CR

Question 1

Evidence or premises are facts that support the conclusion and are used to build the argument. They will all be statements of fact. Statements of facts are NEVER opinions.

Answer 1

Never argue with the evidence. If it is presented as a fact, it must be considered a fact.
You can argue with opinions
Argument = premise + assumption + conclusion.

Question 2

Background info is used to ‘get us up to speed’ on anything we need to know to effectively understand the argument.

Conclusion is an opinion.

Answer 2

Background Info + Evidence + Assumption = Conclusion

Assumption is an unstated piece of info that must be true if the logic of the argument is to work. It connects the evidence to the conclusion.

Question 3

A few : NOT MANY BUT MORE THAN 1
Several : THREE OR MORE but not many
Some : MORE THAN ONE, but possibly all
Many : a version of some but NOT NECESSARILY most
Most : more than 50%
Majority = vast majority : more than 50 %
Minority : less than 50%
Solely : only
Exclusively : only
Uniquely : connected to only one person or thing
Always : all

Answer 3

Many correct answers to CR questions bring in new info that is different from anything said in the passage.

Underscore : to make evident : emphasize, stress

Question 4

In a recent medical study, all of the study participants who had abused alcohol in the past 5 years were found to be suffering with depression. Thus, it must be the case that abusing alcohol causes depression.

Answer 4

Arguments of this kind have the following possibilities :

1) The author is indeed correct, alcohol abuse causes depression
2) The cause effect relationship is in fact reversed, the depression caused the alcohol abuse in the first place
3) A third factor caused both conditions. For eg : drug abuse
4) The conditions developed independently.

Question 5

ALL THE POINTS BELOW ARE VVVVV IMPORTANT.

In an Assumption question, DO NOT pick an answer that weakens the argument.
DO NOT pick an answer that strengthens the argument.
DO NOT pick an answer that add an explanation.
DO NOT pick an answer that adds nothing/no info to the argument.
DO NOT pick an answer that is a conclusion supported by what is said in the passage.

You can get quick eliminations this way, eliminate if it: strengthens, adds explanation to some part of the argument or to the whole of it, adds no info, weakens, provides alternate/better plan, IS A CONCLUSION, supports some other conclusion.

The question stem can be in any order. It can start with the conclusion and then go to the premise etc.

Answer 5

Eg : There is often heavy traffic in EE Highway, the number of vehicles present on the highway during peak hours is less than it’s congestion free capacity. Most of the traffic congestion occurs around the toll stations. Therefore, removal of toll stations would solve the traffic congestion problem of EE Highway.

Incorrect : The congestion around toll collection stations is caused by cars entering EE Highway via entrance ramps near the stations rather than by the stations themselves.

The above is not an assumption, it is a weakener.

Question 6

Fish that swim in water containing PCBs, which are chemicals toxic to many lifeforms, absorb PCBs via their gills. Having entered fish’s systems, PCBs can build up in the fatty tissues of fish that swim in such water. Thus, if PCBs are present in a fish’s fatty tissues, it must be the case that that fish has inhabited water containing PCBs.

Which of the following is NOT an assumption upon which the argument depends :

1) Plants that fish consume do not absorb PCBs from the soil in which they grow
2) Fish in which PCBs have built up in fatty tissues do not represent only a small proportion of fish that have inhabited water containing PCBs.

Answer 6

2) is not an assumption
TRICKY
If it were the case that fish in which PCBs have built up in fatty tissues DO represent only a small proportion of fish that have inhabited water containing PCBs, then an absence of PCBs in a fish’s fatty tissues would NOT reliably indicate that that fish has NOT inhabited water containing PCBs.
However, even in such a case, the presence of PCBs in a fish’s fatty tissues could indicate that that fish has inhabited water containing PCBs.

Question 7

If, when we negate an answer choice, the negated version of that answer choice severely weakens the argument/the argument falls apart, then that choice must have been an assumption necessary for the argument to work.

However, if you negate and it weakens the argument, that ALONE is not sufficient to make it an assumption. There are options which when negated weaken the argument yet are not the correct answer.

Answer 7

If we negate a potential assumption and the argument is no worse for the wear/unaffected, then that potential assumption must NOT have been necessary.

BOTTOM LINE : You can use negation for quick eliminations but to choose final answer, you might need more.

How to negate :

• negate the main verb. causes -> does not cause
• negate a quantity work. all -> not all
• get rid of a ‘not’. not required -> required
• put ‘it is not the case that’ before the statement.

Question 8

Concluding that a plan will work does NOT require assuming that there is not a better or alternative plan. A plan does not have to be the best possible plan or only possible plan in order for it to work.

Answer 8

Very important :
An argument that concludes that a plan will work does not depend on the assumption that there is NOT another plan that would work even better.

This is nuance to this. It does not depend on the assumption that there is NOT another plan that would work even better/as well.
HOWEVER, if the argument says something along the lines of ‘this is the only way’ or ‘something MUST be done to achieve something and there is no other way’ or ‘something is the best way to do something’, then the assumption that some other plan will NOT work is required as an assumption.

Question 9

Pick the assumption :
CEO of Starbucks sees that baristas are chatting with customers rather than working for around 8% of their time. Hence, they can increase profitability by reducing labor costs by staffing shops with up to 8 percent fewer people.

