The PowerScore LSAT Reading Comprehension Bible

by David M. Killoran, Steven G. Stein

The PowerScore LSAT Reading Comprehension Bible TM will provide you with a powerful and comprehensive system for attacking any Reading Comprehension question that you may encounter on the LSAT. The concepts presented in this publication are representative of the techniques and approaches that have been tested in PowerScore's live LSAT preparation courses and have consistently been proven effective for countless students. In an effort to clearly explain the fundamental principles of the Reading Comprehension section, this book In addition, The PowerScore LSAT Reading Comprehension Bible contains a variety of drills and exercises that supplement the discussion of techniques and question analysis. The drills help strengthen specific skills that are critical for LSAT excellence, and for this reason they are as important as the LSAT questions. We believe the use of official Reading Comprehension passages is essential to your success on the LSAT, and no LSAT passage in this book has been modified from its original form. By carefully studying and correctly applying the techniques employed in The PowerScore LSAT Reading Comprehension Bible , we are certain that you can increase your Reading Comprehension score.

Genres: Law, Nonfiction, Textbooks

518 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2008

Reviews

[katherine marks]

i read this book cover to cover so yeah it’s going towards my book count

[Joseph Lee]

I have read through nearly 2000 pages of LSAT prep this summer fear me

[alyvia cantrell]

if I fail the lsat it’s on this dude tbh

[Nicholas Mangum]

Quick summary of the book:

It sure is a good thing that for the Reading Comprehension section of the LSAT, you are not required to memorize every detail like you are with Logical Reasoning! Instead, focus your efforts on understanding the following in each passage:

The main point
The author's main point
The author's purpose
The author's attitude
The author's opinion
The author's feelings
The author's beliefs
The author's assumptions
The author's biases
The author's perspective
The author's tone
The author's reasoning
The author's argument
The author's conclusion
The author's premises
The author's evidence
The author's support
The author's objections
The author's counterarguments
The author's responses to counterarguments
The author's qualifications
The author's concessions
The author's distinctions
The author's comparisons
The author's contrasts
The author's examples
The author's hypothetical examples
The author's use of evidence
The author's use of experts
The author's use of statistics
The author's use of historical events
The author's use of scientific findings
The author's use of quotations
The author's use of terminology
The structure of the passage
The structure of each paragraph
The function of each paragraph
The function of each sentence
The relationship between paragraphs
The relationship between ideas
The chronology of events
The cause-and-effect relationships
The similarities between competing theories
The differences between competing theories
The weaknesses of competing theories
The strengths of competing theories
The evidence supporting each theory
The evidence contradicting each theory
Which scholars agree
Which scholars disagree
Why they disagree
What each scholar believes
What each scholar would probably say about a new situation
Every person's position
Every group's position
Every theory mentioned
Every study mentioned
Every historical event mentioned
Every scientific finding mentioned
Every qualification
Every exception
Every definition
Every change in terminology
Every subtle distinction
Every relationship between concepts
Every implication
Every inference
And, of course, the 47 completely irrelevant details that you were specifically told you don't need to memorize that you actually do

[joud]

for someone who reads for fun i actually wanted to die while reading this book. they make the questions so complicated AND FOR WHAT? anyway i don’t recommend.

[Bruno]

Not as helpful as the Logical Reasoning book

[Tyler Zimmer]

Even worse than LR

[Ian]

I started doing worse on the reading comprehension section after reading this book. Whereas the other two Bibles had good tips for understanding the mindset of test makers and providing unintuitive LSAT definitions (such as the LSAT definition of "some" and "most"), this one clogs up natural reading ability with its "tips." No "method" is going to make you a better reader.

If you read at least 15 nonfiction books a year, skip this one.

[Reagan Faith Waggoner]

Altogether decent prep book

[Chris]

Worthwhile resource that provides a number of practical tips, but it is not sufficient by itself.

LSATlab + LSATdemon RC YouTube videos are great to watch in tandem w/ this book. Similar overarching principles, but different practical approach strategies.

This is mostly useful for covering your bases on the principles of the RC section + a handful of extremely valuable tips explaining common incorrect/correct answer patterns (things that help you immediately cross out otherwise tempting answers). The detailed approach strategies are impractical/overdone for my taste, but the book was still useful for filling in a few gaps.

In retrospect, even the “label the question type”, “write out the main idea” “write out each viewpoint” drill sections are useful for internalizing necessary habits into your brain - tho it does feel absurd while doing them. You won’t be physically writing down most, if any, of that stuff on test day. There’s no time.

About 1/3 of my current approach comes from this book
Another 1/3 from online videos
The remaining 1/3, I imagine, is going to come from patterns I pick up while doing a ridiculous # of practice test sets

—
Side note:

The editors of these LSAT RC passages, by their insidious methods, are enough to make an atheist start believing in demons. You have to realize that perfectly good source material is collected by the test makers and then intentionally made worse/convoluted - to the point where the passages are almost unbearable but still comprehensible.

You have to approach the passages with an active & aggressive agenda of cutting through bullshit/traps in order to find the author’s main point & any viewpoints described. How you do that in a timely manner is what you have to figure out.

[Topaz]

I hate it here!!!! I hate it here!!!!!!!!

[Merima Kadić]

The RC bible is a good way to become familiar with reading comprehension, but as most of the strategies and drills focused on note taking I did not find it to be as useful as the other two.

[Morgan Gallagher]

Hated every second. I never wanna comprehend ever again tbh.

[Ryann]

I read it and that’s what counts

[Bri B.]

I’m being generous with 2 stars.. chatgpt taught me everything i know about RC, this book sucked. Don’t waste your time, either teach yourself or hire a tutor

[Katie Atkinson]

this has been my life for the past 2 months, just thought I’d share

[Moreen McGrath ❣️]

Here’s to hoping this wasn’t a big waste of my time!

[Ke]

While it is true that the first section of this book is more prolix than the other volumes of the series, I still found it helpful.

It provided an organization system as to tackle the reading comprehension questions.

[Lily Bond]

Rather unnecessary prep book for LSAT.

[Eva D.]

Useful, I guess.

[Edgar Febles]

Just get logical reasoning book. This book is redundant.