Is it a good use of time to practice random RC passages?

[rustom.hakimiyan]

Hi All,

My apologies in advance if this isn't the right section for this question, but here it goes.

I was/am still lagging on verbal so I took to the Manhattan Strategy Guides and made some good progress on SC. When it comes to RC though - i've read the guides and I understand the "strategy" of note taking/engaging but i'm not seeing any improvements on the problems?

My question is, HOW do I improve? Should I just keep reading passages after passages and answering questions. Is there a point of diminishing return or am I lacking something, fundamentally?

Thanks!

[StaceyKoprince]

This is exactly where you should ask that question. :)

If the technique isn't clicking for you, then practicing more problems using the non-clicking-technique won't necessarily do much for you. You need to figure out what will work for you and then practice that.

Take a look at this resource:
https://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/inde ... rehension/

Pick out the specific articles from that list that you need (based on whatever is giving you trouble) and see whether those can help make some techniques / approaches "click" for you. Then come back and let me know.

[rustom.hakimiyan]

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for sharing - again! :)

I went through the whole article thoroughly but there still seems to be a disconnect for me while taking the RC portion of the test. I changed my strategy to take my time(perhaps even more than the allocated time) to read a short/long passage and it seemed to help with grasping of the content.

I took my 4th cat yesterday and compared the assessment reports of the 4th cat to the reports from the 2nd/3rd/4th cat's combined - there seems to be a common theme - I need to improve on the questions related to the "Main Idea" and "Inference". It would seem that the "Main Idea" questions are the easiest but they seem to give me too much trouble and I'm having a really hard time trying to figure out why? Is it because i'm not thinking about the full passage/inferring too much or too little?

The master list does touch on the topics but I was wondering if you could share a few more insights to help me out?

Thanks again,
Russ.

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm not sure why you're struggling with those particular questions types, but you can figure out why by analyzing both your thought process and the questions themselves.

Did you feel that you had picked the correct answers but then got them wrong? Or were you unsure about your answers? (Answer separately for main idea vs. inference)

Analyze the wrong answers that you did pick. Are there any patterns? (Probably!)

For example, on main idea, do you tend to pick answers that are broader than the content of the passage? Or answers that only address part of the passage but not the whole thing?

Do you tend to pick answers that are mostly fine, but one or two words disqualify them? Maybe you're not paying enough attention to detail.

Did you actively eliminate the right answer (that is, think it was wrong)? If so, why? Or did you have it in until the end but then ultimately pick something else?

If you can figure out the answers to those questions, you'll figure out what's going wrong. :)

[rustom.hakimiyan]

I'm not sure why you're struggling with those particular questions types, but you can figure out why by analyzing both your thought process and the questions themselves.

Did you feel that you had picked the correct answers but then got them wrong? Or were you unsure about your answers? (Answer separately for main idea vs. inference)

Analyze the wrong answers that you did pick. Are there any patterns? (Probably!)

For example, on main idea, do you tend to pick answers that are broader than the content of the passage? Or answers that only address part of the passage but not the whole thing?

Do you tend to pick answers that are mostly fine, but one or two words disqualify them? Maybe you're not paying enough attention to detail.

Did you actively eliminate the right answer (that is, think it was wrong)? If so, why? Or did you have it in until the end but then ultimately pick something else?

If you can figure out the answers to those questions, you'll figure out what's going wrong. :)

I'll put this into practice! Thanks :)

[StaceyKoprince]

you're welcome - let me know how it goes!