Scope for Improvement

The Toastmasters meet was fantastic. Our president conducted a very informative session on handling impromptu speeches. Then we had 3 sessions on Table topics. Everyone came out and spoke on random words. I was given 3 words: Beer Mug, Tie & Deadline. As expected Beer Mug  was the easiest ;) . The whole idea is to link the words together and make a coherent speech. Mind you, one does not get much time to think( max 4-5 secs). Just go there and start speaking ( not blabbering). So it is very important to structure the theme as you speak and if you can conclude nicely, then my friend you have nailed it!!
On the GMAT preparation side, I am starting to feel the strain. The accuracy is going down and I am taking more time per question. I attribute the slump to two things. First, my GMAT verbal is not like American armored vehicle so I always find it difficult to reach the require level ( 90% accuracy in the stipulated time). Secondly, GMAT Official Guide 12th edition has questions listed in order of difficulty. So as one reaches 50-60 mark, the quality increases( people might disagree with me but I found this pattern on all three sections : RC, SC and CR). Hence, OG is no more a cake walk. And I know it is good, as GMAT is adaptive and I should be prepared to handle the transition in difficulty levels.
But listing the problems is not a solution. To increase speed, I thought really hard where I am going wrong. Apart from the occasional loss of concentration, there is scope of improvement in sentence correction by using the options more effectively. It goes like this. My general tendency on seeing the SC question is to read the whole question and search for the incorrect part in the underlined portion of the sentence. This takes lot of time because sometimes ( especially in modifiers and idioms) I take too long to find the mistake. Hence, to save time, I can read the options immediately after reading the question and identify the 'changing words' across the options. In this way, I will have an idea of what kind of error the question wants me to address. The result : Time saved. I think with some practice, I will streamline the approach( consultant speaking ;) and increase my speed.
By the way, Barca defeated Espanyol 5-1 in the Barcelona Derby. The score might suggest that FC Barcelona crushed Espanyol, but it was actually closer than that. How often do you see Barca having less than 60% possession in the game. Well played Espanyol for giving a tough fight to the best football club on the planet.