Verbal - Reading Comprehension Flashcards
Passage Content Categories
Passages discuss academic and scientific topics ranging from social sciences and humanities to the physical and biological sciences. They also main focus on such business-related fields as marketing, economics and human resource Manangement.
No prior knowledge of the subject matter discussed in a passage is assumed or required.
What is meant by “Logic over Content”?
The logical relations of the parts of the passage and how they relate to each other, is much more important than the content of any passage.
How should the initial reading be performed?
Read the first 2-3 sentences of the first paragraph and the first sentence of the other paragraphs.
Work at the SENTENCE LEVEL. Never read more than one sentence at a time.
Practice conscious reading: summarize in your head and ask your self questions about what you just read to ensure understanding. “What have I learned?” “What function does this sentence serve?” “How does it relate to what else I’ve learned in this passage?”
What is the work order for Reading Comprehension?
After initial reading:
1) Read the question carefully
2) Find the answer by thinking about it or looking in the passage.
3) Go over the answer choices and find one similar to the one you found.
4) Go over the remaining answer choices to make sure they’re not better.
Passage Structure
Usually 2-4 paragraphs. Rarely 1 or more than 4.
The first paragraph is generally a summary, similar to an abstract.
Other paragraphs go deeper into a certain point, issue or aspect pertaining to the main idea of the passage. The beginning of the paragraph announces the exact topic of the paragraph and serves as a summary of or introduction to the rest of the paragraph.
The exception to this rule would be the one-paragraph passage.
After Initial Reading, what are the next steps?
1) Read the question stem STOP and paraphrase.
2) Diagnose the question type (general or specific) based on what is stated or implied.
3) Find the answer. If it is general, find it in your notes. If it is specific, go back to the passage.
- paraphrase the answer to yourself
4) scan for a similar answer choice
5) go through the remaining choices and confirm they aren’t better.
How does the initial reading of a passage differ for single-paragraph passages?
After the initial couple sentences, once the main idea is understood, move through the passage looking for structural words or phrases that indicate subsections of the passage. Words like “however” “still” and “for example”
Once you’ve identified the question as a “structure” question, what part of the reading of the passage is necessary to solve it? The initial reading or more detailed reading?
Only the initial reading is necessary to answer “structure” questions.
