I have been trying to improve with TPR, and reading slowly is not too bad bc its around 4 min. But when answering questions now its not easy bc I seem to refer to passage a lot.
I tried to mimick the environment by having two digital pdfs side by side so that questions and passage are side by side. I understand the authors main idea and the usual location of information but still answer wrong. I cant seem to connect what I remember from the passage to the questions.
VR Pitfalls (and how you can tell if you are in one):
1. Not recognizing the structure of the passage (aka passage map, aka passage outline): If you don't, you will not go back to the right place in the passage and end up wasting time. Solution = practice mapping passages (You can do this in your head later on, but will probably need to start by writing it down.)
2. Not watching for author's opinion and reason for writing each paragraph: If you miss the author's tone, you might end up having to reread the whole thing. If you miss it and focus on only one paragraph, you might be fooled by an exception, sarcasm, or similar.
3. Not recognizing that AAMC likes to use vague intro paragraphs: You can wrack your brain all day on paragraph 1, not realizing that the topic is in paragraph 2.
4. Not looking for wrong answers: If you only look for right answers, you may find 4 in every question. The authors of wrong answers are not very creative and have patterns (opposite, beyond, irrelevant, exaggeration, etc.). Knowing common patterns makes VR easier.
5. Assuming that EK=TPR=AAMC: They are all different. Various techniques are more helpful in some of these than others. It pays to mention which you are talking about. If you seem like a fast reader in EK, try TPR.
6. Hurrying so fast that your comprehension fails: Spinich Dip made a good point about a "train of thought." If you cannot remember and comprehend what you read, what's the point of reading?
7. Thinking that you have to read the entire passage or all passages at one pace: Most people need to slow down for parts of the passage, and can speed up for other parts. Some passages you can read quickly, others you will need to slow down for.
8. Some passages and their questions are more difficult than others: Doing an entire test is a better score estimate, than a single passage. You will do great on the easy passages, and worse on the more difficult ones. This inconsistency boggles minds.
9. Assuming that everyone has the same potential for improvement: If you have worked on VR for a year and have not improved, you might have a disability. Neuropsychologists and regular psychologists can test for those.
10. Different people struggle with VR for different reasons: ESL, disability, lack of practice/familiarity for any reason, being use to a different style, getting distracted/lack of focus, etc. Different problems have different solutions, unless you're talking about a specific practice test question.
11. Missing subtleties: Infer versus conclude versus stated, etc. How the author used evidence (and didn't use evidence) that could have supported other things in the passage, but didn't. Keeping straight who did what when there are multiple groups/people being discussed.
12. Finding substantive sources of information with more information and less other stuff. Avoiding time drains too. Usually the topic has all or most of the good info.on SDN.
13. I'm getting tired.