Bhumika what do u mean by too broad?
Do u mean 'out of scope'?
Guys beware, this post is gonna be long!!
I generally advice people this for must be true questions.
stick to the stimulus. dont make any further assumptions than what is in the purview of the stimulus.
Then look for the following errors in the answer choices [these types are bound to appear in the answer choices. you will start realizing how often they appear, if you start practicing must be true questions with this technique.]
1. New topic:
stimulus talks about biology
Answer choice- talks about rocket science.
you sure know that this is beyond the scope of the stimulus. i have told a very simple example. But in the 700+ questions you will notice how subtly the test takers incorporate a new topic in the answer choice. They mask it so well that an untrained eye would think the choice lies within the scope of the stimulus, but it does not! thats why i say just believe what the stimulus tells. dont make any assumptions/ personal opinion/ get real world views of the stimulus.
Here is a nice example of how the test takers would subtlely place the new topic in 700+ questions.
Stimulus:The similarity between ichthyosaurs and fish is an example of convergence, a process by which different classes of organisms adapt to the same environment by independently developing one or more similar external body features. Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles and thus do not belong to the same class of organisms as fish. However, ichthyosaurs adapted to their marine environment by converging on external body features similar to those of fish. Most strikingly, ichthyosaurs, like fish, had fins.
Answer choice- The members of a single class of organisms that inhabit the same environment must be identical in all their external body features. New topic (passage talks about similarity between 2 different classes)
Are u guys getting a hang of this New topic error?
2. Sub set - super set error.
stimulus- all schools in delhi need to revamp their infrastructure
Answer choice- schools in India need to revamp their infrastructure.
you see that the stimulus talks about only Delhi schools but the answer choice generalizes it to schools in India. This is a major flaw. This flaw appears in flaw in the reasoning questions also!
3. Negation error
Stimulus- All animals exposed to sunlight suffer skin cancer.
Answer choice- All animals that are not exposed to sunlight do not suffer from skin cancer.
This is another major flaw that students miss. we only know data about what happens to animals that are exposed to sunlight. we do not have information about what happens to those animals that are not exposed to sunlight. they may/ may not suffer cancer. we do not have data to comment on that statement. Beware of this error. This error is subtle, therefore easy to miss.
4. Probability indicator error.
be cautious when ever you see words that indicate probability.
examples- All, some, many, most etc.
Stimulus- some students in college drink coffee
Answer choice- most students drink coffee
'some' means atleast 1 and 'most' means more than half. when i say some students drink coffee, i can also mean one student drinks coffee or 2 students drink coffee.
But using 'most' in this case is wrong since the stimulus does not necessarily mean more than half.
whenever you see probability indicators, convert the words into simple statements and see if they work, like i have done to show you an example. If the conversion is correct then go ahead, else mark it off straight away.
5. Comparison indicator error.
case i)
Stimulus- X is better than Y
Answer choice- Z is better than Y
now where did this Z land from? we have no data about Z to compare it with the data of X and Y. eliminate such comparisons straight away.
case ii)
Stimulus- X is compared to a property p
Y is compared to another property q
Answer choice- X is better than Y
Here you see the stimulus does not make any comparison between X and Y. X is independently compared to another property p, therefore we cannot make any comparison between 2 elements X and Y.
I always caution students when ever they see a comparison indicator in the answer choice of Must be true questions. Check if the comparison made in the answer choice is actually stated in the stimulus. dont infer or assume anything. just see if it is stated or compared in the stimulus outright. if the comparison occurs when you infer, then it is a wrong choice in Must be true questions.
Phew guys! now with these powerful techniques you guys are all set to attack must be true questions.
Hope this helps!!!
