Order of Questions in RC

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Order of Questions in RC

by arkitect » Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:32 pm
Hi there

I was wondering how the questions for RC are chosen by the computer. For example, if I just answered a question at 600-700 level and if my next question is supposed to be an 700-800 level RC, will the computer pick up a passage that is rated at 700-800 or will it pick up a random passage and then ask only questions in 700-800 level ? In other words, does the GMAT question pool contain passages rated at varying difficulty or are there questions of varying difficulty for every passage?

How about OG 11? I understand that the questions are ordered according to increasing difficulty. Does it mean that the passages in the beginning are easier than the ones at the end? Or does it mean that every passage has questions arranged according to increasing difficulty?

Best regards
Arkitect
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by VP_Jim » Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:28 am
The questions in RC are done by passage, so if you're in the 700 range you'll get a 700-rated passage with its set of questions. Within each passage, the questions are NOT computer adaptive, so you'll get the same 3-5 questions regardless of whether you're getting the right or wrong.

The OG works the same. The passages are in order, not the questions within each passage.

Hope this helps!
Jim S. | GMAT Instructor | Veritas Prep

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by arkitect » Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:51 pm
Hi Jim

Thanks for your reply. I was expecting the opposite mainly because of two reasons: firstly because MGMAT CATs have different ratings for each question in an RC passage, and secondly because OG11 RC passages have more questions (6 to 7) than the ones on actual GMAT (3 to 4).

I am just trying to see if it's worth doing all RC passages or concentrating on the ones which are of my difficulty level. Thanks for the help!

Best regards
Arkitect