I am preparing for GMAT from past one month. Last week I gave my first mock (Manhattan mock 1) and I scored 51 in maths and 33 in Verbal ,Also in verbal I cracked CR with 12 out of 14 questions correct along with a good speed.

I performed very poorly in Sentence correction and Reading comprehension mostly because of very slow speed. I am ready to do anything to improve on this front.Kindly suggest some methodology, material‌ which can help me improve.

@manishkt85 said: hey ...i was lukin for RC 99, but i guess now they have stopped selling it. can you please tell me from where i can get it..?

You May pm me if you want RC 99

Folks - just wanted to give everybody here a heads-up - Once we move to the new forum, I will be closing this thread down. It's anyway gotten way too long.

Once we move to the new section, what I'd like you to do is create a thread for each problem that you want to discuss. The title should follow the format - "Source" "Type" "Question Number" "Misc information"
So thread titles will now look like "OG12 DS #247" or "TIME PS #7 Book5Pg38"

Why I am doing this -
In this thread alone there are a ton of good problems that most likely nobody is ever going to read because it's buried too deep. And that's a serious waste. The new format allows somebody to more efficiently use the tags to find a particular solution rather than reposting the question.

As always - open to suggestions and discussions

Hi,

I am preparing RC from OG12 and got 24 wrongs out of total 139.

Please tell me how am I faring if I am aiming a score above 720? and also any action plan for improvement?

Thanks
Saurabh

The fact is questions are framed from these similar looking yet different instances mentioned in the passage. To sum it, try and pen down very short notes while you are reading it and identify the main differences.

Hi Ashish,
I have recently started preparing for RCs from RC 99..I have got a few queries like:-
1- Hows RC 99 a guide to prepare for GMAT and even CAT ?
2- I have completed around 10 Rcs and I did find the quality quite good. But I generally take around 12 mins on an average to complete the Rcs and my accuracy is something like 3/4 or 2/3 and rarely 1/3 in some cases. Whats your take on it and How would you suggest me to improve upon subsequently?
3- Any other source to practice good quality Rcs?

Thanks a tonne in advance...

hey ...i was lukin for RC 99, but i guess now they have stopped selling it.
can you please tell me from where i can get it..?

Hi Ashish,

Could you please let me know whether the Kaplan and Manhattan tests are adaptive or not? Does their score a good relflection of the actual gmat score?

While (I am sure) they claim to be adaptive, there is really no way for any outsider to tell for sure.

However, on the brighter side, it should really not be of concern. The more relevant point is whether their score is indeed a reflection of the actual score. From what I have heard, one can expect the actual GMAT score to be slightly more than what one scores on Manhattan. Not sure about Kaplan.

Needless to say, no test can compare on this front with the GMATPrep.

-------------------------------------------
Thanks,
Ashish
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
GMAT - 99th Percentile, MBA - ISB
Hard work..works!!

Hi Ashish,

Could you please let me know whether the Kaplan and Manhattan tests are adaptive or not? Does their score a good relflection of the actual gmat score?

Difficulty in RC can be at two levels: The passage itself might be tough to understand (for example, psychoanalytic passages) or the questions might be tough.


-------------------------------------------
Thanks,
Ashish
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
GMAT - 99th Percentile, MBA - ISB
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going...

Hi Ashish,
I have recently started preparing for RCs from RC 99..I have got a few queries like:-
1- Hows RC 99 a guide to prepare for GMAT and even CAT ?
2- I have completed around 10 Rcs and I did find the quality quite good. But I generally take around 12 mins on an average to complete the Rcs and my accuracy is something like 3/4 or 2/3 and rarely 1/3 in some cases. Whats your take on it and How would you suggest me to improve upon subsequently?
3- Any other source to practice good quality Rcs?

Thanks a tonne in advance...

