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Reading comprehension advice?
Started by Atl21
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Ok here is what i did in the 3 weeks i studied for the exam. i went from
20 Verabl -->63 Verbal(if i retake a 3rd time i think i can do much better)
30 Reading -->87(def think i can do even better)
AnyHow, so before i took a latin course over the spring, root words and all. English isn't my native language so if i can jump like that in 3 weeks i think u can do better. mind my spelling and grammer misatkes since its 3 Am and i want to go to sleep.
Reading
Underline the Key Words that jump out of you, like if the passage is talking about bees disappearing then you box words like female/honey/nest/disease/virus etc.. just key words that jump out,
then after reading 5-6 lines jot down real quick main idea of these sentences. dont have to be full sentence for example: bees dieing reason virus named ... affects female, economy impact. Any Numbers i would box immediately as they always have question about them like compare 1997 to 2005 population if u already have them boxed then u scan and find these sentences.
so after u do that for the rest of passage, and one question asks you what was the impact on bees u just look on the side or at the keywords and that is it. That is about it nothing really to it, dont get bogged down with detail , just make sure you just jot down a little summary and the key words and i can gurantee u that cause u wrote it once u see the question u will remb exactly where to find it.
now Verbal for the people that want to know
memorized root words, and alot of words ~500 that i heard before but never really knew their meaning like trepid, pariah,amicable, etc..
Books used, Kaplan and the practice exams that came with the course. i have them saved on my computer if anyone is intrested. 25 exams/Practice exams. i will write a cleaner thing later but now i am out
20 Verabl -->63 Verbal(if i retake a 3rd time i think i can do much better)
30 Reading -->87(def think i can do even better)
AnyHow, so before i took a latin course over the spring, root words and all. English isn't my native language so if i can jump like that in 3 weeks i think u can do better. mind my spelling and grammer misatkes since its 3 Am and i want to go to sleep.
Reading
Underline the Key Words that jump out of you, like if the passage is talking about bees disappearing then you box words like female/honey/nest/disease/virus etc.. just key words that jump out,
then after reading 5-6 lines jot down real quick main idea of these sentences. dont have to be full sentence for example: bees dieing reason virus named ... affects female, economy impact. Any Numbers i would box immediately as they always have question about them like compare 1997 to 2005 population if u already have them boxed then u scan and find these sentences.
so after u do that for the rest of passage, and one question asks you what was the impact on bees u just look on the side or at the keywords and that is it. That is about it nothing really to it, dont get bogged down with detail , just make sure you just jot down a little summary and the key words and i can gurantee u that cause u wrote it once u see the question u will remb exactly where to find it.
now Verbal for the people that want to know
memorized root words, and alot of words ~500 that i heard before but never really knew their meaning like trepid, pariah,amicable, etc..
Books used, Kaplan and the practice exams that came with the course. i have them saved on my computer if anyone is intrested. 25 exams/Practice exams. i will write a cleaner thing later but now i am out
did u also practice to read at a faster pace?
did the words u memorized show up on the pcat? would u suggest learning roots and prefixes or memorizing words (i mean which one was more helpful for u)
do u think the kaplan reading and verbal was easier or harder than the actual test?
was this the kaplan strategy that u mentioned in another thread?
did u take the official practice pcats if u did were your PCAT score somewhat close to what they predicted for u...(i am asking cause i took one and i got like a 44 and 50 for reading and verbal..👎.)
(i feel like u are a criminal and im questioning u... soooo sorry..
)im studying roots and prefixes ...and english is my third language....and i got a 24% and 35% (i think )for reading and verbal in jan.
NOdid u also practice to read at a faster pace?
Nope, just had a stop watch, each passage = 8 min
did the words u memorized show up on the pcat? would u suggest learning roots and prefixes or memorizing words (i mean which one was more helpful for u)
Not really. just gave me confidence. they aint really hard words. there were alot fo words that i heard but never really got their meaning like intrpeid/amicable/pairah/instigate etc..
do u think the kaplan reading and verbal was easier or harder than the actual test?
A lot harder
was this the kaplan strategy that u mentioned in another thread?
Yes
did u take the official practice pcats if u did were your PCAT score somewhat close to what they predicted for u...(i am asking cause i took one and i got like a 44 and 50 for reading and verbal..👎.)
first time i took them i had bout same, took kaplan exams and got like a 78/87 if i remb.
(i feel like u are a criminal and im questioning u... soooo sorry..
im studying roots and prefixes ...and english is my third language....and i got a 24% and 35% (i think )for reading and verbal in jan.
Kaplan Practice exams helped(online cOURSE) alot since there were like 10 for verbal with explanation which helped me understand how to tackle them. overall the only thing worth in that course were the 25 exams. pm if intrested
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In my opinion, I feel like reading comprehension is one of the hardest sections to do consistently well in on PCAT retakes. Generally, students do extremely well on the reading section, so just missing 1 or 2 more questions can dramatically effect your score. Based on the passages I've seen in the real PCAT, I'd say your best bet is to read journal articles from Science, Nature, and other reputable, high-impact journals. Most of the passages in the PCAT are more science-related, and they ask you to regurgitate, analyze, and use some critical reading skills to answer the questions.
