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General questions relating to LSAT Reading Comprehension.
 moshei24
  • Posts: 465
  • Joined: Mar 20, 2012
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#5312
This is not a question; rather, it is a post about what I did to improve in RC.

Feel free to share it with your friends.

It used to take me 5 mins to get through a passage. I would underline A LOT, and notate way too much. By the time I was done, I wasn't sure what I read, and my notation hurt more than helped me. By focusing too much on underlining, you don't get the flow of the passage - you're too busy halting that flow by notating. It also is very time consuming.

The first step I took was to underline less, and notate less. I just focused on underlining things that I knew would give me points of reference when I returned to the passage - like viewpoints, definitions, examples, etc. Or I would just notate next to the passage really quickly what I thought was VERY important. That's key. It should be VERY important, not just important. I would bracket long things that I thought I may want to look back at by putting a bracket in the column next to the passage, so it wouldn't get the passage messy. When I would get to the questions, I would usually have a good sense of what happened in the passage, and would know where to look for the answers in the passage or would know the answers already.

Another thing that helps this a lot is focusing on structure, so you know what each paragraph is doing and you know where to look back for each question.

At one point I started reading through passages too fast, and when I got to the questions, I had no clue what I read. So I slowed down a little bit, to a point where I understood what I was reading, but didn't take too long. Notating less CAN take over a min off your reading times.

I also started reading NY Times editorials often, and focused on the main point and knowing what the author was arguing in the passage. It really does help.

I use two apps that I got on my iPhone - Acceleread and Speed Read. I got them to work on reading speed.

I now try to do 3-5 passages each day to keep improving and get a better sense of what questions the LSAT is going to ask.

Don't read for detail and don't get intimidated by big words. Structure matters the most, and knowing what the bigger picture is. Details are usually only necessary for questions that point you to them. The bigger picture and knowing what the Author's opinion is are the most important things to know in the passage.

It's all about practice, so dive in and rock that section!

You can do it. It just take practice. :)

PS - This is all a combination of what I have learned from PowerScore, read all over the internet, and came to from my own experiences.
 Steve Stein
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 1153
  • Joined: Apr 11, 2011
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#5479
Thanks!

Let me also take this opportunity to mention PowerScore's latest release, the PowerScore Reading Comprehension Bible Workbook, available at PowerScore.com

It's got a great chapter of drills that reinforce the approaches and habits discussed in the RC Bible, and several complete LSAC passages, followed by complete passage discussions, with every question and answer choice explained.

Let me know if I can answer any questions about this or any of our other publications--thanks!

~Steve
 RayMiller
  • Posts: 33
  • Joined: Jul 16, 2012
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#6907
Thanks Moshie and Steve.

Moshie, I downloaded the acceleread but was unable to find speedread...who makes it?
 moshei24
  • Posts: 465
  • Joined: Mar 20, 2012
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#6910
Not sure. It's "Speed Read." It's less important than Acceleread. I have an iPhone, so I don't know if it will be elsewhere...
 RayMiller
  • Posts: 33
  • Joined: Jul 16, 2012
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#6911
Ok. I have an iPad and downloaded the acceleread so I'll start with that.

Thanks again.
 moshei24
  • Posts: 465
  • Joined: Mar 20, 2012
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#6953
You're welcome. Good luck! :)
 Steve Stein
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 1153
  • Joined: Apr 11, 2011
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#7436
...and while we're discussing Reading Comp practice, I'll also mention the PowerScore Reading Comp Passage Type Training, which provides complete passage sets, separated by passage type.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions about Reading Comp, and Good Luck!

~Steve

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