RC for foreigners

[Olga1978]

Hi everyone!
I am not native speaker and as you can imagine the biggest challenge for me is RC section. I actually dont want to get all the point om this section. I am realistic. I want to get 3 passages with minimum possible wrong answer choices. I am taking full lenght LSAT course by PowerScore. I understand Viewstamp idea. Moreover, i understand passaes no less than my classmates, but to understand passage is not enough. The goal is to get points. This is the problematic area for me. I even tend to get less wrong answers on more difficult passages. WHY??? I understand them 50% but answer better than on those where i have understood 100%
My question is if there is good strategy to choose 3 "right" passages. Would you advise anyways take comparative reading?
And how to organaize my preparation on this section - i am missing MP questions an SR questions. I usually don't have any problems with tone, structure, function questions.
Thank you so much for your course.

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hello Olga,

Thanks for your question. Being a non-native speaker myself, RC was tough until I realized that topic doesn't matter nearly as much as I thought. Yes, it is important to understand the arguments, different viewpoints, etc. But ultimately, this is not a closed-book exam: you can go back and forth between the passage and the answer choices as many times as you wish. Focus on the VIEWSTAMP elements and you'll be halfway there.

One thing that could help is to develop a systematic approach to notations: learn to diagram the most important elements within the passage so you can easily access them later, if needed. And if you're only going to do 3 passages, definitely focus on the ones whose subject matter seems most accessible and/or contain the most questions (that gives you more "bang for your buck" so to speak). Keep in mind that RC requires a ton of practice to improve, maybe more so than any other section type on the exam. Start early, and do it consistently: a few passages a day, every single day.

One tip regarding the Main Point question: I always found it easier to do that question last, after working through the rest of the questions for that passage. You will likely have a much better grasp of the main point after working with the passage for 8-9 minutes. Alternatively, answer the MP first but double-check your answer before moving to another passage.

Best of luck!

[mkuo]

Hi Nikki,

I was hoping if you could please elaborate on how the topic doesn't matter as much as you thought. Specifically how you overcome it (would reading lots of passages help etc?)

For myself, where English isn't my first language as well, RC is typically the most challenging section. Reading through them completely is one obstacle, and understanding them enough to answer is another.

Topics related to natural science is generally easier for me to understand (thanks to my science degree). But humanities and social science got me pretty bad. In fact I was just doing a timed PT today (PT 50 Sept 2006 RC Passage 3: National Identity) and after reading through that there was only one word on my mind... and it's not a pretty word.

Passages relate to politics, literature, etc etc are for some reasons hard for me to understand. How could one overcome this?

Thank you in advance for reading through my problem.

Regards,

Mike

[Nikki Siclunov]

When I say, "topic doesn't matter," I mean that it doesn't matter nearly as much as structure does. When I read a passage, I mostly look at the way in which the author organized the information, pausing for a few seconds after each paragraph to mentally summarize what I just read. You absolutely need to do a LOT of reading comprehension to develop the right pace that allows you to strike the right balance between skimming and close reading.

Yes, you do need to understand the logic behind the arguments and differentiate between the viewpoints, which requires a general comprehension of the subject matter. That doesn't mean you need to become an expert in it or understand every nuance of every detail they presented.

Thanks!

[Olga1978]

Hi Nikki!
Thanks for your explanation. This really should work with MP questions. I take my test on December 1st. I still have time... I do every day full lenght LSAT - 4 sections. And beginning tomorrow i will start to do with 5th - RC. I think that will be very useful. But anyways a lot depends on how difficult will be passages on actual test. BTW, so far with 9 tests done i see that if there is more less easy passages, LG appear to be more difficult and vice versa. Is that true? or just my imagination?

My strategy for now is to get maximum points from LG section (the only section which requires brain procession without an additional operation - translation ). Sometimes i can affort all 4 games with some missed points, but sometimes only 2 of them.


P.S.Судя по Вашему имени могу предположить, что у нас с Вами общий родной язык

Thanks, Olga