so Dday is tomorrow ! i hate the RC section and it is my weakness since english is my 5th language. I was wondering if real dat passages are similar to topscore by having smaller paragraphs. I like to read the passages but once they get huge and chunky i start falling asleep and slow down. are the passages on real dat numerous by smaller paragraphs? are they easier to read? both SnD and reading has worked and not worked on practice tests. i am confused which to use. ANY SUGGESTIONS PLEASE?
Dat tomorrow ! Still no rc strategy. Suggestions please
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I tried S&D my 1st DAT and I got a 18.. second time I took it, I just read through the whole passage and started answering questions. I didn't even jot down any notes. I ended up getting a 21.. the real DAT has some tone questions, so I thought it was better to read the whole passage itself (I tried it for the first time and it worked well. might have worked well b/c I got 3 science passages).
Just try to remember all the information in your head. Since you're working on one passage at a time it won't be too hard to retain the information. it's really not that bad, unless you get piano'd I think 😛
But yes, they are smaller paragraphs. I think the longest passage I had was about 18 paragraphs long.
Most important, try to ENJOY reading the passage as if you're reading an article that interests you. I think that really helped a lot (retains information better).
Just try to remember all the information in your head. Since you're working on one passage at a time it won't be too hard to retain the information. it's really not that bad, unless you get piano'd I think 😛
But yes, they are smaller paragraphs. I think the longest passage I had was about 18 paragraphs long.
Most important, try to ENJOY reading the passage as if you're reading an article that interests you. I think that really helped a lot (retains information better).
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English is your fifth language 😱
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I'd say expect ~12-14 paragraphs for the shorter ones. They are easier to read than the topscore one.
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S&D works for factual questions, but there are much less of them than are on TopScore.
Best thing to do is go through the questions...find a keyword from each of them that are factual and put it in the back of your head. Any that are obviously tone questions or inference questions, just write down your paper that #X is a tone/inference question, and skip them until the end.
Read (fast) through the passage, and each time you come to a keyword you remembered, find that question and answer it, then keep going until you read through the entire passage...then look at the ones you still havent answered, and again skip the tone/inference questions, and find the questions that are factual/have a keyword, and go through the passage quicker this time and find them. After this you should be probably done with the factual questions, now go on to the inference/tone questions, they usually involve like a concluding sentence at the end, or the tone of a paragraph...so either go to the last paragraph and read it for a concluding sentence, or find the paragraph it's talking about, and read the whole thing and figure it out.
This is very similar to VicViper's strategy, and it worked well for me, was expecting higher than a 21 on my test, but this strategy can eat up time if you read too in depth and don't speed read (a little slower than skimming)
Best thing to do is go through the questions...find a keyword from each of them that are factual and put it in the back of your head. Any that are obviously tone questions or inference questions, just write down your paper that #X is a tone/inference question, and skip them until the end.
Read (fast) through the passage, and each time you come to a keyword you remembered, find that question and answer it, then keep going until you read through the entire passage...then look at the ones you still havent answered, and again skip the tone/inference questions, and find the questions that are factual/have a keyword, and go through the passage quicker this time and find them. After this you should be probably done with the factual questions, now go on to the inference/tone questions, they usually involve like a concluding sentence at the end, or the tone of a paragraph...so either go to the last paragraph and read it for a concluding sentence, or find the paragraph it's talking about, and read the whole thing and figure it out.
This is very similar to VicViper's strategy, and it worked well for me, was expecting higher than a 21 on my test, but this strategy can eat up time if you read too in depth and don't speed read (a little slower than skimming)
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i kinda just decided the night before my exam that i was just gonna... wing the RC section. i used the search and destroy method for all the CDRC subject tests and got 20+ on all of them so i thought i was on a roll. until the night before the exam, i was on SDN and found out that the real RC passages and questions are a lot different than CDRC.. so i decided that instead of freaking myself out and making plans.. i would just wing it.
the passages aren't necessarily HARDER. but the questions are.. at least my version was. the piano passage's questions were really hard. i spent 35 minutes on it, thank god it was the first passage. i started out trying to use search and destroyer.. but that didn't work. i ended up reading the passage over and over quickly and just answering the questions with what i knew. i was like sweating during this section.
the passages aren't necessarily HARDER. but the questions are.. at least my version was. the piano passage's questions were really hard. i spent 35 minutes on it, thank god it was the first passage. i started out trying to use search and destroyer.. but that didn't work. i ended up reading the passage over and over quickly and just answering the questions with what i knew. i was like sweating during this section.
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I'm in the same boat...ive tried everything and the best thing for me is reading for keywords first then go back and read the passage fully and then answer all questions after i think healthcare also mentions this...its really not that hard if u focus to remember where everything is...ive tried vic viper and I just hate the feeling of being so unorganized i feel all over the place, which leaves me scrambling....good luck i hope u choose the right method!!!
PS if dat doesnt go ur way im sure u can always find a spot in the CIA (with 5 languages and all) haha
again good luck, rock it!!
thats exactly how i felt using vicipirs method. its like u dont know what the hecks goin on. i think i am better off reading the passage to create that mental map of where everything is. i am thinking of even writing some notes on the scratch paper
i wouldnt mind CIA actually... i would get to carry a gun around
What really helps me is writing each paragraph number down, and next to it writing a keyword that kind of represents what the paragraph is about.
Ex: If the 1st paragraph starts off the with, 'the best way to learn 5 languages is to use these methods', I'd jot down 1) methods to learn lang.
I do that for the entire passage (takes 4-5 min).
Then after that I go through the questions, see which paragraph best matches the question and then use search and destroy on that paragraph. If I can't find the answer within 10-15 seconds, I skip it and move on the the next one.
Usually, I'll find answers the questions I skipped as I am answering other questions too.
I think this method is pretty quick. Try it out and see what happens. Good LUCK!!!!
I'm sure you'll do great tomorrow!
Ex: If the 1st paragraph starts off the with, 'the best way to learn 5 languages is to use these methods', I'd jot down 1) methods to learn lang.
I do that for the entire passage (takes 4-5 min).
Then after that I go through the questions, see which paragraph best matches the question and then use search and destroy on that paragraph. If I can't find the answer within 10-15 seconds, I skip it and move on the the next one.
Usually, I'll find answers the questions I skipped as I am answering other questions too.
I think this method is pretty quick. Try it out and see what happens. Good LUCK!!!!
I'm sure you'll do great tomorrow!
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Search and destroy did wonders for me (perfect 30 RC). Usually the same exact words that were in my question were in the passage, so I just scanned for those words and read that sentence and the answers were right there! Idk if it would work as well for someone's 5th language though lol... I would think it would be harder for your mind naturally pick out keywords when scanning through a jumble of paragraphs.
Either way, good luck! Its impressive that you can study science in you FIFTH language. I can only imagine taking science classes in my 2nd. Shoot me a PM if you have any other questions about strategy and I'll help the best I can!
Either way, good luck! Its impressive that you can study science in you FIFTH language. I can only imagine taking science classes in my 2nd. Shoot me a PM if you have any other questions about strategy and I'll help the best I can!
