Reading for the LSAT…in Only 35 Minutes!
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Reading for the LSAT
While Logical Reasoning and Logic Games offer new challenges for almost all LSAT students, Reading Comprehension provides a more familiar task. This is both a blessing and a curse: answering questions about a passage may feel more comfortable than identifying a flaw in an argument; however, this familiarity leads students to bring a set of presumptions to RC that doesn’t translate to success on the LSAT. This often manifests in not only reduced accuracy, but also reduced speed.
When you read an article in, say, The Economist, you probably aim to come away from the piece armed with new facts: how much will an avocado cost if the Congress implements a border adjustment tax? What percentage of those costs get passed on to consumers? It’s these sorts of details that you’d like to hone in on and remember. However, RC questions tend to focus on much bigger-picture ideas: why did the author mention the behavior of spiders in paragraph four? What was the primary purpose of the passage? It’s called Reading Comprehension, after all.
If you try to read LSAT passages as you would an article in The Economist, you’ll spend far too much time lost in the forest looking at the trees. So does that mean you should aim to race through the passage, absorbing only the broadest ideas, leaving yourself plenty of time to ruminate on each question? Not quite.
Slow Down to Speed Up
While you want to focus on the big picture, there’s no need to rush through the passage. Take your time to really comprehend the passage. By the time you attack the first question, you should have a good understanding of the author’s main point, any counterpoints they address, and what evidence they cite to support their position. This is yet another example in which slowing down will help you speed up. If you don’t pause to process an important part of the passage on your first read, then instead of knowing the answer as soon as you read the question, you’ll waste valuable time returning to the passage and rereading an entire paragraph. Make the initial investment and it will pay off in the long run.
Drills to Improve Your Timing on RC
To improve your timing on RC, you first need to understand where you’re losing time. Use the lap function on a stopwatch to track how long you spend on the passage and each subsequent question. Analyze your data; you’ll most likely fall into one of the following categories:
You’re consistently spending less than 2:30 before attacking the first question. Slow way down! If you’re getting through the passage this quickly, and you’re still having trouble finishing 27 questions in 35 minutes, you’re not engaging with the passage enough to prepare yourself for the questions. As a drill, take a practice section in which you don’t allow yourself to move on to the questions until at least 3:30 has elapsed.
On the other hand, if it takes you more than 4:00 before you get to the first question, examine whether you’re paying too much attention to details that aren’t necessary for a good read. Look at your notes—have you written an essay of your own? If so, only allow yourself to write down three sentences per passage on your next RC section to force yourself to focus on the big picture. Alternatively, you may be losing time re-reading paragraphs that your eyes glaze over but you don’t absorb; to combat this, actively engage with the passage. Take some light notes, and summarize the passage mentally in your own words as you read. Don’t move on to the next paragraph until you can articulate what happened in the one you just read.
It might not be the passage that’s slowing you down. Quite often, students lose a disproportionate amount of time on one or two questions, sinking two minutes into a debate between two answer choices that’s going nowhere. Force yourself to avoid this pitfall. If you see more than a sporadic question clock in over 1:15, this is likely what’s causing your time trouble. Accept that you might not get this question, but leave yourself enough time to nail the next one. Remember, if you have time left at the end of the section, you can always come back to a question you skipped!
Whatever the source of your time trouble on RC, examining your sections with a lap timer will help you identify your weakness. That’s always the first step towards turning weaknesses to strengths. ?
Let us know how these “reading for the LSAT” strategies worked for you in the comments!
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Daniel Fogel
is a Manhattan Prep LSAT instructor based in Boston, Massachusetts. He has a degree in government and legal studies from Claremont McKenna College. Daniel scored a 179 on the LSAT and a 770 on the GMAT, which he also teaches. Fun fact: he’s a former top-ranked competitive Scrabble player. Intrigued? Check out Daniel’s upcoming LSAT courses here!