reading comprehension strategies? please share

rals · Mar 16, 2006

Hey guys,

How do you or did you approach the reading comp section? I mean if it's a detailed science passage, do you read it first or go to the questions andrefer back each time, etc. ? I'm a native speaker and all but I just don't know how to approach this stuff to be more effective in less time.

Thanks!

tinman831 · Mar 16, 2006

There are so many different strategies, you have to pick one that works best for you.

You can read passage first, go to questions.
Read questions first, then go to the passage.
Road map the passage as you read, go to questions, and refer to roadmap.
Find keywords in the question and skim the passage for those words (what I like best).
Randomly guess on all the questions since you are too lazy to read.

Over time you'll find what works best for you and you can work on improving your time in this section.

Chrono1984 · Mar 16, 2006

I haven't take the real thing yet, but I have consistantly gotten 25+ on the reading comp in every practice test thus far.

I do not read the passage, I read the question, and then skim..making mental notes about what each paragraph is about as I scroll down. I usually am pretty familiar with the passage structure by the 5th question and can find the remaining questions quite quickly.

If there is a generic "what is the author trying to say in this passage" question, I mark it and skip to the next - returning only once I have answered the other passage questions. The answer is usually pretty obvious after doing every other problem and saves you the trouble of really reading the passage.

You just need to be careful not to skim and then put down the first thing you see. A lot of the questions have subtle little tricks or incorrect words/units. So once you spot the area in question, just carefully read the sentences to cut down on careless mistakes.

Just have to keep pace, I usually have ~3mins left upon completion which leaves little time to double check...so gotta get them right the first time!

Hope this helps.

RozhonDDS · Mar 17, 2006

SKIM SKIM SKIM, the best strategy is to realize that the test usually starts asking question from the 1st intro paragraph and makes its way towards the middle, just skim, most of the time the question uses a large word that can be easily identified in a paragraph, use this technique and ALWAYS LOOK AT THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE PARAGRAPGH, it usually contains the topic which relates tot he question they are asking you, there is absolutely no reason why you can get a 20-23 on the reading comp, it is one of the easiest sections on the DAT in my opinion

rals · Mar 17, 2006

thanks!

that's really helpful, it sounds like skiming is the way to go.

good luck to you guys!

tissy · Mar 17, 2006

rals said:
Hey guys,

How do you or did you approach the reading comp section? I mean if it's a detailed science passage, do you read it first or go to the questions andrefer back each time, etc. ? I'm a native speaker and all but I just don't know how to approach this stuff to be more effective in less time.

Thanks!

I need to find a different method for this section. On the Kaplan diagnostic test, I got 15 on the 1st/16 for the midterm. On the topscore test 1, I got a 16. I think or I know I need to change my method.

xxxTheDonxxx · Mar 17, 2006

tissy said:
I need to find a different method for this section. On the Kaplan diagnostic test, I got 15 on the 1st/16 for the midterm. On the topscore test 1, I got a 16. I think or I know I need to change my method.

here's what I do....read the topic, read everything...make note of each paragraph in terms of what it's about. I usually write about 3 or 4 words for each paragraph, then move on. I spend about 6 to 7 min reading and making notes, the rest is for hunting for answers. With practice, i feel more confident about it everytime. Hope this helps!

rals · Mar 17, 2006

xxxTheDonxxx said:
here's what I do....read the topic, read everything...make note of each paragraph in terms of what it's about. I usually write about 3 or 4 words for each paragraph, then move on. I spend about 6 to 7 min reading and making notes, the rest is for hunting for answers. With practice, i feel more confident about it everytime. Hope this helps!

how would you do that at the real thing when you're working off of a monitor? do you jot on note paper then?

Typo · Mar 17, 2006

Both when I practiced and when I took the real thing, I read each passage through once, at a slightly above average pace, taking notes as I went. I numbered the paragraphs, and gave each paragraph a name (one or two words, strictly for recall purposes). I then wrote down a few key words out of each paragraph that would help jog my memory about where to find facts that I needed. I would then box out each paragraph so that they were visually separated from each other, which makes it easier to find things on the map. Then, once I got to the questions, I could take a glance at the map I made, know exactly which paragraph I needed to look at, and then scroll to it and find the answer.

