RC Inconsistency

samantha.ashley92samantha.ashley92 Alum Member
edited July 2018 in Reading Comprehension 1777 karma

So in some of the 7-8 question RC passages I'm getting -0 or -1, and in others, I'm getting -4 or -5-- even on the passages I find moderately interesting. The problem is that I really think that my answers are correct while I'm choosing them. Any suggestions?

Comments

  • OhnoeshalpmeOhnoeshalpme Alum Member ⭐
    2531 karma

    You need to BR these passages before you check the answer choices. Use the BR process to reach 100% certainty, write out explanations for why the answers you chose are correct. Use this added time and certainty to outline, for yourself, what the issues are. I am sure that you will catch a majority of incorrect answer choices.

    Another point that I will make is that RC is my weakest section. I often find myself missin 0-1 on a 4/5 or even 5/5 passage, but will often miss 3 on an "easier passage". I think this comes from a crucial misreading or false diagnosis of a critical point in the passage. Maybe I focused too heavily on a single, emotive word, or I skipped over one and these mistakes misguided my approach to subsequent paragraphs. Again, this is something that you pick up in the BR process because it gives you a chance to read, with detail and with time, and it allows you to have 100% certainty on questions that you only get to maybe 70% certainty and move on from because of time.

  • JustDoItJustDoIt Alum Member ⭐
    3112 karma

    RC was also my worst section. Two strategies really helped me.

    The first was double blind review. I would do a passage, BR it, input my answers, and then see how many I got wrong. Definitely do not look at the answers. But up where the circle is in the analytics I would look at that number. If it was only one wrong, I would go to the question and see which question I got wrong, then try to figure it out. If it was two wrong, I would try to figure it which two questions I got wrong and then try to find the correct answer choices. This really helps you scrutinize. If it was three wrong or more, and also if I got two wrong in a five question passage, I would completely redo the passage instantly.

    The second was slowing down significantly. I went from doing passages in 3:30 to 4:30. Then I was able to breeze through the questions much faster. Granted, I do concede that this doesn’t work for everyone. It is just a matter of finding what works for you and I found that this worked better for me.

    Hope this helps!

  • samantha.ashley92samantha.ashley92 Alum Member
    1777 karma

    @Ohnoeshalpme Level 3 questions are always the hardest for me! I don't understand why, but it's like that in LR and LG, too.

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