| While it might seem bit cliché, good habits can make the difference between an okay LSAT score and one that you want to put on the refrigerator like elementary school noodle art. Some of these I’ve gone over, some I haven’t. A little repetition is never bad thing, especially when it comes to LSAT Reading Comp. So, without further ado, let’s jump in! |
This is now the third time I’ve brought this up recently. You know why? Because it’s that important! Once you’ve identified the overarching theme of the passage everything else becomes much, much easier.
2. Keep track of various opinions presented by various groups
Once you identify a group with an opinion, give them a name as it will make it easier to keep up with them. If they love motorcycles, call them the Cyclists. If they are searching for a subterranean civilization, call them The Mole Men.
Whatever helps you easily identify who they are and what they believe. THEN whenever one of them presents some evidence, mark it and attribute it to the right group. At the end of the passage you’ll have a clear idea of who believes what and why. Which brings me to my next point…
3. Have a consistent and effective note-taking strategy
The LSAT is timed. You do not have time to re-read every single Reading Comp question to find every single answer. There’s no wrong way to take notes as long as it is quick and easy-to-understand. It doesn’t matter if anyone but you understands what you’re writing. If you can get to the end of the passage and have a shorthand for what you read you’ll be flying. And just as important, feeling confident.
4. Stay within the information provided in the passage
Sometimes you’ll get a passage where you actually know a little bit about topic. Believe it or not, this can actually hurt you rather then help you, since it becomes tempting to include your own knowledge in your answers. WRONG. Support each inference you make only with information from the passage. To make sure you’re doing this, mentally cite the line or paragraph from which you’re drawing your conclusion.
5. As in Logical Reasoning, focus on structure, not content
In all likelihood, you’re going to be reading about subjects that are obtuse and downright boring. They’ll be complicated and unnecessarily confusing.
To combat this, break apart each paragraph like a Logical Reasoning question. Don’t worry about the details of the argument, just identify the parts of it so you can answer the question and get out of there.
6. Get a sense of where questions will come from as you read the passage.
This is where practice comes in handy. The more Reading Comprehension questions you do, the more you’ll start to see patterns emerging. You’ll be able to identify important sections and pay close attention to them and you’ll know that’s where the answers to the questions will likely be coming from. It’s no different then any other competition. If you know your opponent’s tendencies (in this case, the LSAT), you’ll be better prepared to counter-attack. It doesn’t matter if you play chess, football, or Call of Duty. Know Thy Enemy.
7. Practice, practice, practice
Maybe more than any other part of the LSAT, Reading Comprehension can be made much easier by simply doing a lot of them. The types of questions you can be asked are relatively limited and you’ll see them asked the same way again and again. Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut, but if you put in the work, you will see an improvement If you need some more to read up on, go check out this article with more RC tips and tricks. (I mentioned some already, but there’s a lot of nuggets of wisdom I couldn’t get to today.)
Next time, we’ll get into categorizing the various Reading Comprehension passages you’re likely to see. Why? Go back to #6…Know Thy Enemy.
-Steve "the best is still to come" Schwartz
P.S. Can’t wait for my next one? Looking to go deeper?
I created an LSAT Reading Comprehension Cheat Sheet a little while ago.
It shows killer techniques to help you: 1 - understand the structure of each passage 2 - know when NOT to use strategies because they’ll take too long 3 - know the RIGHT strategy to use at the right time It boils things down to the basics. Without forcing you to read hundreds of pages. Without trying to memorize everything. Result ... you solve more questions in less time - and get a higher % correct. Big difference. You can get a copy here: LSAT Reading Comprehension Cheat Sheet Enjoy! [To be continued...]
P.P.S. We’ve only covered a few topics so far, and there’s a lot more to dive into. I’ll be covering RC more in the future, but there’s no reason you can’t get my best resources in the meantime.
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