I earned a 26 RC on the actual DAT using this strategy.

Making a map like this worked great for me, but it doesn't work for everyone. I felt that the key was to practice RC passages up to a point that I felt comfortable with this strategy. Sometimes I would write too much and take too long, sometimes I would write too little and have a hard time going back and finding facts. After about 6-7 practice runs, I had found the right amount for me to write, and I stopped practicing RC altogether at that point (about a month before the test). I think once you've got a sound strategy for this section, your study time will be much higher yield elsewhere.

Another suggestion - FOCUS. When you take the reading comprehension test, more so than any other section, you need to focus. It's easy to spew out biology and chemistry facts that you've learned, but it's another story to take in three passages and answer questions on them with a time limit pushing you. When I got to the reading comprehension section, I told myself that I was going to have laser-sharp focus. I then sat up straight, opened my eyes wide, and payed ridiculously close attention. You know how sometimes you'll be reading a textbook, and all of a sudden you find yourself halfway down the page, and you can't remember a thing you just read? You CANNOT let that happen with the RC section. If you're going to focus during just one hour in your life, make this the hour.

Then again, I might have just gotten a couple of easy passages on the test.

xxxTheDonxxx · Mar 18, 2006

rals said:
how would you do that at the real thing when you're working off of a monitor? do you jot on note paper then?

i did this when i was practicing topscore and dat achiever....i number my paragraphs so i know exactly where to go to look for them. Yes i wrote it down on paper. with practice you might be able to reduce note taking and reading down to about 5 min or less and the rest you can spend on the questions and hunting.

burton117 · Mar 22, 2006

Typo said:
Both when I practiced and when I took the real thing, I read each passage through once, at a slightly above average pace, taking notes as I went. I numbered the paragraphs, and gave each paragraph a name (one or two words, strictly for recall purposes). I then wrote down a few key words out of each paragraph that would help jog my memory about where to find facts that I needed. I would then box out each paragraph so that they were visually separated from each other, which makes it easier to find things on the map. Then, once I got to the questions, I could take a glance at the map I made, know exactly which paragraph I needed to look at, and then scroll to it and find the answer.

I earned a 26 RC on the actual DAT using this strategy.

Making a map like this worked great for me, but it doesn't work for everyone. I felt that the key was to practice RC passages up to a point that I felt comfortable with this strategy. Sometimes I would write too much and take too long, sometimes I would write too little and have a hard time going back and finding facts. After about 6-7 practice runs, I had found the right amount for me to write, and I stopped practicing RC altogether at that point (about a month before the test). I think once you've got a sound strategy for this section, your study time will be much higher yield elsewhere.

Another suggestion - FOCUS. When you take the reading comprehension test, more so than any other section, you need to focus. It's easy to spew out biology and chemistry facts that you've learned, but it's another story to take in three passages and answer questions on them with a time limit pushing you. When I got to the reading comprehension section, I told myself that I was going to have laser-sharp focus. I then sat up straight, opened my eyes wide, and payed ridiculously close attention. You know how sometimes you'll be reading a textbook, and all of a sudden you find yourself halfway down the page, and you can't remember a thing you just read? You CANNOT let that happen with the RC section. If you're going to focus during just one hour in your life, make this the hour.

Then again, I might have just gotten a couple of easy passages on the test.

Sweet.. good tips for RC.. I will definitely be practicing these.

xxxTheDonxxx · Mar 27, 2006

Typo said:
Both when I practiced and when I took the real thing, I read each passage through once, at a slightly above average pace, taking notes as I went. I numbered the paragraphs, and gave each paragraph a name (one or two words, strictly for recall purposes). I then wrote down a few key words out of each paragraph that would help jog my memory about where to find facts that I needed. I would then box out each paragraph so that they were visually separated from each other, which makes it easier to find things on the map. Then, once I got to the questions, I could take a glance at the map I made, know exactly which paragraph I needed to look at, and then scroll to it and find the answer.

