just out of curiosity, what is the avg length of a passage in real dat.
how many characters ?
i am using examkracker tests for RC practice and would like to compare it with real dat to get an idea of my reading speed.
Haha, didnt count the characters . . .sorry a little focused on what the questions were
😛
I got pianoed. And it sucked. The piano passage is about 17 - 20 short paragraphs. Navigating it isnt difficults, its the questions: inference, tone, if this then __, both true, half true, some true. Wierd stuff like that.
The piano passage also has quite a bit more questions than the others. I think there were 21 questions over that passage.
The other two passages were equal in length, maybe a little shorter, 15 paragraphs. Both had tone/inference questions, which i suck at.
I never used exam crackers but for Topscore, I was scoring 25s on all three practice exams and scored a 19 on the actual test. I dont no if that is due to the piano, or the increased difficulty/ length of the exam.
THe technique I used in topsocre was a modified search and destroy, that I think is increasing in popularity. Look at the first 5 questions, wrtie key words out from the question, then start at the beggnining of the passage and find all the answers to the first five questions. Once you have finished the first five, you should have the passage, or the majority of it, completely mapped in your head. After the first five are done, I just search and destroyed the rest.
^works great on topscore tests and most questions on the actual DAT but inference tone questions take you aback and you have to re-read a lot of material.
Here are some usefull links:
Each journal has a free issue each year. so clicl on the the journal then use the navigation tap to click on "2009" or "2008" then find the issue that says "free sample" next to the link. I read 1-2 each day. At first it was boring and difficult, but after a while you notice your reading speed and comprehnsion increase.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/browse/?subject=DN00
I watched this video about 2 times before my exam, glad i did. This is probably why i didnt score a 15 with the piano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdFejZgOHDA
This is also VERY useful to prep:
http://www.concertpitchpiano.com/GrandPianoConstruction.html
It will save yourself a "o ****, i have the piano" feeling.
Good luck in practice and on the actual!
