reading comp??? what to do

[mindblowing]

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how hard is this section???do the passage make sense
i am doing practice from kaplan....its crazy amt of infomation in one passage.
what should i do???
thanks

 

[MrLebowski]

I took the DAT yesterday and ended up getting a 22 on reading comp. I took two practice DAT reading sections a week before, but other than that, I really did nothing to specifically prepare for this section.

Honestly, this section is about your ability to read a question and then look for the keyword within the passage at a quick glance (within 30 seconds). If there's anything to 'practice', it's this skill. All the answers are in the passage, right in front of you; it's just a matter of locating the words.

I didn't take any notes or anything during the test like Kaplan suggests...It's a method that's slightly helpful, but I think it is not cost-effecive in terms of time. Just a quick scan-through to get the layout and gist of it, then hit the questions.

I will say though that this section was the hardest to fit in time-wise.


Good Luck!!!

 

[ilovedat]

I just wanted to know how was the test. What were your reading comp. topics.
thanks

 

[eldirty]

does anyone else have anything different to add? Im a bit worried about this sections because I always start to freak out a bit and the time just seems to tick away. Any suggestions/strategies would help.

 

[DMDreaming]

I took the DAT yesterday and ended up getting a 22 on reading comp. I took two practice DAT reading sections a week before, but other than that, I really did nothing to specifically prepare for this section.

Honestly, this section is about your ability to read a question and then look for the keyword within the passage at a quick glance (within 30 seconds). If there's anything to 'practice', it's this skill. All the answers are in the passage, right in front of you; it's just a matter of locating the words.

I didn't take any notes or anything during the test like Kaplan suggests...It's a method that's slightly helpful, but I think it is not cost-effecive in terms of time. Just a quick scan-through to get the layout and gist of it, then hit the questions.

I will say though that this section was the hardest to fit in time-wise.


Good Luck!!!

I agree the Kaplan method does take a little time to do but I found it helpful especially since I had one passage that was twenty-some paragraphs long. I refined the Kaplan method a bit by not reading word for word but scanning (quickly) for key terms. Took me less than 3 min per passage but allowed me to go right to the proper paragraph to find the answer. Using this method, I had close to 15 min left when I had completed the RC section so I had plenty of time to double check questions/answers.

 

[MoLarr]

IMO the Kaplan method takes too much time, and it doesn't help with questions asking about the tone or deeper understanding.

I would recommend just reading the passages and make mental notes of where important facts are located.

 

[eldirty]

MoLarr - so accentually you use the Kaplan method but instead of writing notes down you just make mental notes? Or do you go straight to the questions and search your way through?

 

[MoLarr]

MoLarr - so accentually you use the Kaplan method but instead of writing notes down you just make mental notes? Or do you go straight to the questions and search your way through?

No I didn't use the Kaplan method. I tried, and didn't find it helpful at all.

I just go through and read the whole passages before moving on to questions. As I read each paragraph, I look for the main points and try to remember where they are. The RC section was more than just a word-search puzzle. You really have to understand the writer's message and tone.

 

[TheWiredNerv]

Read the passage and jot down quickly the topic of each paragraph and 1 or 2 terms that keep coming up and or the context of the paragraph.

 

[Topgun]

I got a 26 on RC and I didn't really prepare in any special way other than practicing a few times. One tip that I can give you that worked for me is to quickly skim over the passage first and know roughly what each paragraph is about.

By far the most important thing to do is to relax in this section. The more relaxed I am the faster I can read, plus I'm not wasting brainpower worrying about time. The topics are generally somewhat interesting too, so it's actually a nice break compared to the rest of the test (unless you love QR like me 😀).

And remember to think logically - some of those questions are really really easy if you just think about the answers they give, and you'll instinctively know which ones don't make sense.