackle the passages given as a virtual module as part of your online Lesson Two homework. Be sure to check that out if you haven't done so already, as a lot of students report that it really helped them refine how to approach the reading and better manage the questions.

I imagine others may weigh in here as well, but for now I'd say you're off to a good start, just be sure to keep working and investigate all of the supplemental resources available to you as part of your course.

Jon

[czilla24]

Thanks for the advice guys!

I really enjoy the positive attitude and good pointers. And I love Powerscore!

I have been working on reading comp all day.. and it seems like the more questions i do, the more passages I read I keep getting worst.

The more I study the techniques, read over my notes, prepare a strategy, when I go to do the questions things, just do not click.

Anyway. Anymore advice youd be willing to offer, that would be great.

Otherwise, im just gonna keep drilling at it and hope it gets easier.

thanks guys!

PS. Jon, your kind of my hero!

[Adam Tyson]

Tell us more about your strategy and how you are approaching the section in general. I'm particularly interested in how you are managing time. Are you trying to finish all four passages in the 35 minutes allotted? How quickly or slowly are you reading the passages before moving on to the questions? Are you looking back at your notes and the passage content to help answer each question, or trusting your memory?

[czilla24]

Unfortunately, I am still in the very early stages on my prep. And am concerned most about reading comp, since i recently adopted the power score reading comp technique, my score seems to have went down dramatically.

At this point, I am trying to read everything really very slow and trying to get all questions 100%.

With that said, I am only getting at most 3 questions correct per section, and seem to be having the most trouble with the must be true framework of RC.

So I did a quick diagnosis over the homework and found that a major of the questions follow the must be true framework, and these are the questions I am struggling with. I think the number was something like 64/90 questions incorrect. So I am having alot of trouble here.

Additionally, Before lsat days I was kind of slow reader to begin with, So I liked to read slow and catch all the details, this just isnt possible with the lsat time contraints.

I also like to underline and mark alot, So my RC passages look pretty artistic. I try to follow the roadmap idea, but I think I read so closly the first time, I know exactly where to go back and reread.

Unfortunately, when i get there, and reread the except, something goes wrong when i try to transfer what i just read to the correct answer choices. Maybe the questions are tricky.

Anyway, I went back to LR sections and began drilling MBT questions again, and dont seem to have problems here. In fact, I think its one of my strongest points. But... buddy when i get to reading comp, thats when the trouble begins.

[Adam Tyson]

Okay, good information. Let's see what we can do with it.

First, a key point with reading comp is that you should not try to become an expert on the material in the passage. Don't read so carefully the first time, but do something a little more like skimming, picking up key words and phrases and taking note of important ideas as you go. The goal isn't to memorize, but to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so you can find your way back to those important tidbits later.

Second, prephrase. When you get to the end of a passage, before you look at the first question you should prephrase the main point and the tone, and at least think about the structure. Knowing those things will carry you through a lot of the questions, confidently eliminating losers and picking contenders.

Third, try a strategy that a lot of my students have used with great success, and that is to decide up front that you will only complete two passages, taking 15 minutes each, with 5 minutes left over to just guess on the rest. If you could improve from 3 or 4 right to 10 or 12, how great would that be? Do that a few times until you are kicking butt, and then you can try doing the passages at 11 minutes each.

Give that a few tries and get back to us so we can continue to fine tune your approach.

Good luck!