S
Served
Last edited by a moderator:
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2012
- Messages
- 5,456
- Reaction score
- 4,226
Its hard to tell. Usually it is adjusting to the pace of the verbal passages. If this is early in your studying phase, then I would suggest trying to push yourself slowly until you reach the speed needed for the exam. If this has been persistent for a couple months, you can try to see your university's learning specialist if you need to be assessed for a learning disability or other issue.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2012
- Messages
- 125
- Reaction score
- 47
It depends on where you are spending the extra time. Is it on reading the passage or on answering the questions? Unofficially time yourself and see how long you spend reading and your total time. Then do a timed passage and note when you finish reading. If there is a significant difference in reading times, then comprehension is a likely cause. If not, it is more likely to be rushing answers instead of thinking then through. Both respond positively to more frequent practice!
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2016
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
I was having similar issues with my CARS passages. Decided to mix up my methods, I spend longer reading the passage and write a short line after each paragraph summing it up (shouldn't take more than 4 min to get thru reading and notes). Once I started doing this, I was able to answer all the questions in 3-4 min total, and bumped my overall CARS score up by 3 points in only a couple days. Maybe not the method for you, but be willing to check yourself and consider other options that better fit how you learn.
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2012
- Messages
- 125
- Reaction score
- 47
- Joined
- May 11, 2015
- Messages
- 323
- Reaction score
- 293
Are you reading in a way that you pause after each sentence, and after each paragraph, and process/summarize what you've read thus far? I'm not one who does this in note-taking form, but I always do it out loud or in my head. I will often attempt CAR passages with my students and say out loud for them what I am thinking. I cannot say how many times I've had a student look at me with surprise and say something like: "You really stop and THINK about every single sentence??" or "You stop after every single sentence and summarize??"
Usually, the disbelief is because students think that there is no way in the world you'd have time to do it that way. To the contrary, I consistently read CAR passages in about 4 minutes pretty universally, and I always stop after each sentence and think for just a few seconds about what I just read. Then, with each new sentence, I stop just long enough to summarize (or sometimes even say out loud to myself softly) how that last sentence "added to" or "built upon" or even "contradicted" the gist of what I'd read up to that point.
In this way, I make sure that I understand each component of the passage and get a solid understanding of how each argument relates to or builds upon the passage theme generally.
I find that if I can do that, or if I can get my students to do that, the questions become MUCH easier. I have my students begin by practicing this method, even thought at first it takes them 8-12 minutes/passage. Then they gradually try to do the same process a little more rapidly each time...until eventually they get down to 3-4 minutes to do basically what they were doing in 8-12 min before. Hope that helps!
Usually, the disbelief is because students think that there is no way in the world you'd have time to do it that way. To the contrary, I consistently read CAR passages in about 4 minutes pretty universally, and I always stop after each sentence and think for just a few seconds about what I just read. Then, with each new sentence, I stop just long enough to summarize (or sometimes even say out loud to myself softly) how that last sentence "added to" or "built upon" or even "contradicted" the gist of what I'd read up to that point.
In this way, I make sure that I understand each component of the passage and get a solid understanding of how each argument relates to or builds upon the passage theme generally.
I find that if I can do that, or if I can get my students to do that, the questions become MUCH easier. I have my students begin by practicing this method, even thought at first it takes them 8-12 minutes/passage. Then they gradually try to do the same process a little more rapidly each time...until eventually they get down to 3-4 minutes to do basically what they were doing in 8-12 min before. Hope that helps!
