How to eliminate options quickly in GMAT Verbal?

How to eliminate options quickly in GMAT Verbal?

This is, perhaps, one of the most often asked questions of all time in the GMAT prep space.

I wanted to write an article on the same for a long time. A recent email, though, served as the final straw on the camel’s back – it made me sit down to write this article.

Here’s what the recent email says:

“Sometimes I get stuck in re-reading the questions and options number of times . At the end I may arrive at the answer but too much time gets consumed due to which rest of the verbal section suffers. I’m unable to develop a structured approach as to how to eliminate options quickly .” (sic)

Why are you currently not able to eliminate options quickly?

When you go to a doctor because you have a pimple problem, the doctor doesn’t treat the pimple directly. (I wonder what would treating the pimple directly entail – the doctor takes it out with a plier!! No No!!)

The doctor tries to understand the cause of the problem. Let’s say the cause is impurities in the blood.

The doctor then tries to address the cause. Once the impurities go, so will the pimple.

Right?

Similarly, you have a problem that you’re not able to eliminate the (incorrect) options quickly in the verbal section. You take time.

Why do you take time?

1. You have to reread the question and the options more than once to understand them
2. You get stuck in the last 2-3 options; you don’t know which one is correct and which one is incorrect.

Let’s try to understand the cause of each of these two issues:

Why do you have to reread the text more than once to understand it?

1. The text is more complex than you can handle in one go. So, you need to read more than once to get a hold on it
2. You read the text at a speed faster than you should. Essentially, if you read the text a little slower, you can understand the text in one go, but you read it fast.

Now, let’s try to think how we can solve these causes of your problems:

1. Is there a way that we can become able to read complex text in one go?

The answer is Yes. I’m not sure whether or not you’re already aware, but different people have different perceptions of the complexity of a text. In other words, one person may consider a piece of text complex that another may consider quite easy to understand.

Are you aware that there are such differences among people?

Why do these differences exist?

Why does one person find easy one text that another finds challenging?

The answer lies in their comprehension skills. The first one has greater comprehension skills than the second one.

So, does that mean if we increase our comprehension skills, we may also reach a stage in which the text that is currently tough to handle may become easy to understand?

The answer is Yes.

Then, you may wonder, “Is it even possible to increase comprehension skills at this age?”

The answer is a resounding Yes. It is entirely possible; I myself have seen many students build their comprehension skills.

You may then wonder, “Building these skills will need a lot of time. I don’t have that time.”

I understand. You may continue with the rest of the article.

2. To solve the second source of the problem – since you read faster than you should, you end up rereading – you need to slow down.

A nifty but true saying in the GMAT prep is

To increase your speed, SLOW DOWN.

This saying works because you spend less time reading slowly but understanding the text in one go than you spend reading fast but rereading the text.

You need to build awareness in terms of which sentences or ideas are complex for you and then slow down in those instances. As you read sentences, you don’t just read; you’re constantly evaluating your comfort with the sentences. If you find yourself not comfortable, you immediately slow down even while you’re reading the sentence.

Why do you get stuck in the last 2-3 options?

Think about it.

It’s an unpleasant situation to be in.

The clock is ticking, and you’re constantly reading and rereading to find something in the options or the passage that tilts you toward one option. Taking a mock becomes equivalent to living in a torture chamber!

If somehow we could eliminate this from your test-taking experience, think how much time and energy you will save.

Agree?

How can we eliminate this?

Let me share with you a secret that will perhaps unlock the answer to this question.

The options in GMAT Verbal are not close. They seem close to you because you falter at the comprehension level (you haven’t understood the EXACT meaning of the options or the passage or both), or you falter at the logic level (your reasoning is flawed).

Fun Fact: I hardly get stuck in the last 2 options. I believe my comprehension and reasoning skills are quite good. My situation supports my above hypothesis as to why people get confused in the options. (Ek teer se do nishane! Apni tareef bhi kar di aur apni hypothesis ko support bhi! 🙂

Now, if you understand that the cause of your getting stuck in the last 2-3 options is a lack of comprehension and reasoning skills, you can perhaps also understand that the solution to the problem lies in building your comprehension and reasoning skills.

How can you build comprehension and reasoning skills?

