jamesbond007 Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 Hi Guys and Gals, When I took GMAT first time, I came to know that my biggest weakness lies in Reading Comprehension. URSULA helped me a lot in guiding about how to get maximum from RC questions. I tried to work on those strategies. You all can find those strategies in her one of the post. I will paste here the link later on. But I still found that my main problem is not the comprehension but the speed. Due to slow reading speed, I used to become panic, particularly at the end of test. So I found my main weakpoint. It was slow reading Speed. I did some research on it. Step - 1: Measure your current Reading Speed. Go to following Link. Take a Speed Reading Test. If it is less than 200 WPM, then you have to really think of increasing your Reading Speed. But Don't worry. Do not buy any Speed Reading Software. It is very expensive to increase your reading speed. Read my Step2 and Step3 below. http://www.readingsoft.com/ Step - 2: How to Improve your Reading Speed. See my attachments HOW to Increase Speed - I, II, III Practise daily with those suggestions. Step - 3: How to Improve your Reading Comprehension. See my attachment HOW to improve Reading Comprehension. I will soon add some great articles closely resembling the GMAT level. I have taken them from The ECONOMIST, THE TIME, BBC and many other Websites. But the size is too large to Upload them here. But soon will find the way to do it. All the best guys. JamesBond007TIPS FOR INCREASING READING SPEED-I.docTIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR READING SPEED-II.docTIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR READING SPEED-III.docHow To Improve Reading Comprehension.doc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk007 Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 Wonderful Post .Went through the material provided.I know what i have to do now,lots and lots of Practise. Thanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawanjsvn Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 Thanks! Jamesbond. I took the speed test and my reading speed was 197 WPM with 82% comprehension. I have to improve immensely on my reading speed. Thanks a lot for the great post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friendlydragonca Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 I think reading speed and comprehension are important for the RC, but IMO there is another factor: it is hard to explain in words exactly, but you need to "get the hang" of how ETS presents a RC question and its 5 accompanying answer choices. Getting the hang of it naturally involved doing the RC questions in the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], and reading the explainations for them. There are patterns in how ETS presents a question and the answer choices. Again, I could not state explictly what they are, but after doing several of the RC questions in the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip], I began to sort of sense these patterns. Sometimes I was able to guess what answer was right and what was wrong by "gut feel". I was not 100% accurate, but was much better than 20% accurate (i.e. better than random guessing) by the time I had finished the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip]. What I am saying is, success in RC is about general reading speed and comprehension, a skill we all use everyday. But it is also about skills that are unique to the GMAT RC. Doing better in the RC involves both improving our gerneral reading skills, and learning the specific GMAT RC quirks. Sorry if this sounds a bit zen-like and mystical, but after working on all the [tooltip=Official Guide]OG[/tooltip] RC questions, hopefully you will develop this sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
post2ashish Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 i got 260 wpm with 82%... one needs to be at around >300 wpm... (ideal wud be ~450 wpm) bcoz RC passages in GMAT often range from 350-450 words. And one shud not spend more than 1 to 1.5 mins in reading a passage. My problem is tht by the time i come to Verbal section, i'm so much tired tht my mind starts wandering & i cud not concentrate on the RC. Because when i try to do standalone RCs (on PC) i get it almost 90% correct with an avg of less than 2 min per Q. I think apart form RC skills, we need to train our mind to concentrate during the 4hr gruelling session. James, it wud b gud if u can share an article on "How to improve Concentration" ashish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbond007 Posted August 13, 2004 Author Share Posted August 13, 2004 Hi Friendlydragon, I understand your point. To become habitual to GMAR RC and its questioning patterns is sufficient criteria. But I strongly feel that non-native english speakers needs somethings more than this sufficient criteria and that is what I said in above post. High Reading speed with good comprehension is essential criteria for any compititative exam. You may not felt the need of this, may be because either you are native english speaker or have good english reading speed. There are many others, who fail in RC area of GMAT just because, they have very less English reading speed (in the range of 100-150). For them, high reading speed is must. Once they got the decent level of reading speed, at least 200 WPM, they can start trying for GMAT RC strategies. Let's look at it in other way. We have around 14 RC, 14 SC and 14 CR, SAY. all RC passages and questions and thier all 5 choices have as many as 2000 words. All CR questions contributes as many as 1500 words and SC, around 1000 words. Total words in Verbal section are aproximately 4500 to 5000. To read these many words, which have highly complicated and unusual structure, a slow reader will take 40 to 50 mins. Because, although a slow reader has 100 to 150 WPM speed, it reduces to less than 100 WPM when reading on computer. Adding to it, the sense of solving the GMAT test will further reduce the speed as a slow reader thinks that good comprehension is better at slow speed. Hence simply consuming 50+ mins in merely reading the text. When he will get the time to think? Everyone knows that each question requires at least a 30 sec to 60 sec for thinking. So total 41 mins requires minimum 20 to 30 mins. This will cross the 75 mins limit and hence all slow readers never could finish the entire test. They have to simply guess last 6-7 questions. On contrast to this, if high speed reader solving the test, he will have ample time to think compared to slow reader. Given that both, slow and high speed readers think at the same level, high speed reader will eventually get high score. So it is very essential to every test solver, that the reading speed is above 200 WPM while reading on computer, if he wanted to score 700+. What do you say? Am I right? Regards, JAmesBond007 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdanquah Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 Thanks jamesbond for the wonderful analysis. I have found out that on my practice test i tend to get corrrect answers for the early question in the verbal section. however, because i spend on average 2 to 3minutes on these question, latter questions are unswered