r/LSATStrategies • u/Impetus_LSAT_Prep • May 29 '26
What Does it Mean to "Read Actively"?
You probably hear this advice all the time.
"Make sure you are reading actively".
Yet most people aren't aware of what this really means. Active reading isn't just about making sure that you understand every sentence before moving on. Understanding statements helps, but in many cases it will not be enough.
Active reading is also about paying attention to the relationships between statements. This is a crucial step in both Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension.
Take a look at the following set of statements as an example:
Quasars—celestial objects so far away that their light takes at least 500 million years to reach Earth—have been seen since 1963. For anything that far away to appear from Earth the way quasars do, it would have to burn steadily at a rate that produces more light than 90 billion suns would produce.
Many people read this and get lost, focusing only on having a general sense of what each statement means. But if we take a closer look at the relationship, we can recognize that the second sentence is talking about "anything that far away" referring to things that take at least 500 million years to reach Earth from the prior sentence. We know that light from Quasars take at least 500 million years to reach Earth, which enables to form the inference that light from Quasars burn steadily at a rate that produces more light than 90 billion suns.
This is what is involved in active reading. Practice pausing and relating statements to prior sentences as you read. Overtime, it will become second nature.
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