<p>The books always say to use some complicated tricks (e.g. read 1 paragraph, answer questions on that small segment, then read another paragraph, etc.... or skim through the text quickly and focus really hard on questions) to score well on the CR. </p>
<p>I feel like these so-called strategies have been deluding me -- I've talked to some very high scorers on the CR and they have simply read the passage thoroughly and then answered the questions. </p>
<p>So now I'm asking 750+ CR people -- how'd you do it?</p>
<p>800 here :) Like you said, I didn't use any tricks, I just read each passage thoroughly and quickly, and then I answered the questions as best I could. I had about 6 minutes left on every section too, but I usually rock reading comprehension tests. I got a perfect score on the AP Language exam also, and I never missed a reading based question in English class... I'm not sure how well these "tricks" work, but try to put yourself in the mind of the writer, and GO WITH YOUR GUT! I used to talk myself out of the correct answer all the time, but now I never make that mistake. Good luck!</p>
<p>Congrats poisonous. What i plan on trying for CR is to answer the questions while reading. Like at beginning, mark lines in passage and when i reach a mark, answer the question. Anyone try this?</p>
<p>IMO, it's not the passage that tricks you! The passage most of the time is easy to understand. It's the way they word the answers. They put super complicated words in the answers to make them extremely hard to decipher, even though you have your answer from the passage already. So i'd suggest spending more time deciphering the answers and the questions, because you can answer the question easily if they didn't put answer choices.</p>
<p>you are an f-ing genius! You just put into words what I've been thinking unconsciously but couldnt consciously figure out!
I feel EXACTLY the same way, I just didn't realize it till now.</p>
<p>You don't even know how much I love you right now...I love you so much that your parents hate you compared to how much I love you...lol but jk</p>
<p>Do you have to be what is described as a "voracious reader" from childhood in order to get a good score? It just seems like people who do well are almost always those who have always had a hunger for reading books. Unfortunately, in my case, I didn't REALLY start reading until maybe high school.</p>
<p>i had 800 and a 5 on my AP lang exam also, and yes iv been a "voracious" reader my entire life. I dont use any tricks or strategies, I just read the passage and answer the questions. my best advice is to just concentrate on the meaning of the entire peice</p>
<p>Well, see, I took a backdoor route. I just took lots and lots of practice tests until reading the passages became normal and answering the questions became routine. People who read voraciously have lots of "practice" reading. People who don't read voraciously (moi), just need to practice on SAT passages more.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah, and if you practice on tests, you get exposure to the questions which are, IMO, just as important as the passages. If you can't understand the question, you're up scythe creek without a paddle.</p>
<p>I somewhat have to disagree with Ashrafs method of simply inculcating reading passages and questions because although practice can help ALOT on writing passages and math, there are only 4 types of questions on the CR, and doing them over and over won't help you familiarize them since there is really nothing to get familiarized with. Doing multiple passages each day will be most beneficial for strong readers, but if your an average reader, doing CR questions over and over will be a waste of time. My friends and i arn't exactly the best readers but our scores improved tremendously simply by reading more books and learning to get more "involved" with the story. Jextoloxes method of deciphering the questions and answers is also a brilliant method. Ultimately for one to get an 800 you need to practice the questions, read frequently(Involved in story), and have a good idea of what the questions are asking for and what the answers-shrouded under CBS tricky wording-really mean. Not to mention you will also need some luck- So pray to whoever the hell you pray to during test day.<br>
Good luck!
Jextolox, i love you more than shubham. I also notice that i sometimes get the question wrong simply because i had no clue what the question was ansking or what the choices meant. So thanks for the reminder dude!</p>
<p>I think that a strong background in reading is the most important factor in getting an 800. I started reading literary classics at a very young age, mostly because it was always very easy for me to get involved wth the story, and because I had help from a number of good teachers. If you want to learn to be a better critical reader, you should read books that you find challenging and interesting. You will find that the more you read, the easier it, and reading tests, become.</p>
<p>im nowhere near an 800 right now, but my score improved dramatically after i took</p>
<p>ap euro. i had to read so much for that class, and so i think my speed reading was boosted.</p>
<p>^mostly because i was up until 3 cramming for 50 pages of info for every test lol.</p>
<p>but, what i do is NOT listen to PR, and read the blurb, read the questions that refer to lines and star them. then i read ALL of the passages and underline the line references so that i answer them first. and then i do the other retarded questions after im done answering the easy ones.</p>
<p>You should really get into the habit of reading the editorials on newyork times, the format and level is very similar to the SATs. I also try to read books that i would normally find excruciatingly painful to read,such as Orgins of species by charles darwin. The SAT has taken many exceprts from this book in the past, so i wouldn't be suprised if it comes up again. You can also read classics bike mark twain, and well known classics such as 1984( i highly recommend ), and Upton sinclairs The Jungle. Don't limit yourself to reading just books either, try to be as versatile as a reader you can be, read EVERYTHING. You should also checkout ScientificAmerican.com daily and read some of thier articles as well. I've been doing this for only a month and my comprehension and stamina during practice tests have increased tremendously. Needless to say, you won't improve at ALL if you don't try to be involved in the story- Tips such as "think of the authors tone/mood" from prep book applies to everything that you read, always be involved and you will improve. In the past i simply read books(that are my level and interested me) without engaging my self mentally in the story, without stopping to "think", and so its not so much as a surprise to me that i didn't do as well as i could have on my previous sat. </p>
<p>I find a few that i find interesting and few that i find utterly boring , so about 5-10 each day. The sentence completion is also a huge part of your CR score, so look up any words you don't know, memorize roots, and try to memorize the key words for the SAT. Doing well o the passages will be meaningless if you mess up on the sentence completions, so try to get that out of the way by expanding your vocab.</p>