<p>What do you think is the best approach to working with the Reading Comprehension questions?
When I read the Princeton Review SAT Study Guide, the book said that test takers should not read the passage first. Instead, they should only read the blurb and maybe the first sentence of the passage, in order to get the GIST. But that's all. After reading the blurb, they should just go straight to the questions and then go back to the passage to find the answer according to the line references. But is this approach really effective? </p>
<p>If I choose to read the whole passage first, would I be wasting time? I don't intend to read carefully while trying to memorize the details. I just want to put out maybe 2-3 minutes to read the whole passage just to get the main idea and tone of the author, without going into much detail, before I go to the questions.</p>
<p>Which method do you recommend? Reading the whole passage first, or just going straight to the questions and then work from there?</p>
<p>And would the method you choose be applied to both single and double passages?</p>
<p>I've never really understand the "don't read the passage" strategy. I read the passage first - in its entirety - on all my reading comprehension, and I score well. </p>
<p>On the other hand, given its popularity, the "read passage later" strategy must have its benefits. However, I stick with my "read whole thing first." It gives me a good picture of the essay as a whole - things like tone don't always come out clearly in individual sentences.</p>
<p>If you can read the passage in 1-2 minutes, I say read first...</p>
<p>Since the questions are in the order that the answers appear, I answer the questions as I go through the passage. I find that this really helps me with the detail-oriented questions. Whenever I go back to the passage after answering a question, I always remind myself of the gist of what I've read so far (and usually make notes in the margin) so as not to lose sight of the "big picture."</p>
<p>I would recommend experimenting with a variety of methods and finding the one that works the best for you.</p>
<p>it really depends on yourself and your own preferences.</p>
<p>I have always answered the question AS I read since they are in order, noting the lines referenced in the questions while I read. The advantage to that is that some of the questions that refer to a specific line will include in its answers some ideas that will come LATER in the passage, but not necessarily in that specific line. If you read the passage entirely first, you MAY get confused and pick one of those other choices that are true for the passage as a whole, but not for that certain question.</p>