Can anyone explain to me how I should approach reading comprehension problems on my English tests? I have a lot of trouble reading and answering the questions in time, so it's lowering my grade and I know it's important for the SAT, too.
Best Answer
There are lots of things you can do to improve your reading comprehension:
Step 1: Take notes along the margins as you read
Step 2: Don't read questions before you read the passage
Step 3: Employ speed reading techniques to improve your reading pace without compromising your comprehension of the material
Step 4: Capture the meat of the passages as you read along so that you don't waste your time on superfluous parts of the story
Step 5: The process of elimination is an extremely helpful tool with reading comprehension passages--use it wisely.
Employ these tips and you should be fine.
Step 1: Take notes along the margins as you read
Step 2: Don't read questions before you read the passage
Step 3: Employ speed reading techniques to improve your reading pace without compromising your comprehension of the material
Step 4: Capture the meat of the passages as you read along so that you don't waste your time on superfluous parts of the story
Step 5: The process of elimination is an extremely helpful tool with reading comprehension passages--use it wisely.
Employ these tips and you should be fine.
-
Other Answers
The one-line sentence summary strategy is a really great tool that I learned from my English teacher. Here's how to do it:
As you read each paragraph within a passage, create a one-line sentence summay of each parargraph. That means, if you have 5 paragraphs within a passage, you should be able to create 5 sentences that encapsulate the whole passage.
Write each sentence summary in the margins alongside each paragraph. Jotting in the notes next to the paragraph will allow you to keep track of your passage in an orderly fashion.
At the very end, the sentence summaries combined can give you a quick recap of the entire passage in one quick gulp. This way, you can refer to a short quick paragraph, instead of the entire passage of 35-45 lines, which would take too long to read--you can utilize this summary to answer all-encompassing questions (e.g. "What argument is the author trying to make?", "What is the main point of the passage?")
As you read each paragraph within a passage, create a one-line sentence summay of each parargraph. That means, if you have 5 paragraphs within a passage, you should be able to create 5 sentences that encapsulate the whole passage.
Write each sentence summary in the margins alongside each paragraph. Jotting in the notes next to the paragraph will allow you to keep track of your passage in an orderly fashion.
At the very end, the sentence summaries combined can give you a quick recap of the entire passage in one quick gulp. This way, you can refer to a short quick paragraph, instead of the entire passage of 35-45 lines, which would take too long to read--you can utilize this summary to answer all-encompassing questions (e.g. "What argument is the author trying to make?", "What is the main point of the passage?")
-
If you learn to read faster, you can have more time for the questions.
Most people think the key is to read faster. I think the best advice is the opposite. If you read more slowly, then you'll be able to retain more of the information that you read so that you can better answer the questions that you get at the very end.