Reading Comprehension

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Hey guys. I am practicing for my reading comprehension section of the OAT right now and I have been having some problems. I know I am not terrible at reading. In fact, it seems like this should be my easiest section! However, after going through some practice problems, I am only getting about 30 out of 50. I keep getting the same score and it is starting to freak me out! I was just wondering what techniques you guys are using and what has worked for you. So far, my only technique is to try to read through all the questions first. Apparently it isn't helping too much for me.

I've taken the OAT twice now and got a 380 both times on the RC section. I DON'T read the questions first because I'm a slow reader and would run out of time. I simply read the articles as quickly as possible trying to identify each paragraph with what it information it pertained to. Usually each paragraph talks about some new or different aspect of the subject matter of the article.(MAKING UP THIS EXAMPLE) Anyway, if the article is about Iron (Fe), and a question asks about how iron is extracted and purified, if you remember that paragraph 3 or at least somewhere near the beginning, you can quickly go back and read the details to answer the question.

Scanning to key words is important.

I took the OAT once and made a 400 on RC. I read through the passage first and wrote a quick summary of each paragraph as I was reading it. After reading the questions, I could then use my outline to go back and find the answer within the passage (if it wasn't obvious from the first read-through). As Opt In said, each paragraph does generally have its own focus, which makes differentiating between them in your outline pretty simple.

Oh, I see. Thank you both for replying to me! Yes, I noticed that in a lot of sample problems, each paragraph did seem to have its own main aspect.

@Superblyme: You said that you wrote a quick summary of each paragraph after reading it. So I am assuming we get scratch paper even for the reading comprehension?

Again, thank you guys for replying! It is very useful to discover different ways of approaching this section.

I called the OAT place the other day and they said that they give you a white board.

Yeah, they will give you one or two whiteboards to work with at the beginning of the test, and you get to use them for the whole thing.

So we get to use whiteboards. That is good to know. Thanks for the answers guys! I'll definitely use your tips about outlining when I take a practice test today.

Hi, everyone. I know it is weird of me to revive this old thread, but I've continued studying for the OAT and I'm running into a few road blocks.

I've went through several of Kaplan's reading comprehension practices and I've found that the main focus of the ones I went through seemed to be about teeth. I know that anything can show up on this section (even non-science passages), but my anatomy and physiology professor never really covered teeth in her class. I found it really difficult to read these passages because I didn't understand the terms the author was using. Do you guys think it would be necessary for me to seek out information on dental, if not for the reading passages then for the biology section?

Additionally, what study materials have you guys found useful that improved your reading comprehension skills? I'm really stuck here!

They are totally random and odd. It's all about what you can take away from it while reading it. We'll be reading new material with foreign sounding words in it in Optometry school, so it's just seeing if we will be able to comprehend new things.

So, no, don't go study dental stuff. There is enough of other things to study for the OAT as it is.

Alright, thanks for the reply! I guess I'll just try to read a lot scientific articles to prepare myself for reading terms that are unfamiliar to me.