erikvm wrote:
So, the two most popular CR books on the forum seem to be either MGMATs CR or the Powerscore Bible. However, their approaches on how to tackle CR problem seem to be completely different.
MGMAT advocate "always read question first", whereas powerscore says not to.The forum however seems to favor MGMATs approach, but powerscore seems a tad more popular among the users. Why is this?
If this post belongs in the CR forum, feel free to move it..
Hello erikvm,
It's a great question to ask. Firstly, the
Manhattan GMAT books are arguably the most respected published GMAT books out there, and I also agree with Kyle's analysis.
There is an EXTREMELY important reason why reading the question first tends to pay off fare more than the alternative: by reading the question first, you're priming yourself for what to look for in the prompt. For example, in each of the following question types, getting the question right hinges on your ability to uncover the missing information (the assumptions):
Assumption
Strengthen
Weaken
Evaluate
Whereas, say in an
Inference question, you're looking for something altogether different: an option that is 100% inferable on the basis of the info in the prompt.
Would knowing what type of information you're looking for improve your chances of finding that information? No question. Almost always, so we advocate ALWAYS reading the question first.
If you're looking for some efficiency, questions such as
Fill-In-The-Blank Inference, or
Bolded Statement questions really don't need to be read first since the assignment is always the same in those particular question types.
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