Passage - General Questions

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below! Thanks!

[gab1234]

I was running out of time with this as the last passage on the practice test. Any tips for addressing a more dense passage with more involved questions like this with only 5 minutes left?

Thanks so much!

[Adam Tyson]

5 minutes to do an RC passage is pretty tight,gab1234, but it's still more than enough time to read the passage at your normal pace (avoiding re-reading, looking primarily for structure and tone rather than details) and answer at least two questions, especially if the first question is the Main Point. My advice in those trying circumstances is to remain calm and do just that. Don't try to read faster or take any shortcuts, but just do all the things you would normally do and accept that you will probably have to guess on several questions just before time runs out. Better to be accurate than to be fast, and rushing is never a good idea!

Another option, if you have even less time, is risky but can sometimes pay off, and that is to read the first and last paragraphs only and see if that gives you enough information to answer a question or two. That's not ideal, but if you are looking at under 3 minutes on the clock when you get to that passage it is worth a try. Better to know the answer to one question than to have to guess on all of them!

More important than these strategies, though, is to analyze how you performed earlier in the section to figure out why you found yourself short on time. Were you re-reading a lot? Did you sort answers into losers and contenders quickly, or get caught up analyzing them and researching them before you were done sorting? Did you prephrase as much as you possibly could throughout the section? If you encountered an especially challenging question, did you guess, flag it, and move on, or did you let yourself get bogged down? These are all things that can waste precious time, and they are all things that can be managed with consistent good habits throughout the section. Pay attention to how you are reacting throughout the section, and figure out what is holding you back from being more efficient, and soon you won't need to worry about being short on time at the last passage.

[lsatstudent99966]

5 minutes to do an RC passage is pretty tight,gab1234, but it's still more than enough time to read the passage at your normal pace (avoiding re-reading, looking primarily for structure and tone rather than details) and answer at least two questions, especially if the first question is the Main Point. My advice in those trying circumstances is to remain calm and do just that. Don't try to read faster or take any shortcuts, but just do all the things you would normally do and accept that you will probably have to guess on several questions just before time runs out. Better to be accurate than to be fast, and rushing is never a good idea!

Another option, if you have even less time, is risky but can sometimes pay off, and that is to read the first and last paragraphs only and see if that gives you enough information to answer a question or two. That's not ideal, but if you are looking at under 3 minutes on the clock when you get to that passage it is worth a try. Better to know the answer to one question than to have to guess on all of them!

More important than these strategies, though, is to analyze how you performed earlier in the section to figure out why you found yourself short on time. Were you re-reading a lot? Did you sort answers into losers and contenders quickly, or get caught up analyzing them and researching them before you were done sorting? Did you prephrase as much as you possibly could throughout the section? If you encountered an especially challenging question, did you guess, flag it, and move on, or did you let yourself get bogged down? These are all things that can waste precious time, and they are all things that can be managed with consistent good habits throughout the section. Pay attention to how you are reacting throughout the section, and figure out what is holding you back from being more efficient, and soon you won't need to worry about being short on time at the last passage.

Hi Adam,

Are there good ways to avoid re-reading a lot? Thank you!

[Jeff Wren]

Hi lsatstudent,

I'll jump in to offer a few ideas.

First, it's important that you're reading at the right pace. If you find that you are rereading a lot, it may be because you are reading too quickly (for example, trying to skim or speed read the passage) and not fully comprehending/understanding what you are reading the first time through. (Of course, reading too slowly can also be a problem at the other extreme.)

Generally, you want to read at your normal reading speed, except perhaps a bit faster than you might read for pleasure. If you think of your normal reading speed as a range, then you want to be at the fast end of that range. In other words, read as fast as you can without losing comprehension. What this often means in practice is that you'll need to adjust your reading speed based on the complexity of the material. For example, if you hit a particularly confusing sentence, slow down and reread it as needed, but then increase your speed when the material is more straitforward.

Another simple but effective technique is to do a quick mental recap/summary after each paragraph to confirm that you understood what happened in that paragraph. For example, "Paragraph one discussed A, B, and C." That way, you are better situated to move on the next paragraph. On a related note, your goal when reading the passage is know where the major ideas/points occur in the passage and not get "bogged down" in the details.

Last, but certainly not least, is diagramming. Effective diagramming is probably the single most important skill (other than just careful reading/attention to detail) that can improve one's understanding of the passage and increase the speed and accuracy of answering the questions. Effective diagramming will help focus on what is important throughout the passage and help quickly find the relevant lines to answer the questions. One of the many benefits of diagramming is that it forces you to pay attention to what you are reading by its very nature. In other words, you cannot effectively diagram unless you are paying attention to what you are reading, whereas if you are passively reading without taking notes (diagramming), then it is very easy to lose focus and have your mind wander.

[lsatstudent99966]

Hi lsatstudent,

I'll jump in to offer a few ideas.

First, it's important that you're reading at the right pace. If you find that you are rereading a lot, it may be because you are reading too quickly (for example, trying to skim or speed read the passage) and not fully comprehending/understanding what you are reading the first time through. (Of course, reading too slowly can also be a problem at the other extreme.)

Generally, you want to read at your normal reading speed, except perhaps a bit faster than you might read for pleasure. If you think of your normal reading speed as a range, then you want to be at the fast end of that range. In other words, read as fast as you can without losing comprehension. What this often means in practice is that you'll need to adjust your reading speed based on the complexity of the material. For example, if you hit a particularly confusing sentence, slow down and reread it as needed, but then increase your speed when the material is more straitforward.

Another simple but effective technique is to do a quick mental recap/summary after each paragraph to confirm that you understood what happened in that paragraph. For example, "Paragraph one discussed A, B, and C." That way, you are better situated to move on the next paragraph. On a related note, your goal when reading the passage is know where the major ideas/points occur in the passage and not get "bogged down" in the details.

Last, but certainly not least, is diagramming. Effective diagramming is probably the single most important skill (other than just careful reading/attention to detail) that can improve one's understanding of the passage and increase the speed and accuracy of answering the questions. Effective diagramming will help focus on what is important throughout the passage and help quickly find the relevant lines to answer the questions. One of the many benefits of diagramming is that it forces you to pay attention to what you are reading by its very nature. In other words, you cannot effectively diagram unless you are paying attention to what you are reading, whereas if you are passively reading without taking notes (diagramming), then it is very easy to lose focus and have your mind wander.

Hi Jeff,

Thank you, that's very clear!
Can I ask one more question?
Regarding the "details" thing, would you say that we should still read the details carefully (but not confuse them with the main points, of course), but if we can't process some details even after actively reading them (this mostly only happens to be when its scientific passage), then we should probably move on?