Verbal Help!! Why not read questions first?

[premedgurl]

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Hey everyone,

I have always wonder for verbal part, why don't we read the question stems first, then we can go to the passage paying particular attention to certain words or lines?

I remember for SAT prep. used to tell us to read the questions first.

Any comment?

Thanks a lot!

 

[JA Prufrock]

I think you should do whatever gives you the best results. If reading the stems before the passage yields a higher score for you in practice, stick with it. Personally, I would find it distracting and a waste of time.

 

[GZA]

Hey everyone,

I have always wonder for verbal part, why don't we read the question stems first, then we can go to the passage paying particular attention to certain words or lines?

I remember for SAT prep. used to tell us to read the questions first.

Any comment?

Thanks a lot!

Questions generally are not content based, instead they require an understanding of the author's thesis and how he forms his argument. Reading the questions first would help if specific answers would subsequently pop out at you as you read. They most likely will not.

 

[deleted74029]

Yeah its not like the SAT/ACT where it says:

Where did the pirates first land in 1647?

It will say something like:

Do you think the pirates would still land on "such-and-such island" if this were to happen?

In the latter case you need to have an understanding of the pirates thought patterns, not just the chronological order of their landings. Which is why you have to read pretty much the entire passage.

 

[LikeClockWork]

Yeah, and the MCAT is pretty good at making attractive sounding answers for test takers who didn't read/understand the passage well. If you get an answer stuck in your mind you might be able to convince yourself of its validity when you would've been better off not even reading it in the first place.

 

[Lila V]

Hey premedgurl

Everyone above makes good points, but I just wanted to share what I have been doing. I used to find that it took me awhile to clear my head and focus on the new passages as I got them so I started reading the question stems because it gave me a preview about what the passage was going to be about, and key themes to watch for... but I didn't ever read them with the intention of remembering a particular question as I read. It raised by verbal from a 9 to an 11-12. Hope that helps!

 

[premedgurl]

wow. awesome! thanks so much!!!