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Since launching our service, we have gotten a lot of positive feedback from both mentees and mentors! We have had requests to start a tip/principle of the week, so we have decided to do just that. Each week we post a tip, trick, or principle focusing in either Verbal or Quant. You may already know some of these, but hopefully you will see something new!
This week's Verbal tip was written by one of our mentors and content creators MacGregor.
Critical Reasoning Strategy
CR is the purest application of logic on the GMAT. Each passage will present a position, argument, and/or supporting premises, and force you to construct, improve, critique, or analyze the related syllogism.
Because every single question will involve a syllogism, the best strategy for CR is to literally write out the syllogism piece by piece as you read the passage. I prefer to start with the conclusion, and then identify which sentences in the passage serve as supporting premises to the conclusion. Note that the conclusion will not always be at the end of the passage, nor will it necessarily be the first position that the passage is arguing for.
The GMAT question writers love to be tricky on the CR section. Because of this, you have to be very, very careful at every stage of the question. When you are reading the passage and writing your syllogism pay attention to key words that indicate what role the sentence plays (see this link). Double check that those indicator words are really what they appear to be: some of the trickiest CR questions will involve multiple “conclusions” by using misleading language, when the passage really only supports one. When reviewing answers, consider all the options. What tricks could the test writers be playing?
Every word in the passage matters. Entire questions will sometimes hinge on one word that, if overlooked, will cost you the entire question. As a consequence, once you have chosen your answer (and assuming you have enough time), quickly glance over the passage or your syllogism to see if it fits. Perhaps you will notice a word or item that you didn’t before, which will change your answer entirely.
As I will outline in the RC section, the best way to improve at CR above all is to practice. There isn’t very much “theory” to the section. Sure, there are traps you ought to know and identify (see link below), but truly the best way to improve is to do as many questions as possible to get a feel for syllogism construction, and the style of CR passage that the GMAT likes to use.
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