Worrying About Reading Comprehension

[sagarkanodiya]

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I have taken 3 Crack DAT Reading test and got 16,16,15
My test is in 3 weeks.

I thought only thing that can help me is reading half of the passage going to questions and reading half again and going through questions. Still hasn't delivered desired result.

Can anyone tell me how they started search and destroy first time?
I have read the thread but for first time do you actually time yourself first time?

 

[Sandstorm]

I have taken 3 Crack DAT Reading test and got 16,16,15
My test is in 3 weeks.

I thought only thing that can help me is reading half of the passage going to questions and reading half again and going through questions. Still hasn't delivered desired result.

Can anyone tell me how they started search and destroy first time?
I have read the thread but for first time do you actually time yourself first time?

The method that has worked best for my students is to read through the passage relatively quickly, pulling key terms and a word or two such as "environment" as the sum of each paragraph, then moving onto the questions. You're not really reading to internalize anything the first time , just kind of figuring out where you can find stuff quickly and easily when you do hit the questions. Seriously... I always pull the trick on them where I ask them a question about a specific detail in the passage after their first run through and then throw an eraser at them if they answer it correctly because I do not want them internalizing the passage. There's a ton of detail, you're not going to remember it all, make it your goal to just go through quick, see where you can find stuff, then hit the questions.

 

[dentalwannabe]

I usually:
1) "read" 1/2 the passage at a level somewhere between real reading and skimming.
2) Then I skim the 1/2 half of the passage, reading the first sentence and last sentence of every paragraph, noting and capitalized terms and getting a general sense of where the rest of the passage is going. Learning to "map" the passage is essential. There is usually some organization in a passage. Might start out about diversity of prokaryotes, then move on to parasitic ones in particular, then onto different treatments currently available, then conclude with new treatments and research in development.
3) Start in on questions. Questions, 99% of the time, will require that you find the material in the passage; you will not be able to answer a question from memory. This is why the "mapping" I described in part 1) and 2) is so important. If you get a question about a treatment for some pathogenic illness you will know you need to scroll to the bottom-ish of the passage, in the made-up passage I outlined above.

Get better at letting your eyes "fly around" a passage and touch down only on key words you are looking for.

Best of luck!

 

[Msmouth]

I got a 19 on my first Crack reading and a 21 on my 2nd.
The first time I read the passage in its entirety then answered questions but that left very little time for the 2nd 2 passages.
The 2nd test: I skimmed and looked for key words and wrote down the # of the paragraph a key word or 2 for each paragraph. This helped me locate paragraphs a little more quickly. Then it was just search and destroy from there. Tone questions I marked for the end.