A Reading Comprehension Test is one of four components of the Dental Admission Test. A good score on a Reading Comprehension test is an easy way to raise your Academic Average. In this way, you can compensate for any lower scores on smaller subtests constituting your Academic Average. However, dental schools do not take natural science surveys and perception ability test scores equally into consideration.
The majority of dental schools prefer to see students achieve at least a 19 score on this test. Having an excellent score in this section is easy, and anyone can get a score of 20 or higher.
No prior knowledge of the topics covered in the test is required for taking the test. You can quickly gain knowledge from an article using an effective testing strategy and time management.
Test-taking strategies vary from person to person, so it is important to figure out what will work for you. You can learn more about the DAT and how to succeed by reading the rest of the article!
By assessing prospective dental school students through the Reading Comprehension test section, the Dental Admission Test (DAT) evaluates their analytical abilities. Getting the highest possible score from this section is paramount to ensuring that your application is considered favorably by top dental schools. In the next section of this article, we will discuss how you can raise your Reading Comprehension test score.
This section consists of comprehension passages in which you answer questions based on what you have read. The following points should be kept in mind in order to be able to answer the questions correctly and efficiently:
The reading comprehension test will usually include passages from scientific journals. Therefore, they will contain scientific terminology and information. Understanding the terms and discerning the necessary information is required if you want to answer the questions. Several passages may discuss medical and dental advancements as well as the latest scientific and technological advances. Reading the passage carefully will help you understand the passage's primary theme despite your unfamiliarity with the information given. You should therefore read the passages carefully and write down the main points so you can refer to them later on when answering the questions.
This section contains questions that require understanding their nature before attempting to answer them. The passage, for example, may ask you to determine which of the statements provided in the list is true and which is false. As the question asks you to find the incorrect statement here you must be cautious when selecting the correct answer.
If you are unsure which answer to select, review the question carefully, compare it with the passage, and then choose the correct answer.
Many students are under the impression that they can answer questions from memory because they have carefully read the passages. This misconception must be avoided!
Reading and answering the passages while taking and digesting all the information they contain can be extremely challenging. In addition, comprehending passages that have many technical scientific details can be especially difficult. Make sure to read the passage carefully before answering a question to ensure you have sufficient information to back up your response.
Knowing the nature of the section of the examination will help you develop strategies on how to answer the questions.
Throughout this article, you will learn more about Reading Comprehension Test. Read on!
This paper is the only one in the scorecard with no sub-sections, so it alone accounts for one of the most significant scaled scores. Your Academic Average includes the Reading Comprehension test score, the Quantitative Reasoning score, the Biology score, and the Chemistry score (General and Organic).
This section also includes the following features:
There is a time limit set by the American Dental Association (ADA) for answering the questions in this section of the test. For this section of the test, you will have 60 minutes to answer the 50 questions. This time includes the time you spend reading the passages.
This section of the test will need you to demonstrate your ability to read and comprehend. A total of three passages (approximately 14 paragraphs) are within this section. In total, there will be 50 questions per section in the DAT, with 16–17 questions per passage. You will be tested on your proficiency in reading, understanding, and analyzing basic information in a scientific context with each passage.
The total time required for this section is 60 minutes. You should allocate 20 minutes for each passage: 8 minutes for reading the passage and at least 12 minutes for answering questions. The average question should take 40–45 seconds to answer. You should not expect every passage or every question to take the same amount of time because difficulty and length may vary. Use these numbers as guidelines rather than rules.
You may encounter various types of questions in the Reading section. As an example, some questions may address the overall theme or idea of a passage, while others may address a specific detail provided within the passage. You may even be asked to explain the meaning of technical or medical terms in the questions. You will find that the topics covered in the passages are similar to those that you have studied in college or in your pre-dental studies.
Almost all Reading Comprehension test questions follow a similar pattern. It is important to prepare for questions requiring different levels of critical thinking. There will be a comprehension question following the passage, but there will also be questions that require analytical and evaluative skills, which should be prepared separately.
Understanding the types of questions will help you avoid mistakes on test days by making better predictions. Listed below are examples of different types of questions:
Questions like these assess how well you understand the passage as a whole, asking you to identify the main idea, conclusion, or thesis of the text.
The most common type of question is the detail question, which requires clarification of specific statements in the passage.
The question structure is reversed in Detail EXCEPT for the fact that you must choose a false statement instead of a true one.
It asks about an author's bias, which is never explicitly stated in a passage but is often clearly implied.
You must evaluate an author's arguments if you are answering a function question. You might be asked to explain how certain information was presented or why certain bits of information were included.
The purpose of an inference question is to test your ability to infer meaning and draw conclusions from a passage. Remember that even if the answers are not in the passage, the correct answers will be closely related to it.
Choosing the strongest or weakest statement for the strengthening/weakening question requires you to choose one statement from the options that best strengthens or weakens the argument.
Most people read to pass the time or to learn something new. Neither of these reasons has any connection to the DAT. Therefore, what can you actually gain from reading DAT passages that are different from everyday reading? Reading a passage can be divided into two primary purposes: reading for purpose - what you are supposed to understand from the text and what the author intends to convey - and reading for structure - how the author presents his or her ideas. There are several types of Reading Comprehension test questions and each relies on your ability to stand back from the text to analyze what the writer is saying, why the writer is writing, and how he or she arranges the words.
This section of the test focuses on the author. As you read the passage, you will receive questions regarding the author's thoughts, her purpose, and how she put everything together. Having a basic understanding of the author's intent will be enough to get you started with questions, so do not lose sight of them as you read. Thus, being attentive not only to the details but also to the reasons behind them is important. It is the details that make a passage what it is, and they always support the ideas that it expresses.
As you finish each paragraph, take quick notes on your noterboard. This will allow you to make the most of your limited reading time. Build a roadmap using your notes to give you a visual breakdown of the passage, showing you where to look if specific detail is needed. Having a roadmap assists you with your thought process in your first pass. As a result, you will be able to read quickly and focus on the main ideas while ignoring the irrelevant details since you will know where to look for any details when needed.
In order to make sure you succeed when taking a test, you should follow the following guidelines:
1. Eliminate any answers that immediately stand out from the pool of potential answers. It is easier to find the right answer quicker if you eliminate answers quickly and minimize distractions. Every DAT question contains distractions, so trying to identify them will help you answer the question better. Two possible answers will be available for each question. You should have no problem eliminating the rest of the options.
2. As you read the passage and answer the questions, keep track of the time. A total of three reading passages and 50 questions will be given to you. Each question should be answered within 72 seconds. This is one of the more challenging tests when it comes to time management, so you should time yourself and practice time management before taking the test. By following an effective method for handling the test, you will greatly assist in achieving your objectives.
3. Take lots of practice tests before your Reading Comprehension Test. Taking more tests will help you improve. Practice tests are the key to developing a powerful test-taking strategy. Your reading speed and the accuracy of your answers will improve when you come up with a strategy that suits your style and efficiency. If you wish to succeed, you will need to establish such a strategy.
4. A speed reading course can be useful if you are not particularly good at reading. As you improve your reading ability, you will be able to comprehend information much faster and more efficiently. There are free online courses that you can take or you can buy one.
You may have difficulty on the Reading Comprehension test due to the timing of the test. To succeed, you should develop your test-taking skills so that you can become more efficient and faster.
You will have an easier time answering Reading Comprehension test questions if you start the test by identifying the question type. With DATPrep, you can make sure you practice all of these questions types while studying. Get started today to ace the DAT!
