Doubts on how to skim a RC

[tak2pratik]

While surfing through various strategies that we can use for RC's I came across a very interesting article by Stacey Koprince which I found particularly interesting.

The link to the aforementioned article is:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2010/04/23/how-to-read-a-reading-comp-passage

My doubts are regarding the following paragraphs mentioned in this article:

"So, a new passage pops up on the screen and we, naturally, start reading. Read the first sentence, then stop. Rephrase it in your mind (put it into words that you can understand very easily), and jot down a note or two. Then do the same with the second sentence. Once you think you understand the purpose of that one paragraph, you can start skimming the rest of the paragraph. While you skim, you’re trying to make this distinction: is this information just detail that goes along with whatever I decided was the purpose of this paragraph? Or is this information something new: does it represent a new idea or a change of direction? If it’s just detail, jot down the basic kind of detail it is ("bees dying") and move on. If it represents a new idea or change of direction, then pay a little more attention and take some short notes.

Do the same with the other paragraphs, though you can be a bit more aggressive about skimming. If, for example, you think you understand the purpose of the second paragraph after reading only the first sentence, that’s fine. Start skimming (but take note of anything that represents a new direction)."

I am not able to understand how skimming a paragraph should usually work.I have used two different methods for the RC's till now producing different results.

Firstly,I practiced a few RC's using the following algorithm for my initial read-through
1. Read the first 2 sentences and the last sentence of the 1st paragraph,find out the purpose of the first paragraph,make a small note,then
2. Read the first sentence of all middle paragraphs,and make notes accordingly.
3. Read the first and last sentence of the final paragraph and make a note.
4.Proceed to answering the questions.

Note:I came across this "Targeted skimming" approach in another article.Also,I never read the rest of the sentences of the respective paragraphs.

This method reduced the time required for reading the passage but it also reduced my accuracy drastically(around 40-50%).Also,I was not feeling confident about answering the questions.I think this happened because suppose for example the second paragraph contained 5-6 sentences and I would have read only the first sentence using the above approach.Hence,I was apprehensive about the information I had left out by not reading the rest of the sentences.


Secondly,I used the usual technique of
1. Reading the whole passage(determining the purpose of each paragraph and then quickly going through the rest of the paragraph)
2. Taking small notes for each paragraph and then,
3. Answering the questions.

My accuracy improved and hovered around 80%-90%.I averaged around 8-9 minutes per passage using this technique.

Clearly the second technique proved more beneficial in my case.But,I have a few doubts about my second technique.

1.)Is this the right approach to attack a RC ?If not then what is ?

2.)What do the lines "Once you think you understand the purpose of that one paragraph, you can start skimming the rest of the paragraph." from the above article mean ?

That is,does skimming include quickly reading through the rest of the paragraph taking note of any new ideas or completely ignoring the rest of the paragraph or is it something completely different which I have not thought of :).

3.)What do the lines "Do the same with the other paragraphs, though you can be a bit more aggressive about skimming. If, for example, you think you understand the purpose of the second paragraph after reading only the first sentence, that’s fine. Start skimming (but take note of anything that represents a new direction)." mean ?

What is aggressive skimming to be particular ?

Please help.
Pratik.

[tim]

1.)Is this the right approach to attack a RC ?If not then what is ?

2.)What do the lines "Once you think you understand the purpose of that one paragraph, you can start skimming the rest of the paragraph." from the above article mean ?

That is,does skimming include quickly reading through the rest of the paragraph taking note of any new ideas or completely ignoring the rest of the paragraph or is it something completely different which I have not thought of :).

3.)What do the lines "Do the same with the other paragraphs, though you can be a bit more aggressive about skimming. If, for example, you think you understand the purpose of the second paragraph after reading only the first sentence, that’s fine. Start skimming (but take note of anything that represents a new direction)." mean ?

What is aggressive skimming to be particular ?

1) the right approach is the one that will get you the most questions right. there are several valid approaches to RC, and you should find the one that works for you..

2) sounds like you have the right idea about skimming. don't just read a couple of sentences, but at least glance at the whole paragraph, with the goal of identifying what the paragraph is about GENERALLY..

3) it means you should lean more toward truly skimming - i.e. not worrying about details and just pulling out truly new concepts when they appear. in this sense you're not really reading at all but rather just looking at words..