I earned a 26 RC on the actual DAT using this strategy.

Making a map like this worked great for me, but it doesn't work for everyone. I felt that the key was to practice RC passages up to a point that I felt comfortable with this strategy. Sometimes I would write too much and take too long, sometimes I would write too little and have a hard time going back and finding facts. After about 6-7 practice runs, I had found the right amount for me to write, and I stopped practicing RC altogether at that point (about a month before the test). I think once you've got a sound strategy for this section, your study time will be much higher yield elsewhere.

Another suggestion - FOCUS. When you take the reading comprehension test, more so than any other section, you need to focus. It's easy to spew out biology and chemistry facts that you've learned, but it's another story to take in three passages and answer questions on them with a time limit pushing you. When I got to the reading comprehension section, I told myself that I was going to have laser-sharp focus. I then sat up straight, opened my eyes wide, and payed ridiculously close attention. You know how sometimes you'll be reading a textbook, and all of a sudden you find yourself halfway down the page, and you can't remember a thing you just read? You CANNOT let that happen with the RC section. If you're going to focus during just one hour in your life, make this the hour.

Then again, I might have just gotten a couple of easy passages on the test.

For those who use this strategy and it works well for you...how long did you spend reading and making a map, consider each passage must be finished in under 20 min.

howui3 · Mar 27, 2006

xxxTheDonxxx said:
For those who use this strategy and it works well for you...how long did you spend reading and making a map, consider each passage must be finished in under 20 min.

Here is what I did:

I spend about 8 min to first read the passage. I have a good short term memory and can orient myslef in the passage info if I first read it. Skimming did not work for me, I ended up having to reread the passage as I look for answers. Also, I am pretty slow reader, but about 8 min was enough to go through the whole passage.

Here some people will branch off and map the passage. If you like this method use, Kaplan recomends this. I can recall the info (long enough to do the questions to 1 passage) so I don't map the passage.

Next I go on to the question and spend about 12 minutes on the questions. Havnig read the passage I can usually answer a few question without even going back to the passage but for the rest I just scroll down to the right place in the passage get the answer and move on. If you do map, try to be general, becuase wrinting some complicated drug or its latin name will not help you orienting.

This way I spend about 20 min per passage. If I am having a hard time with a question and can't find the answer, MARK it and move on. They are all worth equally and it makes no sence to waiste your time with it, at the end if you have time co back to it.

sorry for the spelling, but hope this helps.

remember, when you try a new method, you will be slower at first and might even see a score drop. but find a method you like the most and stick with it, oh, and PRACTICE!!!

xxxTheDonxxx · Mar 27, 2006

howui3 said:
Here is what I did:

I spend about 8 min to first read the passage. I have a good short term memory and can orient myslef in the passage info if I first read it. Skimming did not work for me, I ended up having to reread the passage as I look for answers. Also, I am pretty slow reader, but about 8 min was enough to go through the whole passage.

Here some people will branch off and map the passage. If you like this method use, Kaplan recomends this. I can recall the info (long enough to do the questions to 1 passage) so I don't map the passage.

Next I go on to the question and spend about 12 minutes on the questions. Havnig read the passage I can usually answer a few question without even going back to the passage but for the rest I just scroll down to the right place in the passage get the answer and move on. If you do map, try to be general, becuase wrinting some complicated drug or its latin name will not help you orienting.

This way I spend about 20 min per passage. If I am having a hard time with a question and can't find the answer, MARK it and move on. They are all worth equally and it makes no sence to waiste your time with it, at the end if you have time co back to it.

sorry for the spelling, but hope this helps.

remember, when you try a new method, you will be slower at first and might even see a score drop. but find a method you like the most and stick with it, oh, and PRACTICE!!!

thanks a bunch!!!

reading comprehension strategies? please share

rals

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tinman831

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Chrono1984

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RozhonDDS

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rals

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tissy

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xxxTheDonxxx

rals

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Typo

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xxxTheDonxxx

burton117

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xxxTheDonxxx

howui3

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