Hi Ashish,
I would like to know whether the difficulty level of english section in the GMAT is same as that of OG or its difficult compared to it. Also, I get 4 ques correct out of 6 in 13-14 minutes in RC, but the time I am taking is too much. Could you please suggest some ways to increase accuracy as well as speed.

Difficulty in RC can be at two levels: The passage itself might be tough to understand (for example, psychoanalytic passages) or the questions might be tough.

As far as difficulty of passages is concerned, the difficulty level of OG compares quite well with the actual GMAT. The difficulty level of questions, on the other hand, is a bit of a moot point, because on the actual exam, the difficulty level of the questions depends upon how you are faring. Since GMAT is an adaptive exam, the difficulty level of questions (even within a RC passage) would depend upon whether you are answering the questions correctly or wrong.

Time-wise, the general advice is that the focus during initial preparation days should be on accuracy rather than speed. So, you should see if the current accuracy of 4 out of 6 increases (even if it takes a bit more time). The next focus over the course of preparation should be on reducing the time spent per question.

-------------------------------------------
Thanks,
Ashish
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
GMAT - 99th Percentile, MBA - ISB
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going...

Hi Ashish,
I would like to know whether the difficulty level of english section in the GMAT is same as that of OG or its difficult compared to it. Also, I get 4 ques correct out of 6 in 13-14 minutes in RC, but the time I am taking is too much. Could you please suggest some ways to increase accuracy as well as speed.

Excellent and congrats!! Knew you would score well. What was your overall score?

Coming to RC, a couple of years back, our recommendation was to read the first and last para very intently, skim thru middle paras, create mind-map and the whole nine yards.

However, it seems that the length of RC passages on GMAT is decreasing by the day (though I don't recollect reading any official announcement). Basically passages are becoming dense and precise.

Now we recommend that test-takers read the entire passage twice, before starting to attempt questions. This simple advice has worked extremely well for our students over the past few months.

Reading the passage once Vs reading it twice really makes a BIG difference in understanding and is worth the extra time spent (this extra time, by the way, needs to be culled from SC or CR).

As ps25 rightly stated however, whatever works best...

Continuing with my previous post, reading the passage twice (obviously) does not take twice the time it takes to read the passage once. Typically it takes 50%-60% of the time it takes to read the passage the first time.

In fact, it is more an issue with disciplining yourself, rather than time. With the question (that you need to answer) always staring at you on the screen, the urge to read the question, as opposed to reading the passage twice, is obviously tough to curb.

But, as I had mentioned, it is definitely worth a try, especially for those who are struggling on RC.

-------------------------------------------
Thanks,
Ashish
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
GMAT - 99th Percentile, MBA - ISB

you can use online e-books and other stuff to study there are lot of thing available to study..

I agree with Ashish from @EducationAisle. Reading the RC Passage 2 times will really help. But the problem is that the reading speed of most students is quite poor. They barely are able to read the passage once. For that, I had suggested a Speed Reading technique in my earlier post. If students practice that and get in a habit of reading, then they can really do well in RC.

i scored 41 in verbal and happy with performance, each person will have to define his or her own strategy which suits to his or her personality.

Excellent and congrats!! Knew you would score well. What was your overall score?

Coming to RC, a couple of years back, our recommendation was to read the first and last para very intently, skim thru middle paras, create mind-map and the whole nine yards.

However, it seems that the length of RC passages on GMAT is decreasing by the day (though I don't recollect reading any official announcement). Basically passages are becoming dense and precise.

Now we recommend that test-takers read the entire passage twice, before starting to attempt questions. This simple advice has worked extremely well for our students over the past few months.

Reading the passage once Vs reading it twice really makes a BIG difference in understanding and is worth the extra time spent (this extra time, by the way, needs to be culled from SC or CR).

As ps25 rightly stated however, whatever works best...

-------------------------------------------
Thanks,
Ashish
GMAT Faculty @ EducationAisle
GMAT - 99th Percentile, MBA - ISB

I followed my own RC strategy, take bits and pieces from Manhattan's RC strategy and it worked for me.

