Understanding diff passages.

[lsatkid26]

Hey Guys
I do fine on usually 2 of the 4 passages. I mean I understand it and can answer the questions correctly 90% of the time. However 1 or 2 passages just blow me away. I get sooooo lost on what's going on. And it's not a topic issue. I have tired reading very slowly to help me improve my understanding of the passage but no luck. Let me put it this way, I can barely draw a rough scale.

Please help.

Thanks

[tommywallach]

Hey Lsatkid,

Hello! Well the first thing to say is you are not alone. The hardest RC passages on the LSAT are a slog for even the best readers. However, I'm afraid there isn't any silver bullet I can offer you. But I will make a few recommendations:

1) Remember, the concepts in a passage are almost never particularly complicated. What's stressing you out is the way those concepts are being presented. Keep reminding yourself that the passage isn't actually that hard, it's just the way they're choosing to word it.

2) If there are certain subjects that you find particularly stressful, you need to go read difficult books on that subject. This will help you in terms of familiarity and comfort.

3) In general, you should be reading hard stuff regularly. Go pick up a few books of literary theory or science that are slightly too difficult for you (A little Foucault or Derrida, or maybe Godel, Escher, Bach), and read for an hour a day. This will make the LSAT look like a cakewalk!

4) Try not to take any notes while you're reading. I don't know how you're doing it right now, but sometimes, the desire to start making some kind of outline or scale distracts us from actually taking in the material. You may need to just read straight through, without notes, then try to make sense of what you read. On the other hand, if you're already doing that, you might want to try switching the other way, and taking a moment at the end of every paragraph to think/write about what the paragraph is about/for. Basically, change up your methodology/technique and see what works better.

Those are some basic ideas, but I'd be happy to answer any follow-up questions!

-t

[lsatkid26]

So I have taken your advice Tommy and started to read a difficult book. But I read a paragraph and I'm lost. Please throw me down some wisdom. Is there book you recommend with some notes to use while I read these difficult books?

Thanks

[tommywallach]

Sorry! If reading is difficult for you, you might need to work with a language tutor to get your skills up! : )

-t

[romano.eric901]

I guess these strategies should be helpful

When you come across a passage with only a few big paragraphs, break them apart by using brackets. The longest paragraph usually contains several ideas or subtopics.

By breaking it into smaller chunks, you will see where the passage's topic changes. There are often questions about the information at these transition points.

Words to look out for

Here are some words to box or underline:

advocates, critics, opponents, others, proponents, supporters, artists, engineers, politicians, scholars, scientists, writers, all, always, every, most, never, some, first, second, third, according to, but, despite, for example, for this reason, furthermore, however, in addition, in contrast, namely, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, argue, claim, criticize, oppose, support, reject.

To improve your skills, you need to read a lot. Try finding books or verses, American literature, etc to practice your skills. You can find many of these on bartleby to read them online and improve your skills.