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LSAT Reading Comprehension Method

Reading Comprehension tests your ability to quickly read long, dense and boring passages and understand the main points the author is making in each. That’s certainly a skill you will need in law school. In this lesson, we’ll examine the TestSherpa approach to Reading Comprehension. It is critical that you understand the process and practice it over and over with sample tests. It is only through repetition that the process will become second nature and help you score more points on test day.

This is the first article in a series of articles about the TestSherpa LSAT Reading Comprehension Method. The series includes:

  • LSAT Reading Comprehension Method
  • LSAT Reading Comprehension Outlines
  • LSAT Reading Comprehension Answers
  • As with all sections of the LSAT test, TestSherpa gives you a simple approach to Reading Comprehension. By examining each passage systematically with the TestSherpa method, you will develop the familiarity and confidence you need to earn a high score.

    The TestSherpa method for Reading Comprehension has four steps:

    1. Read the first paragraph and guess at main idea, scope and tone
    2. Read the rest of the passage and build an outline
    3. Confirm your outline
    4. Tackle the questions

    You have about eight minutes per passage, so spend only about two or three minutes on the first three steps, then five minutes on the questions.

    This course will explain each of these steps in detail, while taking you through a basic Reading Comprehension passage.

    Reading the First Paragraph

    When we suggest that you read the first paragraph separately from the rest of the passage, we assume two things:

    1. You will read more than one paragraph if necessary to understand the tone, scope and main idea of the passage, especially if the first paragraph is unusually short or off topic.
    2. Your style of reading will be different for the first paragraph than it is for the rest of the passage. It will be slower and more methodical. You will pay attention to details and make guesses about where the author is going. You’ll take the time you need upfront and that will help you read the rest quickly.

    What are you trying to get out of this methodical, slower reading in the first paragraph (or so)? The first paragraph should spell out the author’s tone, the scope of the material, the author’s reason for writing and should give you a good guess about the main idea of the passage.

    So after you carefully read the first paragraph, ask yourself these quick questions:

    • Are there conflicts you need to pay attention to?
    • What is the general topic (scope) about?
    • Why is the author writing this?
    • What is the main idea the author will probably try to make?

    Now we’ll take a look at the sample passage, and again, start with the first paragraph. While you read look for contrasts implied or directly in the text. Then remember to ask the above questions to help you get a handle on the passage with just one paragraph.

    Reading Comprehension Method 

    We luck out in the first sentence in this passage – the author will be discussing a “best-known controversy.” Paying attention to this standout language will point to a conflict that frames the entire passage. The conflict will regard the popular view of human intelligence and the informed psychologists’ view.

    Note the strong language at the end of the paragraph, “terribly misinformed.” That tells us the author will take a stand on which view is correct (and we know it’s not the general public’s view).

    What is the general topic (scope) about?

    From what we know in just the first topic, it seems the passage will discuss views on human intelligence. Note the scope carefully. The topic is certainly psychology and intelligence, but that is so broad it could contain many ideas that would be out of scope in this passage. You might guess that the scope is the way the mass media portrays human intelligence. That would be too narrow. This passage is about differing views on human intelligence and that’s as much as we know from the first paragraph.

    Why is the author writing this?

    It’s hard to make a guess, and we might change our minds as we read the rest of the passage, but that guess will help us quickly digest the remainder. Based on our idea of the scope, the writer seems to be writing this to discuss the differences in views on human intelligence. Because of the strong language that ends the passage, we know the author will show why she thinks the general public is “terribly misinformed,” and the researchers or psychologists are correct.

    What is the main idea the author will probably try to make?

    At this point, we’d have to guess that the main point is that the psychologists’ views on human intelligence (whatever they may be) are the correct, but misunderstood, views.

    You can see that you can derive a lot of information about the passage just from the first paragraph. Next, let’s take a look at LSAT Reading Comprehension Outlines.