Here is what I do - nothing great or special

1. read passage and understand everything what i read
2. relate what i read with what i read before in the passage, understand contextual importance of the sentence in the passage
3. if i dont understand i reread

then jump to questions and answering RC is then piece of cake.

i scored 41 in verbal and happy with performance, each person will have to define his or her own strategy which suits to his or her personality.

kaustubhp89 Says

I agree what u say but for some answers we have to read the whole paragraph or may be full passage. In this situation how to make our reading faster so that we can cover it in a given time??

Eventually you will have to read the whole paragraph. But do not do so at the beginning.

There are several speed reading techniques. The one that has worked best for my students is...

1. The reading speed reduces because most of us SPEAK while we read. Our speaking speed is 200-220 wpm and so is most people's reading speed. Tough some people say that they do not speak the words, they are speaking them in their mind. For GMAT/GRE tests, you should aim at crossing 350-400 wpm.
2. Most of us read one word at a time. When our eyes read this word, it is called "Fixation". Then they need to transfer this information to the Brain. This process is called "Switch Off" where the info gets transferred to the Brain and our eyes stop reading. Both, Fixations and Switch Offs, happen every one third of a second. That means we read 60 secs x 3 words = 180 words per minute.
3. Now just try and increase the span of your eyes and try to read 2 to 3 words per "Fixation". This will transfer more info to your Brain during "Switch Offs" and you will be able to cross 400 wpm. To be able to do this, you will have to stop "Speaking" the words and practice every day for at least one hour. Once your eyes become used to reading 2 - 3 words at a time, this will become your second nature and you will not have to try hard.

I hope this helps to people !!!

If u start reading RC Passages from the beginning, then u will waste time in doing so. Then when u read the question, u will again land up in re-reading the same text. I would suggest a strategy called SKIMMING the Text instead of reading it. In this technique, u should read only the 1st sentence of each paragraph.

Now when would one start a new paragraph??? Only when he wants to change topic or bring up a new point. And you would usually start the new paragraph highlighting this new point. Hence by reading the 1st sentence, u should be able to figure out what the author wants to say in that paragraph.

This way, u will waste less time by not reading the entire passage.

I agree what u say but for some answers we have to read the whole paragraph or may be full passage. In this situation how to make our reading faster so that we can cover it in a given time??

Hi Puys..

Please help me with RC LSAT ques sets and Kaplan answer explanations material..

ps25 Says

Can you guys please share strategies for RC passages - generally I read whole passage trying to remember, making myself entrapped in subject of passage, read the question, then options if cant conclude on one, eliminate intermittently referring to passage but is it the best way? It could be time consuming...whats the best way?

If u start reading RC Passages from the beginning, then u will waste time in doing so. Then when u read the question, u will again land up in re-reading the same text. I would suggest a strategy called SKIMMING the Text instead of reading it. In this technique, u should read only the 1st sentence of each paragraph.

Now when would one start a new paragraph??? Only when he wants to change topic or bring up a new point. And you would usually start the new paragraph highlighting this new point. Hence by reading the 1st sentence, u should be able to figure out what the author wants to say in that paragraph.

This way, u will waste less time by not reading the entire passage.

If u start reading RC Passages from the beginning, then u will waste time in doing so. Then when u read the question, u will again land up in re-reading the same text. I would suggest a strategy called SKIMMING the Text instead of reading it. In this technique, u should read only the 1st sentence of each paragraph.

Now when would one start a new paragraph??? Only when he wants to change topic or bring up a new point. And you would usually start the new paragraph highlighting this new point. Hence by reading the 1st sentence, u should be able to figure out what the author wants to say in that paragraph.

This way, u will waste less time by not reading the entire passage.

can someone mail me sc grail and rc99 books. thanks

ps25 Says

don't look beyond MH verbal review for RC. Besides no book can help in RC except practice

Thanks for the reply!!
Can you suggest few books for RC practice.

