samstthomas
I also found something very interesting that Strengthen question by itself has two categories, 1. Argument Construction and 2. Evaluate a Plan.
Where the reasoning to strengthen the argument differs accordingly. For instance, incase of type 1, the assumption that we are strengthening is wholly on the argument itself and for type 2, the assumption that we are strengthening is wholly on the question stem which is focusing on a particular premise within the argument. And what more interesting is, the common trap answer (after eliminating 3 answers) for type 2 is the correct answer if the question would have been type 1. What are your thoughts please, wish I had explained better.
Thanks,
Sam Walter
What you are saying sounds about right, although I hadn't really noticed that pattern with the trap answers. So, I'm now going to keep it in mind and look to see whether I see it too.
That said, I tend to come at Strengthen from a direction a little different from what you described. I tend to focus on the conclusion and, regardless of the type of Strengthen question, look for a choice whose effect goes in a direction such that the choice provides support for the conclusion. So, direction of effect of answer choices, above all else, is what I look for.
Of course, since there are certain patterns to the questions, such as variable control and stating unstated assumptions, that seem to appear repeatedly, an awareness of those patterns can be helpful.
I too analyzed the questions for patterns, and found various categories of questions, some similar to yours, about 8 patterns to correct answers, and various patterns to incorrect and trap answers. Of course, the question writers can and do come up with new patterns.
In any case, the more analysis you do, the clearer what's going on in the questions becomes, and the clearer it all becomes, the more consistently and quickly you correctly answer the questions.