Peeps with 80, 90% on reading...

[JamesL1585]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

For all the people with 80's and 90's in the reading section can you please tell us your strategy? Im a very fast reader and I thought I answered the questions correctly but I always manage getting like a 40% on the reading.. please help out? Tips, strategies.. everything would be appreciated

 

[confettiflyer]

For all the people with 80's and 90's in the reading section can you please tell us your strategy? Im a very fast reader and I thought I answered the questions correctly but I always manage getting like a 40% on the reading.. please help out? Tips, strategies.. everything would be appreciated

sounds like you might be missing key words that could flip a sentence one way or the other in terms of meaning and intent. try answering practice questions and citing WHY you think that is the answer, then look up the explanation to figure out where your problem is.

 

[SoccerCoach10]

When answering the questions, make sure you do "process of elimination" with the answers that definitely are not right. You might be going so fast that you're picking the first one that seems right, but there could be a better answer.

 

[AngelaCL]

Seconding the above advice - read all of the options and physically cross out what isn't possible. Remember that you are reading scientific passages for science students, so the writer's tone is probably not going to be "unenthused" or "hateful" or anything like that 🙂 Use your common sense. It might also be helpful to underline the answers you find in the passages - for instance, if they ask you if the auther talks about W, X, Y, and Z, don't go by memory - look back and underline where he talks about W, Y, and Z and you'll see that he didn't mention X.

It is kind of hard to prepare for - I took the PCAT twice and a lot of the passages and questions were the same each time but my score actually slightly dropped, so I must have answered some questions differently. But as far as I remember, you should at least be able to narrow down to two choices for each question, so cross out the obviously wrong answers and just guess from there.

 

[PharmDtoB]

I dont think its about reading fast, its about understanding what you read. I made a 92 on my reading. I didnt do anything special, I just made sure I understood what the questions were asking and simpy refered back to the passage to fine the answer.

 

[azPharmD2B]

I scored high 90's on both verbal and reading. These two tests go hand in hand. A good vocabulary helps you understand what you are reading. On the flip side, good reading skills can help you understand the context of a word you may be unfamiliar with. Three suggestions:

Improve your vocabulary by using flash cards, word lists, word of the day calendars, etc. There is a list of the Top 1000 words on the SAT out there, and some company sells flash cards for them. Lots of dictionary websites offer word of the day emails. Learn the words and then start using them. Make sure you really understand the word and its various meanings. There is nothing worse than hearing someone try and sound smart by using an obscure word and end up using it in the wrong context. Also make sure you learn to say the word correctly. Pronunciation guides are a pain, but some websites have audio clips of someone saying the word.

Take a critical reading class. Reading fast is a good skill, but its worthless if all you're doing is reciting the words in your head without any idea of the underlying meaning. These classes will help tremendously with reading through the crap you see in typical news articles, advertising, and political information. They should also teach you about spotting key words, phrases, and word usage in order to gauge tone, audience, etc of the passage.

Lastly, stop reading myspace, facebook, and other crap websites. Start reading science journals, textbooks, and classic literature. Every time you come across a word or phrase you don't understand, look it up. Don't continue on until you are confident you really understand what the author was trying to state. Go back and re-read passages a week later to see if you better understand them.

Good vocab and reading skills take a considerable amount of time and effort to improve, but once you do they are easy to maintain by just reading challenging material every now and then.

 

[cuedee]

I thought reading and verbal went hand in hand but the PCAT proved me wrong. I scored a 90 for the section verbal and 56 (?!?!??) for reading.

 

[hreiss]

I scored fairly well in both sections, 99 and 98 respectively. As for the vocab section I suggest getting practice tests and take as many as you can. For the reading, what I do is I read all the questions for the passage along with the answers for each. I then read the passage. Then I read each question and scan for keywords looking for an appropiate answer. Practice test will help...the more ....the better you shoul do.🙂

 

[Strutter]

Would you guys recommend ExamKrackers' 101 Passages (?) for the PCAT? Why or why not?

 

[pills4u]

I got a 95 on reading, but I didn't always score well on reading sections on other tests. My problem was always picking the right answer to "main theme," " author's point of view," etc. questions. I think this was because I, too, read the passages too fast and the choices differed only by one or two key words. I think anyone can read a question and the choices and go back to find the definition of this or that or easily find the answer to fill in the blank questions. The key is to slow down a bit and make sure you understand the passages and don't be so quick to answer a question until you read all the choices. Also, go back and read particular paragraphs if you're not sure because the author could have snuck in a not so obvious change of fact or opinion. This is where practicing with prep books will help because it'll explain why the answer is this and not that.

 

[WannaBRxDr]

For all the people with 80's and 90's in the reading section can you please tell us your strategy? Im a very fast reader and I thought I answered the questions correctly but I always manage getting like a 40% on the reading.. please help out? Tips, strategies.. everything would be appreciated

I did very well on the reading section, and I recommend that you first read all the questions of the section first and underline important clues. ex. what was opinion in paragraph 3...or what did the word XXXX mean in paragraph 4

then, when you are reading, the questions you have to answer will pop out in the reading and you will read the material in context with the questions

i would also underline (like you would highight when studying) important facts/stats or anything else as you read the section so they are easy to find later when answering questions

see how many readings there are/ how many sections, and time yourself for each. dont spend 1/3 of your time on the first section.

read a section, answer the questions, circle the questions you are unsure of, and move on. then if/when you have extra time, re evaluate those you are unsure of

 

[omnione]

Would you guys recommend ExamKrackers' 101 Passages (?) for the PCAT? Why or why not?

I would if you have problems with comprehension. I feel that the styles are similar in that the questions test the "outside the box" hypothetical questions that simply can't be found be looking at a sentence or two.

To the OP, the key is to understand the passage as opposed to doing a scan-and-search method. Also, look at the answer choices and questions themselves. Authors always has some inherent position they make. Answer choices sound alike but they fall under several types:

1. Extreme: answers that are too narrow and presumptive.
2. Distortions: answers that have that "spin" and "twist". Though these may seem true, they are against the authors' explicit beliefs
3. Opposite: The answer is contrary to the authors' statement.

Be the author. See what he or she is trying to say and that helps leads you to the answer.