Hi ,

Please let me know about the material that one should refer to for RC in addition to OG and Manhattan Verbal Review.

don't look beyond MH verbal review for RC. Besides no book can help in RC except practice

Hi ,

Please let me know about the material that one should refer to for RC in addition to OG and Manhattan Verbal Review.

hi folks
can u please provide me with reviews of RC Practice sets 1 & 2. n from where can i get these??

Hi... How much month preparation is needed to get through it with good score....????

rahul4gmat Says

RC99 seems to be have been discontinued now. It has been replaced with RC Practice sets 1 & 2

Does anybody have RC Practice sets 1 & 2?

I will PM my email id.

Thanks,
Vengence

maxxhammer Says

Can somebody provide me the link for downloading RC99?

RC99 seems to be have been discontinued now. It has been replaced with RC Practice sets 1 & 2

.....Edited !

Can somebody provide me the link for downloading RC99?

rohitshetty985 Says

I am also interested in knowing strategies for the RC passages. Please share

Google RC strategies for the GMAT and you should get the relevant links

There are so many rules, that one can always argue !!

But a better explanation:
If other hallucinogens (i.e., drugs that cause hallucinations) are able
to produce hallucinations without inhibiting serotonin, then the central premise of
Jacobs' hypothesis--that dreams and hallucinations function via a similar brain
mechanism involving the levels of serotonin and norepinephrine--would not hold.

Yeah the Correct Ans is D

Can you guys please share strategies for RC passages - generally I read whole passage trying to remember, making myself entrapped in subject of passage, read the question, then options if cant conclude on one, eliminate intermittently referring to passage but is it the best way? It could be time consuming...whats the best way?

Scientific advances in the latter half of the twentieth century
have allowed researchers to study the chemical activities
taking place in the human brain during the sleep cycle in
more detail. In the 1970s, Jacobs employed these
advances to postulate that dreams and hallucinations share
a common neurochemical mechanism with respect to the
neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine that
accounts for the observable similarities between the two
states of mind. To test the theory, researchers attempted
to elucidate the role of these transmitters in the normal
sleep cycle and the effect of hallucinogenic drugs on them.
Although scientists still have much to discover about the
chemical complexities of the brain, serotonin appears
important for managing sleep, mood, and appetite, among
other important functions, while neurons release
norepinephrine to facilitate alertness and mental focus.
Both are discharged in high quantities only during waking
states. At the onset of sleep, the activity levels of neurons
that release both the neurotransmitters drop, allowing
the brain first to enter the four non-rapid eye movement
(Non-REM) stages of sleep. When the brain is ready to
enter the fifth stage, REM, which is associated with
dreaming, the levels of these two chemicals drop virtually
to zero. The Jacobs hypothesis held that the absence of
norepinephrine was required to enable the brain to remain
asleep, while the absence of serotonin was necessary to
allow dreaming to occur.
Lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, is a semi-synthetic
psychedelic drug which causes significant alteration of
the senses, memories and awareness; at doses higher
than 20 micrograms, it can have a hallucinogenic effect.
LSD mimics serotonin well enough to be able to bind at
most of the neurotransmitters receptor sites, largely
inhibiting normal transmission. In addition, the drug causes
the locus ceruleus, a cluster of neurons containing
norepinephrine, to greatly accelerate activity. If the drug
stimulates norepinephrine, thereby precluding sleep, and
inhibits serotonin, which Jacobs had postulated was a
necessary condition for dreaming, then the resulting
hallucinations could merely be dreaming while awake.
The research thus far is promising but inconclusive; future
scientific advances should allow this theory to be tested
more rigorously.


1. Which of the following, if true, would most undermine
the central premise of the Jacobs hypothesis?
< LSD does not completely inhibit normal transmission
of serotonin.

