| In some classes, the lecture rehashes the book. Most of the upper-division and grad math classes I've taken have been like that. I've found that most people seem to be better able to function in class if the material is already familiar to them.
In other classes, you will be getting different stuff in the lectures than in the reading, and you will be expected to integrate the two. In these classes you can probably "get away with" not being prepared, but I wouldn't recommend it -- it's a great use of class time to listen and try to tie what's happening to the reading. I've taken a few classes where I already know all the stuff but needed the line on my transcript, and I've found those classes more rewarding than the ones where I was learning the material as I went along. This is because the instructors would come out with little asides, and following up on those was often really exciting. | 
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