<p>One of my biggest hurdles in the ACT/SAT tests are the critical reading sections involving passages followed by questions. I am not very good at speed reading, and when I do, I dont absorb nearly as well.</p>
<p>I am currently going through PR's PSAT prep book, and their strategies seem unreal for me to manage. First skimming over for the main idea and then read for detail? Either I'm not understanding their thought process or that is definitely not in my range.</p>
<p>I simply cannot seem to read fast and effective enough to do well on these sections and am looking for strategies for my position to improve my score potential. Thanks for any help</p>
<p>I think each individual has his or her own strategy when it comes to CRs. Some people who love to read and have been reading their whole life, CRs are a breeze. They absorb the information well, and they can spit it back out when asked a question.</p>
<p>However, there are others (like me), who read only when my high school english class requires it.</p>
<p>It’s really about how you feel you can best do the questions.</p>
<p>Yea, I’m just trying to get some suggestions on what helps people. I love reading, and like to think of myself as a good one, but the speed at which I have to fly through standardized test passages just seems unreasonable.</p>
<p>I think it’s easier to read the questions first and the answers. Then, skim through the paragraphs to make a quick synopsis of the passage. Barron’s books for SAT prep are really helpful!</p>
<p>Hey, I had/have the same problem as you, but I’m slowly but surely tackling it and am seeing improvement. I’m generally quite a slow reader and need to read slowly to take stuff in. Here’s what I do:</p>
<p>First, I read the little synopsis in italics above the passage (if there is one). If there isn’t, I quickly skim the first few lines - maybe just 3 or 4 to get a “feel” for what I’m dealing with. I then look at the questions, in particular the line references. I jump to the question with the line reference earliest in the passage, read the question and glance at the answers, and then I read up to that point in the passage and answer the question. Sometimes you need to read a sentence or two beyond the line reference.</p>
<p>I then go question by question by order of line references. When all of the line reference questions are done, you are generally almost at the end of the passage. Simply finish reading the passage and then answer the general questions.</p>
<p>When I have two passages to compare, I first answer the questions that deal with each passage individually - so line references for the first one, and then general questions for the first one, then repeat for the second passage. Finally, I answer the questions that ask about both passages.</p>
<p>When I initially started prepping for the SAT, I was always took about 5 minutes more than the allotted time to complete the CR sections. Now I can just about complete them all within the time limit.</p>
<p>What I like about my method is that when you’re dealing with questions with line references, your interpretation of the paragraph doesn’t get skewed by what is said afterwards. You don’t mix up something said later on with something said at the start - that is left for the general passage questions.</p>