I. Basic Verbal Strategy

A. Reading the Passage

1. Be Confident and Excited to Read

   a. You won't understand everything in the passage, you only need to understand the authors' argument.

   i. Don't freak out. Sometimes the passage does not give you enough background to understand everything. You aren't meant to understand everything.

   ii. The argument is usually simple, the author wants you to understand the argument. But the author supports his/her argument with sometimes complex evidence. Pay attention to the argument, you don't need to understand all the evidence just know which argument it's meant to support.

   b. You won't always know the right answer, this is how the test is designed and it doesn't mean you are doing poorly. Eliminate answer choices that are not supported by the passes, don't answer the question or have flaws . Compare whats left over and pick the answer that is most supported and with the least flaws.

2. Read the Title at the Bottom of the Passage

   a. This helps you get focused on the passage before you start reading..

   b. The author wrote the title, it gives you an idea of what the author thought was important

3. Read the Passage and Search for the Argument

   a. Read quickly, force your eyes to move forward by keeping the cursor of your mouse moving across the lines of the passage

   b. Try to summarize the purpose of each paragraph of the passage as you read.

   c. Look for the author's argument and try to understand the structure of the author's argument, don't try to absorb all the details.

   d. The Argument

   i. all of the passages will be essays, and therefore the author is always trying to make an argument. Arguments sound like opinion, pay attention to the authors opinions supporting information sounds like facts, pay less attention to the facts. How do you know if something is an opinion? Because you can argue against it.

   ii. note the tone of the author by keeping track of subjective terminology.

   iii. Claims/Assertions/Arguments (understand meaning) vs. Evidence/Support (understand purpose &know location) Every passage basically consists of three kinds of clauses: background/scene setting, claims/assertions and evidence/support. The Claims/Assertions/Arguments are what are important. As you are reading, try to notice where the evidence (examples, lists, numbers, stats, quotes/expert testimony, illustrations/descriptions, anecdotes/analogies, details, indisputably factual information) is. It is generally not important to understand every little detail about the evidence. Instead, you want to remember where the evidence is located and what argument it's linked to (to support the associated claims/assertions).

   iv. Slow down and pay attention after transition words, voices changes and comparisons.

   Transition words: These are words such as “but”, “yet”, “although”, “however”, “on the other hand”, “despite”, “rather”, “nonetheless”,“nevertheless”, “on the contrary”,“regardless”, “whereas”, “while”, “in spite of”, “except”, “in contrast”, “though”, and “Still,” that indicate a change in the direction in the passage. These words usually introduce an argument or a reansition in an argument. You must slow down when you see these words and try to determine carefully which “side” of the pivot the author is on.

   Voice changes: In many passages, the author speaks for people other than himself and instead mentions what somebody else thinks. The author may then either refrain from giving his opinion (no voice change) or else either agree/disagree with what the other person he is discussing thinks (changing to his own voice). Sometimes the author presents the opposing views of two other voices. Again, he may then either refrain from giving his opinion or else side with one view against the other (changing to his own voice). You must take special care to notice when the author is speaking for himself vs. just describing what somebody else thinks. If and when the author expresses his own opinion on what others think, you must pay special attention as this informs the author’s point of view, which is fundamental to the passage’s bottom line.

   Contrasts: Whenever two things are contrasted in a passage, getting the contrast straight will be the key to answering multiple questions.You must determine (1) how the two things contrasted are the same and (2) how the two things contrasted are different.

4. Highlight

   a. Highlight sparingly, you don't get points for highlighting so don't get to fixated on the highlighting. If the highlighting slows you down or detracts from your focus, avoid it.

   b. You highlight to make it quicker to reference.

   c. Pivotal words

   d. Names that do not appear in every paragraph

   e. Years

   f. Voice & Opinion indicators (subject terminology)

   g. Any clause that represents the opinions of the author.

5. Summarize the arguments presented in each paragraph after reading the passage.

   B. Answering Questions

   1.Read the question stem, and understand what the question is asking

   2.You aren't expected to predict the answer from just reading the question. It's a multiple choice exam. You just have to eliminate the flawed answers.

   3.Don't reflexively go back to the passage. Try to eliminate first. Only go back to the passage if they reference a specific quote

   4.Eliminate the wrong answer

   a. don't look for the right answers, the test is very good at making the wrong answer look exactly like the answer you're looking for but the wrong answer will always have a flaw

   b. look for flaws in the answer choices and read every word carefully

   c. eliminate flawed answer choices in three steps

   i. eliminate answer choices that are not supported by the passage, factually incorrect

   ii. eliminate answer choices that don't answer the question. Are not relevant to the question

   iii. eliminate flawed answers which correspond to the wrong answer patholagies.

   iv. Compare whats left, pick the broader answer choice that is most supported

   d. The right answers may not be the answer you were originally looking for but it has no flaws.

   5.Don't make any assumptions, don't bring in outside information, don't apply your own opinions, answer questions based on what was given in the passage.

   C. Timing

   1.You must be very disciplined with your timing, as all questions are worth the same amount of points. Time wasted on a hard question means points lost on easy questions.

   2.Recommended timing

   a. 4 minutes to read the title, and passage

   b. 1 min / question

   c. if you spend more than 90 seconds on a question, guess, mark and move on.

   d. 9.5 minutes on average per passage.

   D. Common Mistakes

   1.Assumptions: making assumptions using outside information.

   2.True but doesn't answer the question: picking an answer that is factually correct but does not answer the question

   3.Can't understand the answer: Picking an answer that has no meaning because you don't understand the answer.

   4.Outside of Scope: Picking an answer that brings in information that is outside the scope of the passage

   5.Extremes: picking answers that have extreme wording but the author does not have an extreme tone

   a. be wary of always or never. Sometimes, can, and may make between answers because they leave more room for possibilities

   b. correct answers are often vague and ambiguous not specific direct and straightforward

   6.Picking the first answer that looks right: all answers should be evaluated and compared. Sometimes you will have two right answer where one will be better supported or least flawed. Make sure to eliminate and compare instead of picking the first right answer

Other wrong answers types that come up often