< Serotonin is only one of many chemicals that play a
role in regulating sleep.

< Researchers prove conclusively that the level of
norepinephrine in the brain is a significant factor in
enabling the brain to sleep.

< Some semi-synthetic hallucinogenic drugs other than
LSD do not inhibit serotonin.

< The first four stages of sleep are as crucial to the
process of dreaming as the fifth stage.

D, IMO

Explanation = Jacob hypothesis "the absence of
norepinephrine was required to enable the brain to remain
asleep, while the absence of serotonin was necessary to
allow dreaming to occur."

If "Some semi-synthetic hallucinogenic drugs other than
LSD do not inhibit serotonin", and still person goes in a state of hallucination (that is dreaming while not falling asleep) then serotonin is still present yet a person is dreaming, contradicting with above hypothesis

Scientific advances in the latter half of the twentieth century
have allowed researchers to study the chemical activities
taking place in the human brain during the sleep cycle in
more detail. In the 1970s, Jacobs employed these
advances to postulate that dreams and hallucinations share
a common neurochemical mechanism with respect to the
neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine that
accounts for the observable similarities between the two
states of mind. To test the theory, researchers attempted
to elucidate the role of these transmitters in the normal
sleep cycle and the effect of hallucinogenic drugs on them.
Although scientists still have much to discover about the
chemical complexities of the brain, serotonin appears
important for managing sleep, mood, and appetite, among
other important functions, while neurons release
norepinephrine to facilitate alertness and mental focus.
Both are discharged in high quantities only during waking
states. At the onset of sleep, the activity levels of neurons
that release both the neurotransmitters drop, allowing
the brain first to enter the four non-rapid eye movement
(Non-REM) stages of sleep. When the brain is ready to
enter the fifth stage, REM, which is associated with
dreaming, the levels of these two chemicals drop virtually
to zero. The Jacobs hypothesis held that the absence of
norepinephrine was required to enable the brain to remain
asleep, while the absence of serotonin was necessary to
allow dreaming to occur.
Lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, is a semi-synthetic
psychedelic drug which causes significant alteration of
the senses, memories and awareness; at doses higher
than 20 micrograms, it can have a hallucinogenic effect.
LSD mimics serotonin well enough to be able to bind at
most of the neurotransmitter's receptor sites, largely
inhibiting normal transmission. In addition, the drug causes
the locus ceruleus, a cluster of neurons containing
norepinephrine, to greatly accelerate activity. If the drug
stimulates norepinephrine, thereby precluding sleep, and
inhibits serotonin, which Jacobs had postulated was a
necessary condition for dreaming, then the resulting
hallucinations could merely be "dreaming while awake."
The research thus far is promising but inconclusive; future
scientific advances should allow this theory to be tested
more rigorously.


1. Which of the following, if true, would most undermine
the central premise of the Jacobs hypothesis?
< LSD does not completely inhibit normal transmission
of serotonin.

< Serotonin is only one of many chemicals that play a
role in regulating sleep.

< Researchers prove conclusively that the level of
norepinephrine in the brain is a significant factor in
enabling the brain to sleep.

< Some semi-synthetic hallucinogenic drugs other than
LSD do not inhibit serotonin.

< The first four stages of sleep are as crucial to the
process of dreaming as the fifth stage.

B is a good trap answer. Notice that the passage discusses "filtered light." This doesn't make the answer choice correct simply because it mentions filter. Analyzing (B) more carefully, we only have components being sorted. The way in which they are being sorted doesn't create a certain effect, the way that the twisting of the pixels corresponded to certain colors.

Option D:
Here the outline (or shape) of the characters corresponds to the shadow cast on the wall. Change the outline and the shape will change. Much as changing how the pixel is twisted will change the color on screen. The Answer.
(D) is by far the best answer as it is the only one that present us with a scenario in which the shape of one thing corresponds to the shape of another (outlines in paper correspond the shape of the shadow on the wall).