How to Tackle Every Single GMAT Problem (Seriously!) - Part 6
In previous weeks, weve used the GRW process to tackle PS, DS, SC, and CR, bringing us to RC. Whats the GRW process, you ask?
If you havent read the previous installments, start with part 1 and work your way back up to this article.
Heres the process:
You have a couple of crucial steps to take before you get to the stage of actually going through the answer choices. First, you need to Understand whats actually in front of you (row 1). Next, you need to Plan how to get yourself through the problem as efficiently and effectively as possible. Then, you can finally work your way through the verbal answer choices.
Dont skip the first two steps / rows! Thats exactly how people get themselves into a situation in which they spend way too much time and dont even realize it (and probably get the question wrong anyway).
I chose an RC passage that we first looked at many moons ago; its from the free GMATPrep tests. Give yourself up to about 2 minutes to read the passage (its a shorter one) and up to about 1.5 minutes to answer the associated question.
*In its 1903 decision in the case of Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, the United States Supreme Court rejected the efforts of three Native American tribes to prevent the opening of tribal lands to non-Indian settlement without tribal consent. In its study of the Lone Wolf case, Blue Clark properly emphasizes the Courts assertion of a virtually unlimited unilateral power of Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) over Native American affairs. But he fails to note the decisions more far-reaching impact: shortly after Lone Wolf, the federal government totally abandoned negotiation and execution of formal written agreements with Indian tribes as a prerequisite for the implementation of federal Indian policy. Many commentators believe that this change had already occurred in 1871 whenfollowing a dispute between the House and the Senate over which chamber should enjoy primacy in Indian affairsCongress abolished the making of treaties with Native American tribes. But in reality the federal government continued to negotiate formal tribal agreements past the turn of the century, treating these documents not as treaties with sovereign nations requiring ratification by the Senate but simply as legislation to be passed by both houses of Congress. The Lone Wolf decision ended this era of formal negotiation and finally did away with what had increasingly become the empty formality of obtaining tribal consent.*According to the passage, which of the following was true of relations between the federal government and Native American tribes?
(A) Some Native American tribes approved of the congressional action of 1871 because it simplified their dealings with the federal government.
(B) Some Native American tribes were more eager to negotiate treaties with the United States after the Lone Wolf decision.
(C) Prior to the Lone Wolf decision, the Supreme Court was reluctant to hear cases involving agreements negotiated between Congress and Native American tribes.
(D) Prior to 1871, the federal government sometimes negotiated treaties with Native American tribes.
(E) Following 1871, the House exercised more power than did the Senate in the governments dealings with Native American tribes."
Got your answer?
Im not going to re-discuss how to read the passage here; for that discussion, heres the original installment (with another problem, if you want to try that one too!). Today, were going to concentrate just on the problem.
Okay, do you have any ideas for how were going to do the first set of steps on RC?
The process for RC is pretty similar to what we discussed for CR. RC also has its own 4-step process, discussed in our RC Strategy Guide:
Step 1: Identify the Question
Step 2: Find the Support
Step 3: Predict an Answer
Step 4: Eliminate and Find a Match
As with CRs 4-step process, RCs 4 steps fit right into the GRW model.
Where do you start? With the question stem! (Note: this is after youve read the passage for most questions. You can preview the first RC question if you want, but the other questions will only be revealed to you after youve read the passage and answered the first one.)
Glance at the stem to figure out what kind of question you have. There are certain language clues that point you towards certain question types. In this case, according to the passage signals that this is a specific detail question.
Note one more thing in this glance: the question stem does contain information about the passage. This information is going to tell you where you need to go in the passage in order to answer the question. Go ahead and Read the question in full, jotting down anything you think is important.
Id probably write down SD (for specific detail). Id also probably write down something like feds vs. tribes, just to solidify my focus in my mind.
Now what? Do not go to the answer choices yet. You still have the whole second row before you can get to the Work!
Figure out where you need to go in the passage to learn more about relations between the feds and the tribes. Re-read that info and Reflect. Predict, in your own words, what the answer should say in order to address the question.
Where did you look for this text?
The early part of the passage talks about the Supreme Court. This isnt the same thing as the federal government; scan for those exact words.
Bingo!
"But he fails to note the decisions more far-reaching impact: shortly after Lone Wolf, the federal government totally abandoned negotiation and execution of formal written agreements with Indian tribes as a prerequisite for the implementation of federal Indian policy. Many commentators believe that this change had already occurred in 1871 whenfollowing a dispute between the House and the Senate over which chamber should enjoy primacy in Indian affairsCongress abolished the making of treaties with Native American tribes. But in reality the federal government continued to negotiate formal tribal agreements past the turn of the century, ..."
In your own words, what is true of the relations between the feds and the tribes?
The feds used to negotiate treaties with the tribes. They did so formally up until 1871. Then Congress abolished treaties but, in reality, the feds continued to negotiate with tribes. They didnt totally abandon this until after Lone Wolf in 1903.
Got that straight? Time to Work on those answer choices.
(A) Some Native American tribes approved of the congressional action of 1871 because it simplified their dealings with the federal government.
What we just read doesnt indicate how any tribes felt about any of this stuff. And I remember thinking, while I read the whole passage, that the tribes were treated pretty badly. I doubt they were happy about being cut off. This one doesnt fit the overall story.
(B) Some Native American tribes were more eager to negotiate treaties with the United States after the Lone Wolf decision.
The passage still doesnt indicate what the tribes thought or wanted or did. And the passage says that, after Lone Wolf, the feds stopped negotiating treaties at all.
(C) Prior to the Lone Wolf decision, the Supreme Court was reluctant to hear cases involving agreements negotiated between Congress and Native American tribes.
Hmm. The part I just re-read didnt say anything about that. But maybe its someplace else in the passage; the earlier portion does talk about the Supreme Court. Ill leave this one in unless I find something better.
(D) Prior to 1871, the federal government sometimes negotiated treaties with Native American tribes.
This is it! This is pretty much what I said: up until 1871, they negotiated treaties formally.
(E) Following 1871, the House exercised more power than did the Senate in the governments dealings with Native American tribes.
The passage briefly mentions the House and the Senate, but it says only that the two groups argued about who should have more power. It never says how the dispute was resolved.
The correct answer is (D).
Key Takeaways for Every RC Problem You Will Ever Do:
(1) On RC problems, your first Glance is at the question stem: what kind of RC question is it? In this case, the language according to the passage signals a Specific Detail question, so you know that you are going to need to find some specific detail in the passage, understand it, and then basically spit the detail back in the form of an answer.
(2) Next, re-Read the relevant passage text. Then Reflect on the information and try to predict your own answer to the question.
(3) Got through all that? Okay, now you can Work your way through the answer choices, eliminating as you go. If any one of the earlier steps fails (cant identify the question type? cant find the relevant text? cant predict your own answer?), then you know that this is a harder questionmaybe too hard. You might guess immediately and randomly or you might narrow down the answers based on things that dont seem to fit the overall story (like answer A and, to a lesser extent, answer B).
* * GMATPrep questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.