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RC
Timing and Pacing for RC
Overview
The RC section gives you 35 minutes for 4 passages (~27 questions). That's about 8:45 per passage. Smart pacing means spending the right amount of time on reading vs. answering.
1.Target: 3-4 minutes reading, 4-5 minutes on questions per passage
2.Don't fight difficult passages — get what you can and move on
3.Do your strongest passage type first to bank confidence and time
4.For comparative passages, read Passage A fully before starting Passage B
5.If stuck on a question for 90+ seconds, flag it and move on
6.Save 2 minutes at the end to return to flagged questions
You've spent 10 minutes on Passage 1 and answered 6 of 7 questions. You have 25 minutes left for 3 passages.
What should you do?
Answer A:
Flag question 7 and move on. You need 8-9 minutes per remaining passage. Spending more time on one question risks running out of time on entire passages — where point density is higher.
✗Spending too long reading the passage (>5 minutes)
✗Getting stuck on one hard question
✗Doing passages in printed order instead of your strength order
✗Not flagging and returning to difficult questions