<p>Hello, I am currently in a gridlock around high 600’s (660 - 690) and I don’t seem to make any improvement from that point. I do get all sentence completion questions wrong, and the main problem seems to be the long passages. I have already tried Noitaraperp’s and Silverturtle’s tips, and it boosted me up by 90 points from a 590, but still I couldn’t make into the 700’s. </p>
<p>Also, I often omit the last 1-2 questions per section, a factor which, I believe, also precludes me from achieving a 700+.</p>
<p>Any help?</p>
<p>Do you get all the Sentence Completions right or wrong? Omitting the last two questions per section will significantly lower your score. Do you read the entire passage and then answer the questions? If so, this is not an efficient approach. You might try reading a paragraph and then answering the questions. You can then skip parts that don’t generate questions.</p>
<p>Yes I used all or most of your strategies, Dark Knight; I get 19/19 on Sentence Completion but bomb on the long-passage reading. I go to the line reference questions first and mark up the passage like a full-blown graffiti. Lastly, I go to the general purpose/tone questions. Perhaps I write too much?</p>
<p>Same here - I studied word lists and I’m pretty sure I aced the sentence completions, but the passages killed me.</p>
<p>I think you are spending too much time marking up the passage. Paragraphs are the key unit of thought. Read the first paragraph and then answer the Paragraph 1 questions. No need to mark up the paragraph. You need to be a bit more efficient. Your skills are obviously very good. The key to raising your score above a 700 is to improve your efficiency. You should be willing to skip lines that do not generate questions and are irrelevant or superfluous.</p>
<p>Thank you Dark Knight. 
You have been a great help not only in this post but also in hundreds of other posts about hits in DH and other words that had come up in the previous exams. I will definitely heed to your suggestions. I appreciate your help again.</p>
<p>@ sakatagintoki, i got a 750 on the cr and i would definitely NOT recommend skipping any lines. there IS enough time to read through all the passages and i think skipping lines is a bad idea.
i don’t write any notes on the sides but i DO underline the line references. dark knight is spot-on with his suggestion about improving your efficiency. that really is the key. practice tests are your friend :)</p>
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<p>im not a fast reader, though… :(</p>
<p>^Well there’s your problem. You need to develop a technique in order to score 700-800 on CR. What I do is read the passage at a quick rate, but I still manage to absorb all the material. Then I go to the questions.</p>
<p>i also use the strategies suggested and it works…kinda… i just do in chunks like what that post said. it kinda works but im not perfect yet. should i just keep doing practice tests for 6 hrs a day till dec 4th?</p>
<p>^^ so you suggest skimming the passage? or NOT reading the passage at all and go to the questions to mark up the passage references?</p>
<p>I’m talking about a sort of mix between skimming and thoroughly reading. When I took the PSAT in Sophomore year, I only used skimming and sometimes even went directly to the questions. I scored a 50 (which equates to a 500 on the section on the regular SAT). I realized that if you absorb the passage in more, you will have a better idea of what the questions were asking and also a better context to some questions when the line numbers aren’t given. Primarily, you should focus on the introduction and conclusion, but you should still have a good understanding of the body paragraph(s). After refining this technique through practice tests and such, I was able to score an 800 on my CR this November.</p>