The way to building both of these skills is to identify where you make mistakes, contemplate why you make those mistakes, and try to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Here’s the process:

1. Write down your comprehension of each piece of text. Write down your reasoning for each option – why the option is correct or incorrect.

2. Compare what you have written down with what an expert has written. Identify all the ways in which what you have written differs from what the expert has written. Give your 100% at this stage since your mind will have a tendency to think, “Ya ya. What the expert has written is almost the same as what I wrote.” Remember, “Almost same” is NOT the same as “same”.

3. Contemplate on the differences and try to understand why you went wrong and how you can avoid such mistakes in the future (Of course, some difference could be due to different ways of communicating the same idea. I’m talking about the differences in the ideas)

4. Keep revising your past mistakes so that you can avoid repeating them as much as you can.

Are you wondering “Oh! This is going to take a lot of time! I don’t have that time.” If yes, you may continue with the rest of the article.

What does looking for a quick way to eliminate options mean?

Have you heard of people who want to make quick money?

Why do they want to make quick money?

Because they know the benefits of having money but they don’t have the patience or time to invest the amount of effort it’d need to make that money.

Is looking for a way to quickly eliminate options somewhat equivalent to looking for a way to make quick money?

You know the benefits of eliminating the options quickly, but you don’t have the patience or time to invest the amount of effort you’d need to make to get to that level.

I’m sorry if all of this sounds very hard-hitting. I don’t mean to say that you are immoral in seeking a quicker way to solve the questions.

I perhaps want to highlight that what you’re unconsciously doing in the GMAT prep domain, you may not think of doing in another important field – of making money. I believe in the domain of making money, many of us intuitively understand that the way to make more money is by building skills and deserving more money.

The same is the case in GMAT prep.

Where may this desire for quick money (quick way to eliminate options) lead you?

I believe you are aware that many people who want to make quick money fall into traps of making quick money and end up losing money in the process.

Many GMAT aspirants who want a quick way to eliminate options end up falling for tricks and techniques that work only on a small subset of the questions and cannot lead to a predictable improvement in score. These aspirants end up wasting tremendous amount of time, energy, and money learning these tricks and techniques which don’t lead them closer to their target score.

The time these aspirants spent on learning tricks and techniques could have been spent on building skills. However, since tricks and techniques seem quicker ways to solve questions, many choose them over building skills.

When these people realize later that they still are not close to the score that they wanted even after spending considerable amount of time, they become even more restless to seek quick money or they start believing that they don’t have the capability to get the score they wanted.

Why do you believe quick money (quick way to eliminate options) is possible?

One key reason that many people believe that there is a shortcut to quickly eliminate options is that they have heard such things on various forums.

Don’t you know that there is a lot of content on internet on making quick money?

Why don’t we believe in that?

Because we know that it doesn’t make sense; pursuing easy money is a reliable way to remain mediocre and not make money.

Why can’t we apply the same mentality in GMAT prep?

When you hear a person who has succeeded on the GMAT talking about shortcuts and tricks to eliminate options, you believe that the person has succeeded because he knows the tricks. I think he has succeeded despite focusing on the tricks.

Focusing on tricks without building the skills tested is a reliable way to fail on the GMAT.

Why is there no quick way to eliminate options?

Are you disappointed after hearing my logic against the existence of quick ways to eliminate options?

If yes, you may be wondering, “CJ thinks there is no quick way. Perhaps, he doesn’t know those ways.”

Let me give my last piece of reasoning.

I believe there CANNOT be quick ways to eliminate options. Of course, you can build your reasoning and comprehension skills to the level that you can quickly solve the questions. I’m not talking about the quickness that is due to skills. I’m talking about quick ways pertaining to shortcuts and tricks.

In other words, I believe that shortcuts and tricks CANNOT reliably lead to a great score on GMAT Verbal.

Why?

Because GMAT is well-designed.

This means that you cannot hack the test.

If GMAT is trying to test your comprehension and reasoning skills, you cannot ace the test by using shortcuts and tricks while not having the skills.

In other words, I believe that you don’t have the intelligence to fool the test-makers.

And if you have, you also have the capability to get a great GMAT score by using or building your skills.

*****

PS: This article was originally posted at this link