Questions about ExamKrackers 101 Passages

[1032]

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I was wondering how long should I aim to spend on each passages of the examkracker verbal 101. I see that they allow 85 minutes for 9 passages (about 9 min per section), but I was wondering if I should aim for a faster time. I have worked through some passages, trying to average about 7 min per passage, but I feel really rushed.

How much time would you all suggest I should aim to spend on each passage+questions?

thanks

 

[Bacchus]

Moved to MCAT.

 

[DAPI]

I started out aiming for 8.5 minutes per passage and got quicker the more I practiced. Probably best to get it down to around 7.5 - 8 min per passage

 

[1032]

Thanks, and oops, should have posted in the MCAT forum. My bad.

So do you think that 7 min is overkill?

 

[sotto voce]

I was wondering how long should I aim to spend on each passages of the examkracker verbal 101. I see that they allow 85 minutes for 9 passages (about 9 min per section), but I was wondering if I should aim for a faster time. I have worked through some passages, trying to average about 7 min per passage, but I feel really rushed.

How much time would you all suggest I should aim to spend on each passage+questions?

thanks

What version of the book do you have? You're talking about EK 101 Verbal Reasoning, right?

The version I have has 7 passages per test, each with 5-6 questions afterward. A test is seven passages and 40 questions total, just like the actual MCAT.

Regardless, the point is this: Each VR passage should take you about 8.5 minutes.

 

[1032]

What version of the book do you have? You're talking about EK 101 Verbal Reasoning, right?

The version I have has 7 passages per test, each with 5-6 questions afterward. A test is seven passages and 40 questions total, just like the actual MCAT.

Regardless, the point is this: Each VR passage should take you about 8.5 minutes.

I have ExamKrackers 101 Passages in MCAT Verbal Reasoning, but there is 9 passages with 6-7 questions after ward. Do you have a newer version?

Also I am going to start trying to do each passage at about 8 minutes, because I end up with much better accuracy.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Sounds like you have an older version. It's an easy mistake to make since for some reason it's common to find the old books being sold alongside the new ones.

Anyway, I started out giving myself 7 minutes on the EK 101 passages but found I wasn't feeling rushed enough so I decreased that down to 6 minutes and that did the trick. However, now that I've done three practice AAMCs and found that I finish VR with no less than 20 minutes to spare each time, I just do all 7 passages in each practice test at once and give myself 60 minutes like on the real thing.

For what it's worth, my strategy is to avoid re-reading the passage as much as possible as EK suggests. I'm also not a speed reader by any means; in fact, thanks to Tourette Syndrome, I often find myself getting stuck on a word while my mind has a spasm and repeats the same syllable a dozen times or so before I snap out of it and continue. I also take my time reading the passage initially, so I'm not even reading as fast as I could be. I guess what helps is that I'm incredibly easy to entertain so I actually find most verbal passages to be pretty interesting, which helps in remembering what I've read. On top of that, while reading I try to consider what the main point is and what the author's opinion is. If you know those two things you can answer most questions pretty easily.

All of that said, I still only get 10-11 on the VR section, so I'm obviously still missing something here. Ironically I think it may be that I'm not referring back to the passage when I should be (some questions do seem to actually be testing if you can remember where a bit of trivia is located in the passage), but at the same time I have trouble telling when that is because every test I do I think "oh yeah, I KILLED that section. At most I could have only missed like 1 or 2 questions" and then I find out that I missed 7 questions.

 

[mirimonster]

Sounds like you have an older version. It's an easy mistake to make since for some reason it's common to find the old books being sold alongside the new ones.

Anyway, I started out giving myself 7 minutes on the EK 101 passages but found I wasn't feeling rushed enough so I decreased that down to 6 minutes and that did the trick. However, now that I've done three practice AAMCs and found that I finish VR with no less than 20 minutes to spare each time, I just do all 7 passages in each practice test at once and give myself 60 minutes like on the real thing.

For what it's worth, my strategy is to avoid re-reading the passage as much as possible as EK suggests. I'm also not a speed reader by any means; in fact, thanks to Tourette Syndrome, I often find myself getting stuck on a word while my mind has a spasm and repeats the same syllable a dozen times or so before I snap out of it and continue. I also take my time reading the passage initially, so I'm not even reading as fast as I could be. I guess what helps is that I'm incredibly easy to entertain so I actually find most verbal passages to be pretty interesting, which helps in remembering what I've read. On top of that, while reading I try to consider what the main point is and what the author's opinion is. If you know those two things you can answer most questions pretty easily.

All of that said, I still only get 10-11 on the VR section, so I'm obviously still missing something here. Ironically I think it may be that I'm not referring back to the passage when I should be (some questions do seem to actually be testing if you can remember where a bit of trivia is located in the passage), but at the same time I have trouble telling when that is because every test I do I think "oh yeah, I KILLED that section. At most I could have only missed like 1 or 2 questions" and then I find out that I missed 7 questions.

Slow down! I was the same as you, finishing way early. The minute I started to take the full time for the VR section, my average AAMC VR rose from an 11 to a 14. (I just took my MCAT, so we'll see how my score turns out) You're lucky in that timing is not a problem. Force yourself to go back and find evidence in the passage for each question that you're even the least bit hesitant on. 😀

 

[jesse120]

When I first picked up EK 101 verbal, I did passages untimed, so probably like 15 minutes per passage. I was much more concerned with understanding how to get the right answer than speed. As I started to get the hang of it and started the timer, that number slowly went down to 6-7 minutes per passage for the last couple weeks leading up the MCAT and I was scoring 10s/11s. The actual MCAT hit me hard though, and I spent over 10 minutes on the first passage 👎. I really had to push myself during the rest of the VR section, and somehow managed to score a 9 😎

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Slow down! I was the same as you, finishing way early. The minute I started to take the full time for the VR section, my average AAMC VR rose from an 11 to a 14. (I just took my MCAT, so we'll see how my score turns out) You're lucky in that timing is not a problem. Force yourself to go back and find evidence in the passage for each question that you're even the least bit hesitant on. 😀

Yeah, that's what I'm going to try. I've noticed I tend to miss questions that require some very fine, tiny detail mentioned once in the passage to get right. The trick is going to be figuring out which questions I can safely answer with just the main idea/author's opinion and which I need to refer back to the passage for.

Something else that gets me too is the seeming arbitrariness of the logic used in these questions. Sometimes you're supposed to extrapolate to get the answer and ignore what the passage says literally, but then sometimes you're supposed to take the passage at face value and not read into anything. Sometimes one little detail or modifier in the question or line the question is referring to is actually vital to getting the answer right, other times they're completely insignificant. Sometimes when you see a phrase like "there was a very small growth" the answer requires you to assume that "very small" = "not there at all", whereas other times the answers requires you to assume that "very small" = "it's there 100%".

 

[whizplusdum]

I am currently working on the passages in this book, but I am not doing as well as I would like. Do you know, if this will give a rough estimate on the actual MCAT exam?