Summary of Powerscore CR foundation chapters

Hello All,

I just started going through Powerscore CR for the first time and after going through the first 2 chapters realized that these were only introductory chapters meant to lay the foundation for CR problem solving. However they were really lengthy(almost 80 pages) and so i decided to make notes and add them with my own understanding of the concepts so that i never have to waste time revisiting these 2 chapters. Thought i would share the same with you guys in case it helps anyone.Here goes :

> Primary Objective 1 : Determine if the Stimulus contains an argument or a set of facts. It contains an argument if it consists of a premise(s) and a conclusion. It contains set of facts if it just consists of factual statements with no conclusion.
> Primary Objective 2: If the stimulus contains an argument then identify the conclusion.If it contains a set of facts then examine each fact.
> Some arguments also contain some ADDITIONAL Premises that support the conclusion but are sometimes non-essential to the conclusion.These can identified by some additional premise identifiers like : Furthermore,In addition,moreover etc.
> Some arguments also contain some COUNTER premises that are statements that contradict the conclusion being made.The idea behind them is that author wants to bring them up and address them within the argument to mitigate the damage that could happen by these statements being made elsewhere.Think of it like an up front declaration.They can be identified by some Counter premise indicator like : However,Even Though,But,Whereas Despite etc.
> Sometimes some arguments do not contain any of the premise of conclusion identifiers. For such cases if we want to identify the conclusion and premise then we should try to arrange the statements in the arguments using identifiers of our own to come up with a sequence that makes logical sense.
> Simple arguments are arguments that contain only one conclusion. Complex arguments are those that contain more than one conclusion. In these there can be one main conclusion and other sub conclusions that can be used as premises for the main conclusion in bottom up ladder approach.
> Truth Vs. Validity : Within arguments we should only focus on justifying the validity of the conclusion,i.e, checking to see if the conclusion makes sense with the given premises or not, and not try to check if the conclusion holds true in the real world.
> Primary Objective 3: If the stimulus contains an argument, determine whether the argument is a strong or a weak one. To judge the same we need to analyse if the given set of premises even though acceptable sound convincing to make the conclusion true.If the premises result in you asking a lot of questions against the conclusion then it means the argument is a poor one.
> On the GMAT, an inference means something that MUST BE TRUE.On the other hand, an assumption can be defined as an unstated premise that must be true for the Conclusion to hold true.
>Primary Objective 4 : Read closely and know exactly what the author said. Do not Generalize.
> Primary Objective 5: Carefully read the question stem and identify the question type.Do not assume that certain words are associated with certain question types.
> Different Question types,their classification into the different question family types and their descriptions:

# The below mentioned question types belong to the "Prove" Family. In this family of question types we must keep the following in mind :
> We must accept the information given in the stimulus to be correct(even if it contains reasoning errors) and then use the same to prove one of the answer choices true.
> Any info referenced in the answer choices that is not present in the stimulus is incorrect.

1) Must be true/Most supported(*) - Identify the answer choice that is best proven by the information given in the stimulus.
2)Main point - Identify the answer choice that reflects the primary conclusion(main point) of the argument in the stimulus.
7)Method of reasoning - Identify the answer choice that reflects the technique used by author to reason the argument.
8)Flaw in the reasoning - Identify the answer choice that reflects the error that the author made in the reasoning for the argument.
9)Parallel reasoning - Identify the answer choice that reflects a similar in structure reasoning to the one used in the argument of the stimulus.

# The below mentioned question types belong to the "Help" Family. In this family of question types we must keep the following in mind :
> The information given in the stimulus is suspect to reasoning errors,assumptions etc. and we need to close these gaps by using the answer choices.
> When going through the answer choices, accept each as a given at a time, meaning consider all info in the statement to be true even if it references info outside the scope of the stimulus.We must choose the answer that best meets the requirements of the posed question.

3)Assumption(*) - Identify an assumption that the author has made in the argument.
4)Strengthen/Support(*) - Identify the answer choice that adds supports or strengthens the argument being made by the author.
5)Resolve the paradox(*) - Identify the answer choice that helps solve any contradiction/paradox present in the stimulus.

# The below mentioned question types belong to the "Hurt" Family. In this family of question types we must keep the same things in mind as for the second family.

6)Weaken(*) - Identify the answer choice that questions/weakens the argument.

# The below mentioned question type doesn't belong to any one family , but rather exists as a mix of the second and third family types.
10)Evaluate the argument - Identify the answer choice that best evaluates the logical validity of the argument.

> If a stimulus doesn't contain a conclusion , then the question must be of type 'Must be true' or 'Resolve paradox'.
> Use of the words 'Most','Except' and 'Least' in the question stems : If a question stem asks you to find the answer choice that most weakens the argument, then it does not mean that all the answer choices weaken the argument and we need to find the most effective one. Only one answer will weaken the argument and others will not.Presence of the word 'Except' in the stem negates the question being asked. For ex. if the question asks to find the answer choice that weakens the argument except, then it means that 4 choices will weaken the argument and 1 will not- which we need to identify. Presence of the word 'Least' functions in the same way as 'Except'.
> On the GMAT, opposites are considered as logical opposites and not polar opposites.Meaning, the logical opposite of Wet is Not Wet.The polar opposite of Wet is Dry.
> Primary Objective 6 : Pre-phrase: After reading the question try to formulate the correct answer in your mind.
> Primary Objective 7 : Always read all 5 of the answer choices.
> Primary Objective 8 : Separate the answer choices into Contenders and Losers and then review the contenders to choose the winner.
> Primary Objective 9 : If all 5 answer choices seem to be wrong, then revisit the stimulus as we must have missed something.