Verbal Reasoning Help and Adjustments

[MEDe]

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Hey guys, I'm usually a lurker and don't post much on here, but I'm at a real cross-roads regarding my study tactics for the Verbal Reasoning section. I've read about and tried so many VR strategies, including reading the questions first and looking for key words, scanning the passage, highlighting and doing paragraph summaries (not all these at once of course). But the one I've been sticking to that some people have had success with in the past is reading the passage once really well and only going back for quoted information and terms.

I've been practicing VR for over a month now (6 weeks), doing about 2 passages a day, everyday. And I'm not seeing improvement. Should I be changing tactics? I started out having trouble with timing, but that's not a problem anymore. I assess my answers at the end, and it looks like I am missing many suggestive/key words, and in the end slightly misinterpreting the authors main point of view, or, surprisingly, the question. I jump around in terms of scoring on the passages, averaging at about a 4-5/7.

I have 6 more weeks to keep practicing, but was wondering if I should change. I really want to get this right since the last time I wrote I used TPR strategy and scored a 6. Even though I can get 8-9 when testing now, I would like to get it up to 11 or 12.

I really appreciate any input you guys have!

 

[The Heisenberg]

Hey, I've actually been encountering the same problems when I go over my answers for verbal, also including changing my answers from the right ones to the wrong ones...
What I realized is that all those things that happen to you also happen to me because there are very short periods while I'm reading where I think my eyes just glaze the passage and suddenly I stop actively reading. Then this transfers onto the questions, where I'm not reading choices carefully and actively which in turn more than often leads me to choose the wrong answers.

Lately I've been paying attention to those mistakes and my VR scores have been slowly improving. I think what you may need to focus on is trying to read the passages, questions and choices a bit more actively and carefully, which I think will enable you to quickly eliminate "dumb" answer choices making your search for the correct one easier. As far as strategy I've been doing the same as you and its been helping. Good luck!

 

[Medical Muse]

There are two ways of doing a verbal passage. One is to race through the passage and spend all your time going back-and-forth as you do the questions, and the other is reading very carefully and answer the questions without referring to the passage. Neither one is right or wrong. It seems like the second one works better for you. The problem with it, however, is that in reading so deliberately, you are paying attention to the details and not focusing on the main idea. As you read, look for key words, like conclusions or transitions. These will help point out the ideas which will help you answer the trickier questions. Good luck!

 

[MEDe]

Thanks for the help guys. I think I'll stick to reading it well, since that has boosted my grade a few points. No quick fixes here! 🙂