A few American students' discussion on doing LSAT reading. Some are excellent advice.
Sup Guys,
Just wanted to find out what you guys think about speed reading software for RC. Do you recommend it? Waste of $? I tend to run out of time on the RC section, so i was thinking about working on my speed as far as reading the passages. It usually takes me about 4 minutes to read a passage (with everything outlined, margin notes, etc). Has anyone used a specific program and benfited from it?? Thanks for the advice, in advance!
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I had a near-perfect score in reading comp, and I think the conventional wisdom is wrong.
You don't need to read faster. You need to read *slower*. There's not a lot of material, it's just dense. Read all the questions, then resist the urge to spead up. Absorb the material as much as possible. If you do it right,you should be able to go straight through the questions without referring back to the text (except for those that say, "On line 21, what is the purpose of..." or similar).
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…its much more comprehension than speed that is measured. When I'm doing a reading comprehension question, I'm thinking the entire time and reading at normal speed. When I get to the questions I can answer most of them without re-reading much of anything. That I think is the key to this section, figuring out, as your reading, what is being said and what it means.
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Anyway, I usually had two-three minutes left at the end of the RC section to go back and look my answers over. On test day, it was closer to 3. The variance was caused primarily by how difficult the science section was (or wasn't). Slooooooooooooooooow down, and don't skip any words. They want you to rush. Don't play their game.
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Actually...don't slow down *or* speed up.
You should try to read the passages at your comfort level--that is, the level you read at when you're reading something that is familiar to you, and you're not pressed for time, but you're also not reading totally leisurely (say, readings for a class you really like). Time yourself reading something you're comfortable with, and see how you do. This should give you your comfort range.
If you slow down too much, your brain will get bored and you won't take anything in. If you read too fast, you won't take anything in. Your brain has a comfortable speed; find it. Then, try and read LSAT passages at this speed. You might not take in *everything* if the material is difficult, but speeding up or slowing down ultimately isn't going to help you in LSAT time (35 min).
If you find that your "comfortable speed" is still too slow for the LSAT, then it's time to strategize.
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I think the best approach (as Dani suggests) is to read at your own pace. As for my speed, it depends on the topic. I'd say I'm probably in the 2 to 4 mins range. Keep in mind that if you speed read and don't grasp the content, you'll have to spend more time answering the questions.
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I'd say 3 minutes is a good ballpark--that allows for some wiggle room. What should also help--*most* ot the RC questions shouldn't be surprises. There are some very basic questions that are almost always asked (although in tricky, crafty ways--but with practice, you get used to LSAT-speak and can see through the disguises), so you should be mentally tallying main points as you read--the main argument of the passage, or the main supports introduced, or the idea and author disagrees with, etc.
Also--being able to recognize these things helps you read more efficiently as well--you can think to yourself "this is an argumentative essay, so I need to internalize the thesis and supports," or whatnot. The essays LSAT offers tend to be fairly well-organized and linear, and thus should be fairly straightforward to navigate, despite differing topic matter.
Maybe you could try some drills...give yourself a boatload of essays about the same length and a stop watch, read the essays in three-four minutes, put them down, and then try to articulate what kind of essay it is, the main point and supports, etc...I dunno. It's an idea.
Writing abstracts for essays and articles is a great way to train yourself to look for the right info in a passage, although doing them can fry your brain--I think it's worth the effort, though:
http://writing.colostate.edu/references/documents/abstract/index.cfm
...not that you would do this while taking the LSAT--rather, it's training to get your brain looking for the right info in an efficient yet thorough manner.
Keep at it--Good luck!
Dani
确实有帮助,但是...
"the best approach (as Dani suggests) is to read at your own pace."是建立在这些美国孩子能够"I'd say 3 minutes is a good ballpark--that allows for some wiggle room.""I'd say I'm probably in the 2 to 4 mins range."的基础上的.
而我想用3分钟的时间读完一篇文章决非大部分中国学生的Own comfortable pace!
确实有帮助,但是...
"the best approach (as Dani suggests) is to read at your own pace."是建立在这些美国孩子能够"I'd say 3 minutes is a good ballpark--that allows for some wiggle room.""I'd say I'm probably in the 2 to 4 mins range."的基础上的.
而我想用3分钟的时间读完一篇文章决非大部分中国学生的Own comfortable pace!
I had a near-perfect score in reading comp, and I think the conventional wisdom is wrong.
You don't need to read faster. You need to read *slower*. There's not a lot of material, it's just dense. Read all the questions, then resist the urge to spead up. Absorb the material as much as possible. If you do it right,you should be able to go straight through the questions without referring back to the text (except for those that say, "On line 21, what is the purpose of..." or similar).
***
…its much more comprehension than speed that is measured. When I'm doing a reading comprehension question, I'm thinking the entire time and reading at normal speed. When I get to the questions I can answer most of them without re-reading much of anything. That I think is the key to this section, figuring out, as your reading, what is being said and what it means.
我认为这是关键。
Maybe you could try some drills...give yourself a boatload of essays about the same length and a stop watch, read the essays in three-four minutes, put them down, and then try to articulate what kind of essay it is, the main point and supports, etc...I dunno. It's an idea.
“
Writing abstracts for essays and articles is a great way to train yourself to look for the right info in a passage, although doing them can fry your brain--I think it's worth the effort, though:
http://writing.colostate.edu/references/documents/abstract/index.cfm...not that you would do this while taking the LSAT--rather, it's training to get your brain looking for the right info in an efficient yet thorough manner.”
我就总是看文章不专心，而且不善于发现info和关键。
“Absorb the material as much as possible. If you do it right,you should be able to go straight through the questions without referring back to the text (except for those that say, "On line 21, what is the purpose of..." or similar).”
做到这步很难阿。前几天回过头去看今年的高考英语卷子，所有的阅读都是看完一遍，就能直接作题，这样的感觉真好。可是lsat。。。。。
"前几天回过头去看今年的高考英语卷子，所有的阅读都是看完一遍，就能直接作题，这样的感觉真好。"
估计那些T14的JD毕业后再回头看LSAT的阅读,也会有类似的感觉了...
我也觉得阅读的关键在与速度．但是阅读速度的提高实在太难了．
找一本美国的法律教材（图书馆有借）每天读到吐（认真读50~100页，费时6~8小时），一个礼拜以后速度就上去了。
我就是这么给逼出来的，从精读12分钟一页到4分钟一页。。。（两年前考过GRE）
NND，叫我读中国小说，我也读的飞快。瞄两眼我就知道讲啥拉。
可这是英文啊，55，就生词吧，说是可以上下文联系下，可是看着就晃眼睛。不过话又说回来，这改卷老师可不管你哪国的……
55555555
lysluo,你练了一个星期，速度真的提高那么多吗?嗯，我也要试试。
找一本美国的法律教材（图书馆有借）每天读到吐（认真读50~100页，费时6~8小时），一个礼拜以后速度就上去了。
我就是这么给逼出来的，从精读12分钟一页到4分钟一页。。。（两年前考过GRE）
如果我每天这样读New York Times 管用吗?
ok, i plant to do just 3 instead of 4 passage for a long time.
But what shall we put in the answer sheet for part which we have abandoned...
Currently i use "B"....
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