Lecture Notes for Verbal Reasoning Lesson 5 Answering Questions According to Exam Krackers

Answering Questions Use 100% of the information provided by the test. Reading carefully yet normally for comprehension, but be careful with searching the passages. Overthinking and revisiting the passages wastes time.

Answering Questions Four tools to find helpful information in the answer stems and answer choices. Going back: Rereading parts of the passage. Should only be used as a last resort and only when: You regularly finish on time. You know exactly what you’re looking for. You know exactly where to find the answer Revisiting the passages is the most time consuming and least useful of the four tools Rereading is not conducive to finding the main idea. Be careful of the “feel good” answer. Obvious answers can be a trap. MCAT test makers often deliberately deceive. Be careful of questions referencing line numbers. Doesn’t mean you’ll find what you’re looking for. Keep in mind your goal is to finish the Verbal Section.

Answering Questions Four tools to find helpful information in the answer stems and answer choices (cont’d.). Focus on the main idea. See your notes from Lecture #4. Question Stems. The question stems often hold as much information as the passage itself. Scrutinize the answer stems as carefully as possible, looking for keywords and thinking about the author’s purpose, the author’s background, and the passage’s structure.

Answering Questions Four tools to find helpful information in the answer stems and answer choices (cont’d.). Answer Choices. Thoroughly get to know the exam. Four answer choices. Correct answer is usually written first (not the first answer on the test you encounter). The other questions are written to confuse. Lots of practice can result in the ability to answer question without reading the answer choices or the passage.

Answering Questions Four tools to find helpful information in the answer stems and answer choices (cont’d.). Five notable distracters: Round-about. Can be correct answers, but typically don’t offer a direct answer to the question (Often not the “best” answer choice). Think of politicians who “talk” around an issue. Beyonds. A distracter that supplies information beyond that given in the question and passage without substantiating its truthfulness. Don’t confuse a beyond with an answer choice that directly asks you to assume information as true.

Answering Questions Four tools to find helpful information in the answer stems and answer choices (cont’d.). Five Notable Distracters: Contraries. A distracter that contradicts the main idea. If the question does not include the words “except,” “not,” or “least,” the answer choice is unlikely to contradict the main idea. Simpletons. A distracter without qualifications that seems too simple and direct, broad, usually involving a generalization. Correct answers are often vague, ambiguous, and debatable. Often exhibit extreme wording like “always” and “never” tend to indicate a simpleton. Simpletons are not always wrong answers. Just be suspicious of them.

Answering Questions Four tools to find helpful information in the answer stems and answer choices (cont’d.). Five Notable Distracters: Unintelligibles. A distracter that is difficult to understand. Often a trap Many test takers choose answers that confuse them. Test makers like purposefully obscure and unintelligible word choices. With distracters it is crucial to understand that there are no absolutes, just suspects.

Answering Questions Identifying the correct answer. Typical correct answer choices contain softeners. Most likely, seemed, had a tendency to, etc. Simplify the question stems and answer choices in your own words. Simplified paraphrases. Substituted less challenging synonyms.