Tricks to speed up my answers in CR questions

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Arsene Lupin: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 78; Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 8:44 am; Thanked: 3 times; GMAT Score:690

by Arsene Lupin » Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:29 am

I studied for a while on CR questions, and I think I reached a level where I can almost get 100% correct answers if I'm not bound with time. However, that percentage drops to ~70% if I time myself with 2 minutes budget to every question. (A session of 10 questions in 20 minutes for example)

So I'm looking for ways to speed up my answering process, without this big drop in correct answers.

Here are my tricks so far as an initial contribution to the thread:

- Reverse the possible answer in an Assumption question. If it destroys the argument, choose it and move on.. you don't need to read the rest of the answers.
- Read the shortest answers first instead of reading them sequentially from A to E. Seems faster in average to spot the correct answer and then ignore reading the long hideous answers.

Are there any tricks for strengthening and weakening questions like the assumption one? I found that tip in these forums and it is working like magic.

Thanks in advance guys.

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:29 am

mbadrew: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 198; Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:16 am; Location: San Francisco; Thanked: 14 times

by mbadrew » Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:13 am

Please elaborate on how to reverse the assumption questions. Provide examples if you have any. CR is my weakness and I need to find ways to bust the time issue as well.

thanks
Andrew

Arsene Lupin: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 78; Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 8:44 am; Thanked: 3 times; GMAT Score:690

by Arsene Lupin » Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:36 am

I remember a simple question to explain this idea that goes like this:

Argument: I had a headache yesterday, and I was wearing a blue shirt. So, the blue shirt must be the reason behind my headache.

Question: The argument is based on which of the following assumptions:

A- Blue shirts are ugly.
B- There is a relation between blue shirts and having a headache.
C- People should not wear blue shirts
D- .... can't think of more choices

Anyway, the correct answer would be "B" of course. How do you make sure? Try reversing the statement:
"There is NO relation between blue shirts and having a headache".
If there is no relation, then the blue shirt can't be the reason behind your headache. So, the conclusion would be wrong. Therefor, you can be certain that this is the correct choice.

So if you ever suspect one choice, reverse the statement in it. If it kills the conclusion in the argument, pick this choice and move on.

Try it in other questions and see if it works or not. If it didn't, post the question here so we can discuss it.

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