I love Stacey's article, and I share it with MANY of my students. Reviewing is the most overlooked component of a GMAT study plan. And it makes sense: who wants to look at our mistakes? Yikes!
So while Stacey would be the person to ask, here's how I interpret her "how well did I RECOGNIZE..." questions:
The GMAT is predictable. The question formats never change (or at least not for several years), and within each question format, the tested concepts never change. We know that there is only a finite range of CR questions:
- Complete the Passage
- Evaluate the Plan
- Assumption
- Weaken
- Conclusion
- Flaw
- Bolded Statement
- etc.
To get even MORE detailed, even within each question type there are repeated patterns! For example, a "Flaw" question might present an argument that is flawed because it is a generalization, or false dichotomy, or conflating causation with causality (as Rich mentioned).
This is why we study the OG13 and the GMATPrep questions so voraciously -- so that even WITHIN each question-type, we can have those, "Aha! I see what you're doing there, GMAT..." moments.
At the 700+ level, it's not enough to just go, "oh this is CR and a Strengthen question." You have to recognize the conclusion, and evidence, and unstated assumptions in the argument (more info on that here:
https://gmatrockstar.com/2014/02/02/gmat ... age-first/). And you have to ANTICIPATE/RECOGNIZE the most common ways the GMAT strengthens an argument:
- by providing the assumption
- by adding evidence
- by removing an alternate explanation
It also helps to recognize incorrect answer choices that are:
- extreme
- opposite
- out of scope
I'd suggest that when you practice have ALL the possible question types and ALL the possible GMAT concepts printed out in a neat list next to you. Try to "peg" each practice question as you attempt it, writing down WHAT question-type it is, and WHAT specific 1-3 concepts you believe it's testing.
