When to re-read a sentence

[xinglipku]

During reading comprehension, if encountering a sentence that I don't quite understand, would you recommend skip it or re-read it until you get the idea what it's talking about?

[demetri.blaisdell]

Thanks for posting, xinglipku. I wish I could give you a definitive answer, but it really depends on context. Some LSAT takers spend more time on the initial read of the passage and then spend less time on the questions. For these students, it's more important to understand each sentence. Other students do a faster read and spend a little more time on the questions (re-reading a few sentences in order to find the answer).

The real answer is that you should know what where the sentence fits in to the argument. If you know that it's an example that supports one side, it's not important if you fully understand the sentence. You can always come back to it. But if you don't understand where it fits in the argument (support for side A, an example of the problems with side B, etc), you should re-read it to try to figure that out.

The focus is on understanding the role of each sentence, not what each word in that sentence means. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Demetri