correctly. You have mase a good point ans analysis and I think if every testtaker will follow, it will help him/her improve upon verbal greatly. thanks agin for your analysis and the documents you sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constance Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 FYI, I've followed the instructions off 007 and my speed for RC has increased quite substancialy (10min per RC of 4 questions in state of 15 min). If english isn't your first language, I really think it helps. Thanks 007 ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savita Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 Hi 007 I have downloaded the materials you provided. Thanks for sharing with everyone. My biggest problem in Verbal also was RC especially towards the end..keep my mind focussed was difficult. I took the speed test and it came to 221 WPM with 91% comprehension..which I guess ain't that bad..but I guess if improve it I will make a huge difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swiss Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 Hi Jamesbond007, Thanks for the link I scored a 190wpm with an accuracy of 75%. So, I guess there is some work to do. CU Swiss :tup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBG Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 You read at 156 words per minute Your comprehension is 91% suppose i have a lot to improve :( , hey but i read aloud ...do you read aloud? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psyzygy Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 324 wpm. Comprehension of 91% 10 out of 11 correct. I find the best way to increase your speed is by reading large chunks of text at once as opposed to reading one word at a time. For instance, it pays to read "Mary had a little lamb" in one go as opposed to "Mary" "had" "a" "little" "lamb" Our brain can usually take in as much information as our eyes transmit back from a page or computer screen. It'll seem a little difficult at first, but practice makes perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qhoc0010 Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 The only problem I have when trying to read large chunks of text is that I forget the information I previously read. I couldn't make the connection between sentences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebullfighter Posted November 12, 2004 Share Posted November 12, 2004 yap. thats called skimming. (---psyzygy) btw i don't find the link (not this1, the link provided ie 'readingsoft') very useful, just comes wth a timer and some Qs, thats it. i mean th analysis part, or the profile summary ws not very useful. just because it was given in Increasing order of both 'Speed' & 'Comphrension'. I mean, if it's 240 wpm/60% then profile is Average reader. But what if a reader reads at 240 wpm but with a comphrension of 91%. I think he would be above average, or at least above the earlier reader, who ws classified as average reader. I suppose u hav guessed why im emphasisin this difference soo much... btw hw good is 291 wpm/100% speed/comphrension. http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/22.gif 0010--- "The only problem I have when trying to read large chunks of text is that I forget the information I previously read. I couldn't make the connection between sentences." You don't do that, u just feel that. rather by going back 'While' reading u actually break ur concentration and weakn ur power to be able to relate to the passage. u try(want) to mug up th passage, thts y u feel less confident. To actually relate to the passage, best is to keep reading.... 'Don't stop' 'Don't feel u hav already forgottn wat u just read' just keep on reading as u are reading this post, it's th same... just th fact tht ur actually reading a 'RC' makes u feel conscious.. do try this... read a lot, and try to read in a casual manner... yes, by doin so u'll Not be able to remember the 'Exact' facts and numbers/dates/figures etc but at th time of reading thts not required, ur aim is to get understand th whole story. for specific facts/numbers(if Q asks for em') u can quickly move ur eyes to th left side of screen , & as u hav some rough idea whr the number is, u'll easily be able to capture it w/o wastin time... do try tis method. it hs helped me... (100% comph. lol). but th best thing tht helps me is th fact tht i actually start thinkin(parallel) as to wat all Qs can be formed in this RC, ie 'try' to get into th mind of th test-setter, same i try in CRs. & believe me, does hlp... but first practice th othr stuff... hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjohn Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 176wpm, 82%. worst on the board... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebullfighter Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 176wpm, 82%. worst on the board... i think u missed Swiss' post above. (swiss, no offence intended dear. i see u took it in a healthy manner too.:tup: ) didn't understand?? probably coz. u din't read my post above. Personally, i'll consider a baller who balls at an average of 5-6runs & takes 3 wickets better than someone who takes no wickets & balls at an average of 2-3runs. :D BOL. & KEEP READING. (at one go, withou pausing or looking back at the last sentence tht u just read bt Think u hav already forgetn) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninka Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 Hi, this is exactly what I think - I am able to read quickly, however, the my answers are often incorrect. Could you describe a bit the patterns you observed? I really find the RC section very difficult. Thanks Nina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jin00V Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 In my maternal language, 200 wpm is not easy to attain....so I finally found that my leading skill totally sucks....huoooo....It is very surprising me that the speeds between reading English text and that of mine are not quite different...oh my god!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoot Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 007... Nice info, thanks for sharing this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rajeevgmail Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Awesome ...Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ymahajan Posted January 11, 2005 Share Posted January 11, 2005 thanks for the wonderful post !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maelstrom Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 261, 82%...:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingforGMAT Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 Nope ... me worser... 170 wpm, 78%!but will surely improve and prove!! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raghu_tallam Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 mine is 169 wpm..and 64% comprehension....need to work on it a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidmittal Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 220 with 91% accuracy. BullFighter's message would be quite useful. Thanks 007!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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