A key difference between answering GMAT Focus quant questions and answering GMAT Focus verbal questions that you should take into account when practicing for verbal is the following. Whereas it’s generally pretty clear when you’ve completed a quant question, you can sort of decide at any time that you’ve completed a verbal question.
For example, if to answer a quant question, you have to find the rate of cyclist A, you know that you haven’t completed the question until you have found that rate. On the other hand, if you’re answering a Critical Reasoning question, you can decide that you’ve completed it at various points, such as when you see a choice that looks like what you expected to see, when you’ve eliminated most of the choices and guessed between the last two, or when you’ve fully analyzed all five choices and used solid logic to determine with virtual certainty which choice is the correct answer.
So, here’s the thing. Since there’s no defining moment in answering a verbal question when you finally arrive at an answer the way there is in answering a quant question, you have to learn to be aware of when you’ve completed the question without such a defining moment. So, how do you know you’ve completed the question? You’ve completed a verbal question when you have used solid logic to determine with virtual certainty which choice is the correct answer. So, to know whether you have completed a verbal practice question, you have to learn to be aware of whether you have solidly supported your answer.
Similarly, simply seeing that the wording of a Reading Comprehension answer choice resembles wording in the passage is not a solid reason for choosing that choice. Noticing that some choices say extreme things or include certain words that incorrect choices often include is not a solid reason for choosing a choice either. On the other hand, if you’ve found a choice that is well supported by the passage and eliminated all the other choices for clear reasons that you could explain to anyone, then you’ve solidly supported your answer and completed that RC question.
The bottom line here is that, if you learn to be aware of whether you’ve solidly supported your answer and work on each verbal practice question until you achieve that solid support and truly complete the question, you’ll develop strong skills and consistently get GMAT Focus verbal questions correct.
Warmest regards,
Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep
