To CR experts: Using synonyms to words in a stimulus

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In RC correct answers often use synonyms to words mentioned in the passage. Though, not every synonym carries exactly the same meaning as the original word in the passage, these answers are correct.

By contrast, in CR the meaning of words is very important. And although the synonym might have a similar meaning, it can have a different "shade" of that meaning and, thus, changing the scope of the stimulus.

I don't have concrete examples, but is it fair to assume that in CR questions we should watch out for answer choices that use similar but not identical words/wording than in the stimulus. And, on the contrary, in RC questions, we can accept answers that use similar words/wording, but that are not identical to the ones in the passage?
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by MBACenter » Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:39 am
nonameee wrote:In RC correct answers often use synonyms to words mentioned in the passage. Though, not every synonym carries exactly the same meaning as the original word in the passage, these answers are correct.

By contrast, in CR the meaning of words is very important. And although the synonym might have a similar meaning, it can have a different "shade" of that meaning and, thus, changing the scope of the stimulus.

I don't have concrete examples, but is it fair to assume that in CR questions we should watch out for answer choices that use similar but not identical words/wording than in the stimulus. And, on the contrary, in RC questions, we can accept answers that use similar words/wording, but that are not identical to the ones in the passage?
There is no hard and fast answer to this one, but yes, if the word used in an answer choice is similar but has any substantial difference, you should be very alert. On the other hand, you shouldn't be seeing differences where none exist.
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by nonameee » Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:43 am
Nicholas, thanks for you answer. The reason I asked it was that I'd seen a number of questions in RC where the correct answer contained a synonym of some word in the passage. At the same time, I'd seen a number of CR questions (I'm talking only about OG questions) where the answer with a synonym wasn't correct.

So I thought CR questions are less tolerant to synonyms than RC questions.

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by nonameee » Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:45 am
Here's an example of a RC question:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/interest-rat ... tml#449466

I believe the same answer would have been wrong in CR.