Reading Comprehension is the only question type that appears on all major standardized tests, and the reason isn't too surprising. No matter what academic area you pursue, you have to make sense of dense, unfamiliar prose. Law, of course, is no exception.
Reading Comprehension on the LSAT
This section consists of four passages, each about 450 words long with five to eight corresponding questions. These long excerpts of scholarly passages are reminiscent of the kind of prose found in law texts. The topics are chosen from the areas of social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and the law.
·35 minutes
·Approximately 25 percent of your score
·Usually 27 questions
·Common question-types: main idea, detail, inference, logic, extrapolation
·Tests ability to read dense, scholarly material and ascertain the structure, purpose, and logic.
·Key skill is identifying main idea of a passage, gist of argument doesn’t require outside knowledge
·Very different from SAT Reading Comp: dense, more difficult prose and inferences
·Not a test of memorizing details
KAPLAN QUICK TIP阅读捷径
Certainly knowing a little about the topic discussed in a passage can be helpful. If you can relate the ideas in the passage to what you know of the world, you'll be more confident. But remember to answer the questions based on what's in the passage, not on what you may have learned elsewhere about the topic.