Dealing with Verbal

[DrLady]

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Hi,
I thought to start a thread on verbal and maybe if we post our weaknesses or any problems we are having in this thread, we might be able to help each other out.

I was doing passages on verbal today and here is what I noticed. Most of the times I am down to two and I pick the wrong answer. Sometimes, I have picked the correct choice and I go back and somehow convince myself that it is not correct, change it and check the answer only to see that my first choice was correct.
As I was doing few passages I noticed that the passages that I really hated ( for example, passages concerning politics/economics) were the ones I was pleasantly surprised to see that I did well on. I am a bit puzzled about that. Because I fully expected to get all of the answer choices wrong.

I am using Ek method for the verbal as I am also using their books and I realize that their method works for me opposed to TPR's methods and that TPR passages are quite different than EK ( I think a bit more difficult) and I am doing well in EK passages than TPR. There are some times when I can't help but go to the passage to check, which is what Ek tells us not to, but I can't help it. I really feel the need to go back and it helps me find the correct answer! Also, sometimes, I keep on rereading the same paragraph couple times..before I start realizing that I am wasting time with it. So well, these are the problems I need to overcome.

-DL

 

[Bostonienses]

Hey Dr. Lady,

Here is what I found to be helpful, and I'll put it into the context that you described to make it more relevant to you.

1) Try to read each paragraph and then paraphrase it with your own words. It can even be something like "ok, so this guy basically hates sushi". Do that with each paragraph, and try to figure out what is the purpose of each paragraph by looking at your paraphrases.

2) ONLY USE THE INFO THAT THE PASSAGES GIVE YOU. Guess why you probably do better on economics/political passages? Because you are uncomfortable with it, you probably rely more on the passage to arrive at you answer. I usually find myself saying "wait a minute, I KNOW that things don't really happen like this during replication" but I have to CONSTANTLY remind myself that the VR section is only concerned with testing your comprehension of the passage; the knowledge of bio or chem will be tested in the PS and BS sections.

3) You might need to go back to the passage, (specially when the question is something like "in line 20, when the author uses the word "bromidic" he means...") but for the most part, try and rely on your "notes on the margins" that sum up what that paragraph was saying.

4) Sometimes the passage will be referenced at the end, giving you an idea of where it was published. That's a good hint. An article that states the benefits of fats probably has a different main idea depending on whether is was published in "Gourmet Cooking" or "Muscle and Fitness".

Read tons of articles from National Geographic and the like, and always finish a paragraph and sum it up in your own words. It really helps. The VR is the only section I am really comfortable with and I owe it to these few hints... Good luck and let me know how it goes...

 

[Ramoray]

I am not sure where people are getting the idea that EK says do not go back to the passage? it is one of their 4 strategies that they recomend. It simply says if you know ehre to look, go for it and go back, regardless of the type of question, if u remember where it talked about that, zoom back tehre. If you dont have a clue and u have to re read half of the passage to find it, then dont, that is what they are saying. good luck

 

[DrLady]

Yes, it is true that Ek doesn't say DO NOT go back to passage and check. If I have trouble with a certain passage, I feel the need to go back an check on not one, but atleast 2-3 questions and that can be habit forming. Thats what I meant that i am having problem with and I know that only practice will help me get rid of this habit of going back.

But, thanks for your responses and Bostenienses, I will definitely let u know how it goes. Thanks for explaining in detail! 🙂

 

[Woots32]

If you're having problems after you narrow your choices down to two, you might be examining the answers too hard. Often people almost seem to talk themselves out of the correct answer, or look for ways the test makers could be trying to trick them.

If the question is asking for the author's opinoin (the author would most likely agree with which of the following statements), make sure you only go off what was written. The wrong answers are ones where the author would disagree, and those where you don't know the author's opinoin. Even if it seems like one of the answers is a logical continuation of the author's argument, it could be wrong for that reason.

Also watch out for answers that seem too extreme (ie contain the words "never" or "always").

Hope that helps. 🙂

 

[Bevo]

Ive been doing the same things.

Im getting really good at narrowing it down to 2 choices most of the time. But lately Ive fallen into a funk with my verbal. Ive been relying on the EK advice as well. Over the summing I was in the 8-9-10 range when taking practice tests.

And Ive only gone backwards since the August test, getting a 4 the other day.

Im noticing that Im really screwing up my first passage, regardless of which one I start with. Im missing like 4 or 5 questions in the first passage.

Im doing better when I work passages in my princeton class, ie we are given a certain amount of time to do a passage or 3 passages at once. I do well there, but as soon as I am alone doing it on my own my scores drop like a rock in water.

ive tried writing what I think the main point is at teh end of the passage, doing the authors tone.

I felt really good a few weeks ago. Getting 1 question wrong per passage, but now its at 3-4 per passage.

guess I should reread the Ek verbal method and see if Im screwing something up now.

 

[BobbyDylanFan]

Of course I'm not 100% sure, but I think you might be just psyching yourself out. Just try to relax and concentrate on the passage...take the 5 second break before the first passage and try not to worry about how well you are doing on the questions. Last week I saw my verbal score drop for the first time and I attribute it to worrying about time. Lets hang in there!

 

[Deuce 007 MD]

Verbal sucks a$$.