Advice for RC?

[Moshi123]

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I am really struggling on RC section. I am getting around 15. Always running out of time. I am a very slow reader..
I have tried many different methods for RC but none worked very well.
I tried to map the paragraphs but I got too many wrong answers.
Also tried to read questions first and read the article then back to the questions. It didn't work for me either.

Should I stick with one method and practice it?
I am also having hard time to focus and concentrate on the articles.
Only 3 days left until my DAT. I would appreciate any kind of advice!

 

[chemkay]

Sorry to say this but I don't think there is any way to increase your reading score in 3 days. I'm guessing English isn't your first language, so a 15 is good! Keep your head up and don't panic! My DAT is in 3 days and I don't think I am going to improve my 17 QR... We all have downfalls, and they know we aren't perfect!

 

[chemkay]

I think the best thing to do would be to try to increase your score in other areas that you know you are going to succeed in.

 

[dhk2131]

Just stay confident! There isn't much that can be improved upon in 3 days, and the only improvement you will see will come from being confident. You can try the search and destroy method; however, I find that it makes me panic (it is a personal choice and depends on your disposition). Try your best to read the passage as quickly as you can, with 100% focus (don't stop midway and worry that you didn't fully understand things you read), and tackle the questions. The point in reading the passage first is to remember things VAGUELY that pertain to a question's possible answer so you don't have to reread the passage to find the answer (you'll be able to remember where you saw a keyword or a concept/topic of the passage that was discussed). If you cannot answer it, mark it and move on. Save the really specific questions to the end (the ones that you know you will have to skim the entire passage over again since you either don't remember where you saw it or it's one of those specific questions that require you to pick which word wasn't mentioned in the passage etc).

 

[shyfox9p]

Sorry to say this but I don't think there is any way to increase your reading score in 3 days. I'm guessing English isn't your first language, so a 15 is good! Keep your head up and don't panic! My DAT is in 3 days and I don't think I am going to improve my 17 QR... We all have downfalls, and they know we aren't perfect!

You can raise your QR if you can focus on what type of problems you are weak in.

 

[dhk2131]

What's important is that you treat the article as something interesting. A lot of the passages are very interesting, so try to get into them as best as you can and stay positive.

 

[Moshi123]

Thanks for the advice guys! It means a lot!

 

[MasterDental]

I never went over passages for RC, and managed to get a 20. I used search and Destroy and it worked pretty well. I would highly suggest it. Just read the question and quickly glance at the paragraphs to see where the answer lies. Good luck


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[MasterDental]

Don't read the passage. Doesn't help. It takes too much time , unless you are amazingly fast at reading


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[DentalElle]

I agree with MasterDental. Search and Destroy works when all else fails. I didn't study for RC, just looked at the format and on test day, used some God-sent hybrid of reading question first, super-reading the first half of the passage (I read a lot for leisure so that wasn't too difficult) and search and destroyed the second half, if my answer wasn't in the first. It work well for me, as I managed to pull a 28 in RC. I think the hybrid worked because super-reading the first half meant that any answers in that half, I could immediately refer to because i remembered reading it. If I didn't remember reading it, I went to the second half and searched for it there. Searching and destroying the whole passage seems to require a lot of RE-reading information because you are so focused on one specific detail you miss the others ones that might be in other questions to follow.

Good luck on your exam! hopefully this helps!

 

[Moshi123]

Thanks a lot for your advice!!! Actually I have tried Search and Destroy as well. It didn't really work for me. :S Maybe I was doing it wrong. I am a slow reader so when I try to read the passage fast, my eyes are going fast but my brain is not following my eyes..

 

[woodwcr]

I tried different strategies and the best one for me was to read the article first, not skimming but not paying attention to every detail either. Then when I got to the questions I had a general memory of where I could find the information. I went back and looked at the essay for most, though not all, of the questions. It went well for me, though I am a fast reader.