How do you deal with dense CR and SC questions?

Question

At times I screw up sub-600 SC and CR questions (especially) because they are so dense, and I tend to get intimidated and lost.

Yet for certain 700-level CR questions that have a relatively short stimulus and short answer choices, I tend to do much better

historyfan10 · Answer

For SC: I read the first sentence and try to get the meaning and what the sentence intends to express. Then I try to look for the mistake within the sentence. After this I look at the differences in the other sentences and try to cross out those, which are completely odd. Then I have 2 sentences left which are very close in meaning but have a mistake. It is really a step by step approach.

Hope this somehow helps.

Hope this somehow helps.

anniaustin · Answer

improving reading ability and comprehension might help. Best of luck.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi logro,

There are a couple of things worth noting about 'wordy' questions on the GMAT. First, 'wordy' does not necessarily mean "hard." While a wordy question will take longer to read, the Tactics that you can use in the Quant and Verbal sections are still the same - so you can't allow yourself to get 'emotional' based on the length of the prompt (as that will just distract you from doing the necessary work to answer whatever question is asked). Second, just about everything that you are going to read in Business School will be 'wordy' (and considerably wordier than what you're going to see in CR and RC on the GMAT), so the sooner you embrace that reality, the more comfortable you will get working with wordy material (as that skill will be a requirement for years to come).

The Verbal section is as consistent and predictable as the Quant section is - the types of questions are consistent, the logic 'patterns' are consistent and even the 4 wrong answers to each question fall into consistent patterns. However, Verbal questions have no 'safety net' - meaning that if you make a little mistake or miss a vital piece of information, then you will convince yourself that one of the wrong answers is correct (and not realize it).

From your post history, you've clearly been studying for several months, so it would help if you could provide a bit more information on your studies so far and your goals:

1) On what dates did you take EACH of your CATs/mocks and how did you score on EACH (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores for EACH)?
2) What materials have you worked through so far to train for the Verbal section?
3) What is your overall Goal Score?
4) When are you planning to apply to Business School and what Schools are you planning to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi logro,

Seems like you are struggling with comprehending the sentence at a single go. It's important that you understand the meaning of the sentence the first you read it. Reading the sentence multiple times will only result in wastage of precious time. If you use the right reading strategies, it will help you understand the meaning of both SC and CR questions.

Having said that, in order to read a sentence the right way, you need to break the sentence at regular intervals, understand the meaning of the smaller chunk and then move ahead. You need to break the sentence whenever you come across below entities.
  Verbs or Verbals 
 Conjunctions 
 Transition words

This process will help you sav a lot of time and you do not have to worry about the the complexity of the question. Having said that, just make sure whether you are struggling with comprehension or anything else in CR questions. If there's any help you need, feel free to get in touch using the below link.

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How do you deal with dense CR and SC questions?

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