Critical Reasoning

Hey TPR folks et. al.,

I was asked to weigh on this by private message. I don't have very much to add, as the question seems to have been discussed at great length. But, just to natter:

I agree that the feeling that the test might be "getting harder" is probably related to the unfamiliarity of the test. However, the OG definitely is on the easy side. Remember that most people who OBSESS about the GMAT (come to forums like this one, look at multiple books, etc.) are going to score higher than a 600. But the books needs to be fairly evenly split in the entire 2-800 range. That means that, if you're scoring over a 650, nearly 75% of the OG questions are below your ability level. That's a lot (even if slightly exaggerated...I don't know the actual breakdown of every question...).

Mitch's list of Assumption types is fantastic. Try to create the same sort of patterns FOR YOURSELF for the other question types. ALSO, try to create pattern lists for WRONG answer choices (Remember that only 40% or so will be out of scope/irrelevant, the rest will make some other error, whether it's just getting a single word wrong, scrambling text from the passage, or directly contradicting the passage). I know how nice the idea is to get somebody to just give you a list which you can then memorize, but CR is a form of reading COMPREHENSION. You're far better off noticing the patterns yourself and trying to create YOUR OWN list.

Good luck!

-tommy wallach

one thing that you should also be able to do, if you really understand the critical reasoning problems in the OG, is make analogies of your own.

in other words, if you feel that you really understand a particular og problem very well, you should be able to write a similar problem on your own -- a problem that uses the same sort of reasoning, but deals with entirely different subject matter, and is written very differently.
the latter is key -- if you just take the same sentences and substitute different specific nouns and adjectives, that doesn't show any understanding at all. however, if you can write a problem that looks completely different, but whose underlying logic is the same, then that shows true understanding.

this is much harder than you think, but is an extremely useful exercise, particularly for people who complain that they have gone through the OG several times already and are unable to find new problems of sufficiently high quality.

Ron is right. He must work for the best GMAT company ever.

-t

Dagmat,

I would argue that you're best off studying more and more passages, be they LSAT, GMAT, or even GRE. The problem with reading general interest articles is, first, they often aren't as complex as some passages, and second, they aren't actually built to confuse you (as some test passages are). I would say if you're looking for the best possible practice, read passages and OUTLINE. Then get someone you KNOW is good at this stuff (be it a private tutor or just a friend who scores high on these tests) to check that you understood the passage correctly. (You can also do this yourself...write down the OUTLINE, as well as WHY you think each answer choice is wrong (in the form of a sentence), then check your understanding EXACTLY against the book).

Good luck!

-tommy