Parts of a critical reasoning question

Question

Hey,

I started to study for my GMAT exam some four weeks ago. Right from the start, critical reasoning questions were the easiest for me (is this usual?) and I am able to answer almost all of them correctly.

However, there is one exception. Everytime when there are two bold parts in the text and the question is about what the two parts represent, I am in problems. I don't really know and get what premises, arguments, evidences, conclusions, etc. are. Maybe it is a bit hard because I am not a native English tongue. Could someone please explain these words and their significance in the GMAT? Do you have any tips or advices about how to master these questions? Would help me a lot!

Thanks!

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

It is good that you are able to solve most of the CR questions. You have one less question type to worry about. But do not become complacent and make sure that you keep on practising the CR questions too. however I am amazed as to how you are able to get the other set of questions right without understanding the meaning of these terms

The bold face questions test your understanding of the various parts of a sentence. You need to identify the premise and conclusion to arrive at the correct answer and then see which option correctly represents the bold part. For your perusal, below are the explanations of the various terms. Premise: It can be a fact/statement from which a conclusion is made. Evidences: Any evidences that are presented in order to support the statement or fact. For example any scientific experiment and its end results Conclusion: This sums up the whole paragraph and tells you what is it all about. It is a statement that follows from one or more reasons

Flexxice · Answer

Thanks a lot for your answer! This makes it clearer, I will repeat some of these questions and see if I get it now. Are there any other terms I need to know for this type of question? If you ask me how I am able to get the other questions right, I cannot explain it haha. I'm just doing it with logic. From my point of view, there are almost always 2 to 3 answer choices which do not really make sense, are weak or do not really strengthen / weaken the argument. Then I just choose the best of the remaining options and mostly, I'm right

atturhari · Answer

I have been through the same thing but was able to make some improvements by dissecting all the sentences in the BF question and then understand how are they tied to the main conclusion. If any BF line itself is a conclusion, then it makes our job a little easier.
The BF lines alone are not sufficient to answer the question.

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felippemed · Answer

The first 50 something question in the OG are easier than the final 50. Don't let this feeling deceive you. If you are feeling overconfident - which is quite dangerous - try to get 10, right on a roll from the 100 over. Or try the 700-Level Assumption Questions from the Club Test

Keep it up.

amitsah · Answer

you need to understand the relationship between the two bold faces, one can be a conclusion/counter conclusion/finding/etc while other can be premise/fact/counter premise/etc. Make sure that you understand that how to parts are related to each other.

Parts of a critical reasoning question

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