 |
Shopping Cart 
Checkout
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
RC Step Method
Here are the steps you should follow on RC passages and their questions:
Step 1: Skim and Outline.
Step 2: Read the Question and Search for Triggers.
Step 3: Locate Relevant Information in the Passage and Make a Prediction.
Step 4: Match Your Prediction to the Answer Choices.
Step 1: Skim and Outline. Read the passage first, paying no
attention to the first question on the screen if you think it may distract you.
However, you may find that previewing that first question will help you locate
the answer to it as you perform your initial skim of the passage. Decide what
works best for you.
You should never spend more than three minutes with a
long 450-word passage, and give yourself about a minute or so to read the
shorter 150-word passages. While you skim, focus on the most important parts of
every passage: the introduction, the conclusion, and the first and last
sentences of each paragraph. This will ensure that you are not just skimming but
actively absorbing information. Jot down and outline the
key features on your scrap paper.
Step 2: Read the Question and Search for Triggers. The
questions will appear individually on the right side of the screen. You won’t
see a new question until you answer the current one. Read the question, but not
the answer choices. Specific questions refer directly to words or lines in the
passage. Look for these “trigger words” and line numbers that indicate what the
question is looking for. Before going back to the passage, articulate to
yourself exactly what the question is asking. Don’t look at the answers (this
will help you avoid being caught by traps).
Step 3: Locate Relevant Information in the Passage and Make a
Prediction. Go back to the specified area in the passage dealing with
the topic of the question at hand and read the few lines before and after it to
get a sense of the context. This will enable you to come up with your own answer
to the question so you can go on to the next step.
Step 4: Match Your Prediction to the Answer Choices. Go back
and find the answer that best matches your prediction. If no prediction is
possible, let the choices guide your work.
Be Flexible
You may also find you’re able to answer some general questions without
looking back at the passage at all. General questions do not refer to
specific locations in the passage. Instead, they ask about broad aspects of
the passage such as its main idea, primary purpose, and tone. Sometimes the
best way to answer general questions like these is to refer to the notes on
the passage you made in Step 1. If you’ve already jotted down notes on the
purpose of each paragraph, the tone, and the overall argument of the
passage, you may be able to answer some of the questions without even
looking back at the passage.
Now let’s see how the step method works on a practice
passage.
Guided Practice
The word hurricane comes from the word Hunraken, the Mayan god of winds. Today we use the term to refer to tropic cyclones, storms with winds of more than 75 miles per hour. They begin as thunderstorms that form over areas of the ocean where the water temperature exceeds 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The warmth and moisture in these regions provide the hurricane with its tremendous power, which explains why hurricanes quickly weaken when they pass over cool water and dissipate soon after they hit land. | |
| Meteorologists measure hurricanes using the Beaufort Wind | |
| Force Scale. The scale has thirteen “Beaufort numbers,” a | |
| shorthand method of describing a hurricane’s type of wind and | |
| Line | speed of wind, as well as the conditions of the ocean and on |
| (5) | nearby land. On this scale, a Beaufort number of 0 means calm, |
| peaceful conditions, whereas a 12 describes a violent, powerful | |
| hurricane. | |
| Although hurricanes themselves are only a real concern to | |
| coastal areas, they often give birth to tornadoes. These funnel | |
| (10) | clouds turn inland, leaving swaths 15 of destruction in their |
| wakes. Tornadoes destroy power lines, damage homes and other | |
| property, and are responsible for dozens of deaths every year. | |
| These tragedies are becoming less common, however, as new weather | |
| technology makes it easier to predict the formation of tornadoes | |
| (15) | and provide early warning to the areas that may be affected. |
Step 1: Skim and Outline. After skimming the passage
quickly, you probably noticed that it’s primarily about hurricanes. Your
notes might say something like the following:
Main idea: Hurricanes, tornadoes
Scary weather = bad
Bea. Wind Scale — measure weather
Evidence: Facts, numbers, 81F
Author: Objective, pure description, no opinion?
Step 2: Read the Question and Search for Triggers. The
trigger words in question 1 are power of a hurricane, and
the question wants to know what causes it.
Step 3: Locate Relevant Information in the Passage and Make a
Prediction. Scanning for our trigger words leads us to the last
sentence of paragraph 1, and we want to read that sentence, and even the one
before it, carefully. The sentences we targeted indicate that hurricanes
form over hot ocean areas and that the warmth and moisture in these areas
“provide the hurricane with its tremendous power.” Therefore we can predict
that the answer will have something to do with a hot and wet climate.
Step 4: Match Your Prediction to the Answer Choices.
Warmth and moisture are certainly climatic conditions, so C
provides a perfect match to the relevant information in the passage
relating to the source of a hurricane’s power.
Tornadoes are discussed in paragraph 3, far from the discussion of the
source of a hurricane’s power, so A is incorrect. As for
B, nothing in the passage indicates that the type of wind
and speed of wind are related. D goes in the wrong direction,
because the cooler water of coastal areas tends to sap a hurricane’s
power. E is wrong because deaths are discussed in the
context of tornadoes, not hurricanes. In any case, it seems illogical that
deaths would be a source of a hurricane’s power; if
anything, it would be the other way around.
As soon as you answer and confirm your selection, question 1 would
disappear from the screen and be replaced by question 2. The passage would
remain on the left of the screen for you to consult. Give question 2 a shot
now.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Step 1: Skim and Outline. We’ve performed this step
before answering question 1, so we can now proceed right to Step 2.
Step 2: Read the Question and Search for Triggers. The
trigger words in this one are final paragraph, which tells
us where in the passage to look for the answer. Specifically, we’re asked
for what purpose this paragraph serves in the context of the passage.
Step 3: Locate Relevant Information in the Passage and Make a
Prediction. We’ve determined that the relevant information is the
whole third paragraph, so a quick scan through it is in order. The third
paragraph states that “hurricanes themselves are only a real concern to
coastal areas” but goes on to say that they give birth to tornadoes that
“turn inland.” The paragraph clearly provides a reason why even people who
live far from the ocean should be aware of hurricanes.
Step 4: Match Your Prediction to the Answer Choices. D is
a perfect match and is correct.
A is incorrect because the paragraph only states that
hurricanes pose no direct threat to inland areas, not that
they pose no threat to inland areas at all. B is simply
inaccurate. C is incorrect because the passage does not
state or imply that tornadoes are the most dangerous aspect
of hurricanes, only that they are dangerous to inland areas. E
is incorrect because the passage does not suggest that early-warning systems
will render hurricanes harmless, only that they will give people more time
to prepare for tornadoes.
Now that your RC method is in place, you’ll also need to know the
types of questions you’ll see on test day, which is the focus of the next
section.
 |
||||||||
Message Boards
|
||||||||
Test Prep Centers
|
||||||||
SparkCollege
|
 |
||
Your Account
|
||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
GRE is a registered trademark of Educational Testing Service (ETS). This publication is not endorsed or approved by ETS.
©2006 SparkNotes LLC, All Rights Reserved.