How to Read Biology Passages

There is no perfect answer to the question about how to attack a bio passage, but what I advise is very similar to my approach to physics passages. Possible differences:

• It may be acceptable to skim the entire passage, or skim until you get to obviously detailed information, because biology passages resemble verbal reasoning more than do physics passages.
• Because tables of experimental values are likely to be of values you understand (in contrast to physics, where that’s far from guaranteed), it may make sense to look briefly at tabular data and at graphs for general trends.

These things said, they’re not what I advise (nor what I personally do) — I advise the same approach as I do for physics passages (see link above). No reading the passage; just examine the figures, graphs, and tables. At most, skim the text. Total time prior to questions should be under 45 seconds. Then, on to the questions, on which you can now spend the needed time.