Lecture Notes for Verbal Reasoning

1. Lecture Notes for Verbal Reasoning Lesson 2 Strategies, tactics and tips for reading the VR passages according to Exam Krackers

2. Strategies, Tactics, Tips • Time Management • Plan on at least eight minutes per passage • Some passages take longer than others • Check your timer only once. • After you’ve finished 3rdor 4thpassage • Checking time too frequently is distracting • Try to finish VR section with two minutes to spare • Don’t try to finish early in order to return to difficult passages • Practice timed reading • A 600 word journal passage in three minutes.

3. Strategies, Tactics, Tips • Read for the main idea of each passage • Don’t worry about reviewing the passage for facts. • Imagine listening to a friend’s story. • Listen for the main idea and ignore the details.

4. Strategies, Tactics, Tips • Try to identify the function of each part of the text. • Read with questions in mind: • What’s the author trying to say? • What’s the author’s point? • What’s the author’s position on the topic? • What’s your impression of the author? • Scrutinize the structure of each passage. • Organize a mental map. • Each paragraph will explore a new angle of the main idea. • Each paragraph will provide supporting detail for the main idea. • Passage structure is logical, manageable, and even predictable.

5. Strategies, Tactics, Tips • Avoid judging the passages. • Don’t get caught up in your reactions to the ideas or your lack of interest in the subject. • Don’t focus too much on details and specifics. • Emphasis will be on the main idea, the author’s purpose and the argumentative structure. • Don’t skim for information or use speed reading techniques. • Very little information retention from skimming. • Read as you normally would with careful concentration. • Save time when answering questions

6. Strategies, Tactics, Tips • Increasing reading speed has little impact on your verbal score. • Focus on enhancing efficiency at answering questions. • Test-takers lose crucial time because they: • Hunt for the answer in the passage. • Read the passage many times over. • Don’t waste time and distract yourself by jotting margin notes. • Passages present one overriding theme • Details are less important than overarching theme. • Emphasis on ambiguities and gray areas • Certainty with an answer can be a trap.

7. Strategies, Tactics, Tips • Don’t read the questions first • A waste of time because it forces you to read for detail. • Short term memory lapse guarantees you’ll forget the questions. • Don’t circle of underline words • Directs focus to details. • Interrupts reading of the passage.

8. Strategies, Tactics, Tips • Reflect on the main idea after completing a passage. • Take 20 seconds and mentally construct the main idea in a couple of sentences. • Writing the main idea takes too much time. • Don’t skip passages, but rather address them in order. • Jumping around wastes time. • Loss of concentration and confidence. • It’s difficult to determine which passages are more difficult.