I took the Kaplan course. There was only one in class lecture about reading comprehension. The other fifteen sessions covered everything else. I wanted more help with the reading, but I guess that was all they offered. Kaplan had a diagnostic, midterm and a final all with regular 50 minute reading passages. I got all that and I would like more practices for the reading comprehension section.
Where can I purchase more reading comprehension practice tests for the PCAT with similar difficulty as the real PCAT reading comprehension? I hope to improve from the score of 25% that I gotten on the June PCAT.
Please private message (PM) me if you have the answers to my question.
Reading is a skill and takes practice
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Reading could be improved with time and familiariry. Just read a lot
did u also practice to read at a faster pace?
did the words u memorized show up on the pcat? would u suggest learning roots and prefixes or memorizing words (i mean which one was more helpful for u)
do u think the kaplan reading and verbal was easier or harder than the actual test?
was this the kaplan strategy that u mentioned in another thread?
did u take the official practice pcats if u did were your PCAT score somewhat close to what they predicted for u...(i am asking cause i took one and i got like a 44 and 50 for reading and verbal..👎.)
(i feel like u are a criminal and im questioning u... soooo sorry..
im studying roots and prefixes ...and english is my third language....and i got a 24% and 35% (i think )for reading and verbal in jan.
I tutor HS students for the SAT, and these tips worked:
The answer for each question is explicitly stated in the passage. If you can't find your choice in the passage, or if you can't link it to anything, then it is wrong.
Each paragraph in the passage has a main purpose, and each question usually pinpoints a specific paragraph. If you understaind the main ideas of each passage, you should be able to link the question to the paragraph, and find the answer easily.
For inferential questions, avoid answer choices that are too extreme.
Avoid re-reading answer choices to yourself. Even if the answer choice is wrong, it'll start sounding correct the more you read it to yourself.
If you read carefully and understand what the questions are asking (considering the questions repeat themselves over and over again), you should be able to answer each question before reading the choices.
The "the word <blank> on line 19 is best defined as..." are easy freebies. Don't read line 19 only. Read the sentence before and after line 19, or even the whole paragraph.
The answer for each question is explicitly stated in the passage. If you can't find your choice in the passage, or if you can't link it to anything, then it is wrong.
Each paragraph in the passage has a main purpose, and each question usually pinpoints a specific paragraph. If you understaind the main ideas of each passage, you should be able to link the question to the paragraph, and find the answer easily.
For inferential questions, avoid answer choices that are too extreme.
Avoid re-reading answer choices to yourself. Even if the answer choice is wrong, it'll start sounding correct the more you read it to yourself.
If you read carefully and understand what the questions are asking (considering the questions repeat themselves over and over again), you should be able to answer each question before reading the choices.
The "the word <blank> on line 19 is best defined as..." are easy freebies. Don't read line 19 only. Read the sentence before and after line 19, or even the whole paragraph.
one more advice for reading section.. IF the first passage is hard or unfamiliar and with lots of details... just skip that one and move on... otherwise you will end up spending a lot of time and energy on that one and screw up the whole reading section....hope that helps..
Heh, didn't know I posted here before. Just look above!
Hello,
Could you please email me these exams because I will take PCAT this Oct & I was really bad in verbal and reading. Thanks
My email: [email protected]
Is there any way you could send me those practice exams as well? I'm taking the PCAT in August for the second time and any more pracitce would be for the better on my part. I'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks
my email is [email protected]
T
Tatodotcom
lol, diastole...i guess none of these people get it that this thread is from 2007! i hope their reading comp skills are better than this or they are doomed
If I could please get a copy of the practice exams that would be amazing and a great help! My email address is [email protected] Thanks so much
Is there anyway that you can email me the practice tests by any chance, is would be a great help...thank you...
[email protected]
Hello,
Could you please email me these exams because I will take PCAT this Jan & I was really bad in verbal and reading. Thank you so much!
My email: [email protected]
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If I could get a copy of the practice exams that would be amazing and a great help! My email address is [email protected] Thanks so much
M
mpchiang
Here is what I did to "study" for reading comprehension:
1. Read the newspaper (New York Times, Globe and Mail) for ~20 minutes a day. While reading, try to read for gist in each paragraph.
2. Do the MCAT ExamKrackers 101 Reading Passages. This was really really helpful for me. These passages are hard. I could barely get over 50% on these readings at the start, but I started to gradually improved. I read about 2-3 passages every few days. These passages really make you find the main idea.
Honestly, while taking the PCAT I thought that the reading comprehension compared to the ExamKrackers passages were really straightforward. Most of the answers are actually explicitly stated within the paragraphs.
1. Read the newspaper (New York Times, Globe and Mail) for ~20 minutes a day. While reading, try to read for gist in each paragraph.
2. Do the MCAT ExamKrackers 101 Reading Passages. This was really really helpful for me. These passages are hard. I could barely get over 50% on these readings at the start, but I started to gradually improved. I read about 2-3 passages every few days. These passages really make you find the main idea.
Honestly, while taking the PCAT I thought that the reading comprehension compared to the ExamKrackers passages were really straightforward. Most of the answers are actually explicitly stated within the paragraphs.
