KanishkM wrote:
DavidTutorexamPAL wrote:
Ask me Anything about GMAT Critical Reasoning Hello GMAT Club users,
My name is David, nice to meet you
I am a senior tutor at examPAL and have been in the test-prep business for years.
This thread is the place for you to ask me anything about CR - from 'how should I approach a question' to 'why is this answer correct' to general tips on the topic you find most difficult.
To start off, the Most Important CR tip:
Think before looking at the answer choices!
The general structure for solving a CR question is almost always
1. Break the passage down into its logical components.
2. Use your skills of deduction to infer what the answer choice 'looks like' (what pieces of information it contains, what the logic between the different parts should be)
3. Go to the answer choices and see if your predicted answer choice, or something very similar to it, is there.
4. If you like, also skim over the other options to make sure there isn't something 'better'.
Note that step 2 shouldn't tell you the exact answer - its goal is to narrow your search space so you can ignore all irrelevant information and focus only on the important bits. Otherwise, the vast majority of students end up wasting most of their time reading the different options, thinking about each, and becoming very confused.
Best of luck to everyone on their GMAT and remember - the GMAT is just a stepping stone! What is it you actually want to achieve?
See you in the CR forums,
David. Hi
DavidTutorexamPALThere are times when(This i face especially in Weaken question type) i get to two answer options, out of which i think one can be the correct answer, I am unable to remove the incorrect option.
So, at times i end up marking the incorrect one, In such scenarios what should I do??
Should i re read the argument again, and try to relate the answer options with the conclusion?, After knowing the OA, look for transition words which made it different.
Would like to hear your thoughts on such a scenario.
Hey
KanishkM,
This is a good and difficult question.
I am assuming you get to this situation usually after using the process of elimination (what we call in examPAL the
Alternative approach). So, the first question to ask is whether this is the right approach to start with. Other options are using the
Precise or
Logical approaches: taking all the info in the question, and thinking what a solution will look like, before you look at the answers.
Anyway, if you do get to this situation, I recommend two things:
1) note the key differences between the answers: what is true for one and wrong for the other?
2) go back to the question - what dos it ask us? is it possible that both answers have accurate information, but only one actually answers the questions?
3) read the question prompt - how does the info in it connect to the difference between the questions?
Hope this helps