Hello everyone!
I have done 43+passages for VR and yet not able to break an 8. I am not sure what do to at this point. I thought if I keep practicing then eventually I will see an increase but nothing at all. Any help would be appreciated, please. Thanks.
Are you reviewing your mistakes after each passage you do?
I don't mean looking at the answer, slapping yourself on the forehead, and saying "Oh wow! That was a stupid mistake!" and making a silent note to never do it again. That kind of error analysis doesn't work. Everything seems to be "very simple" once you're actively looking at the answer and explanation.
You need to reassess your thought process while you read the questions and ensure you fully understand what the question is asking. There are tons of verbal strategies out there to extract the main idea and important details from the passage. I'm assuming timing isn't your issue and that you DO finish all the passages + questions.
Go over each question. Ask yourself the following: 1. What was I thinking when I got this wrong? (This might be hard to do if you did these passages a long time ago), 2. Where in the passage was the answer?, 3. Did I really understand what the author was implying? (since most answer choices aren't always clearly stated in the passages), and 4. How can I avoid this next time?
You'll start to realize that there is a pattern to the types of questions asked. You just need to become proficient at recognizing these patterns. Reading comprehension is not something you can improve very quickly. People who do very well on verbal tend to have been lifelong readers. It's a skill that you must develop over years and years of habitual reading. However, with the right strategy, you CAN get a better score in verbal. All of this is easier said than done, but your deliberate error analysis will yield good results if you stay disciplined. Don't give up!
