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AmitLobo
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End up selecting the second best answer in RC and SC questions 03 May 2017, 06:20
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After giving two mocks and also solving close to 400 SC and 100 SC questions a big roadblock I've hit is that I end up choosing the second best answer. How I keep track of this is every time I face a challenging question in either of these sections I write down both the answer choices and when I am reviewing answers I can see that the second option is correct.

I would like to understand how I can master RC and SC and get over this specific challenge I am facing.
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End up selecting the second best answer in RC and SC questions 03 May 2017, 12:07
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Hi AmitLobo,

Part of your issue might be that you're thinking in terms of a "best answer", when the reality is that there is ONE correct answer and four incorrect ones. As such, if you've narrowed the answers down to two choices (the correct one and one of the incorrect ones), then you're almost to the solution - but there's still one more 'step.' If you cannot directly determine the correct answer, then you have to shift your thinking and define WHY the wrong answer is wrong. Sometimes the reason is obvious, but sometimes it's subtle. From what you've described, you haven't honed your skills enough to nail that last step, so we have to discuss how you're approaching Verbal questions.

1) How long have you studied?
2) What study materials have you used?
3) What "steps" do you go through when working on a typical SC, RC or CR prompt?
4) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
5) What is your goal score?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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End up selecting the second best answer in RC and SC questions 04 May 2017, 03:32
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AmitLobo
After giving two mocks and also solving close to 400 SC and 100 SC questions a big roadblock I've hit is that I end up choosing the second best answer. How I keep track of this is every time I face a challenging question in either of these sections I write down both the answer choices and when I am reviewing answers I can see that the second option is correct.

I would like to understand how I can master RC and SC and get over this specific challenge I am facing.
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There is no "second best answer" :)

Make sure that you're analysing (and learning from) all the questions you're doing.
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End up selecting the second best answer in RC and SC questions 05 May 2017, 11:03
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AmitLobo
After giving two mocks and also solving close to 400 SC and 100 SC questions a big roadblock I've hit is that I end up choosing the second best answer. How I keep track of this is every time I face a challenging question in either of these sections I write down both the answer choices and when I am reviewing answers I can see that the second option is correct.

I would like to understand how I can master RC and SC and get over this specific challenge I am facing.
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Hi AmitLobo ,
On the GMAT, there is one correct answer and four incorrect answers. But at higher ability levels in the verbal section, there is always a very attractive incorrect answer.
- In SC, a lot of times people do eliminate a correct answer based on false split/decision point.
You should make error logs and analyze where did you go wrong.

https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/arti ... or-log.cfm
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End up selecting the second best answer in RC and SC questions 05 May 2017, 11:36
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I wholeheartedly agree with Skywalker18: there's no real "second-best" answer on the GMAT, ever. On verbal in particular, you always want to approach questions with the mindset that you're looking for four wrong answers that have definitely flaws -- and by default, you'll be left with one correct answer.

To be fair, there's often only one truly tempting wrong answer on verbal questions. So unless you're 100% lost on a particular passage (or sentence), you'll almost always be able to narrow the question down to two options. But that may or may not mean that you're actually close to getting the answer right: most of the time, if you can't distinguish between those last two options, it's a sign that you've missed something fundamental in the passage (or sentence) itself.

There are piles of good resources in the verbal section of the forum if you just need to work on your skills in general. This is a pretty good place to start: https://gmatclub.com/forum/ultimate-ver ... 33279.html

Keep at it, AmitLobo!
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