1) Most people who patronize coffee shops do not cite social relationships that they have with the staff as key reasons for choosing a particular shop
2) Understaffing of Starbucks would not at times result in customers’ waiting in excessively long lines

Answer 9

1) is correct
2) Reducing by 8% need not lead to UNDERSTAFFING which is a quite extreme situation. CEO believes that UPTO 8% reduction will lead to a more equitable level of staffing.

Question 10

Weaken the argument questions :
Never try to weaken an argument by attacking the premises/evidence upon which the conclusion rests. Don’t attack the background info either.
The correct answer to a Weaken the Argument question will show that the conclusion does NOT necessarily follow from the premises, even though the premises are taken to be true.
We do this by attacking the ASSUMPTIONS.

Answer 10

VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT : To weaken an argument, all we must do is cast a reasonable amount of doubt that the argument is sound. We need NOT destroy the argument. We can subtly cast doubt as well.

You can’t weaken an argument by attacking the premise. Any option that does that is wrong.

Eg : An ice rink makes money from admissions and food and drinks during it’s daytime and evening sessions. Most people do not buy food during the daytime sessions. Hence, the rink has decided to only sell drinks during daytime sessions.

Option : Sometimes when people buy drinks, they decide to buy food as well.

This option attacks the premise that most people do not buy food during the day hence this cannot be a correct option.

Question 11

Weakening Answer Type : Exposes a False dichotomy by offering a third alternative
A false dichotomy occurs when an argument assumes that, just because one conclusion is impossible, another conclusion must be true i.e. when an author incorrectly limits the number of possible conclusions to two.

Answer 11

Weakening answer type : Exposes that correlation does not mean causation or exposes the cause and effect claim.
There can be alternate reasons for the existence of correlation/cause and effect claim :
1) A causal relationship exists but is the reverse of what is stated in the argument (X causes Y rather than Y causes X)
2) A third factor causes both the given factors in the argument, but there is no cause and effect relationship between the two variables (Z causes both X and Y)
3) The correlation could be a mere coincidence, and there is no cause and effect relationship between the variables.

Question 12

Weakening Answer Type : Exposes that the sample selected to make a generalization is not a representative sample.

Answer 12

The results of the studies that indicate x did not all show it with the same statistical significance.
‘not same’ doesn’t mean more or less, it can be very close to each other as well.
In other settings, not same need not mean very different, it can be slightly different as well.

While X and Y descended from common ancestors, they have evolved separately for thousands of years.
Just because they have evolved separately doesn’t mean they have evolved away, they can still be similar. DONT ASSUME STUFF

Question 13

Weakening Answer Type : Can weaken by indicating that the items in a comparison are different in key ways, hence the comparison is faulty.

Answer 13

Percentages don’t tell you about the magnitude often unless you know the underlying quantities.
This year, A’s salary went up by 50 % while B’s went down by 15%, we can’t comment on who makes more until we know their actual salaries.

Question 14

A frameshift answer choice to a weaken question casts doubt on a conclusion other than the conclusion of the argument, and it may mislead us into believing that the two conclusions are the same. Don’t fall for such a trick.

Answer 14

In context of weakening the argument questions, there can be choices that say something valid and pertinent to what the passage discusses YET not affect the argument.

Eg : Several commonly used pesticides have been linked to increased incidence of cancer in exposed people. By banning the pesticides and switching to organic farming, we can make food safer to eat.

Incorrect but valid choice : Because organically farmed food is more costly than food grown via the use of pesticides, many people would prefer to be able to choose which to buy.

Question 15

in context of weakening the argument questions, DO NOT select answer choices that appear to undermine the premises of the argument. PREMISES ARE FACTUAL AND INVIOLATE.
Undermining opinions is fine.

Answer 15

VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT : To weaken an argument, all we must do is cast a reasonable amount of doubt that the argument is sound. We need NOT destroy the argument. We can subtly cast doubt as well. Many of the higher difficulty question will just cast doubt and not outright destroy.

Example :
Question : Global warming is caused by increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide which comes from use of fossil fuels. Olivine rock which can be mined in large quantities when powdered and added to ocean water can absorb carbon dioxide in large quantities. Therefore, adding powdered Olivine rock to the oceans is an effective approach to combating global warming.

Answer : The process of mining and powdering of rock currently requires extensive use of heavy machinery powered by fossil fuels.

Is it possible that even though the mining/powdering process uses fossil fuels which will emit CO2, after adding the olivine to ocean, we still have a net reduction of CO2 -> Yes, it’s possible but like we said, we don’t need to destroy, we just need to cast a doubt that it might not be effective at combating global warming since there’s a possibility that there might be a net increase too. We just need to ‘weaken’.

Question 16

Be careful when sentences contain ‘some’, ‘some’ or even ‘many’ would not contradict/weaken a statement about the average of something. By the nature of ‘average’ there will always be a group greater than and a group less than.

Eg : Goji berry increases the average lifespan of Indians by 100 years.
Does not weaken : Some people live up to the age of Goji berry eating Indian without ever having eaten goji berries.
Does not weaken : Many people live up to the age of Goji berry eating Indian without ever having eaten goji berries.
Many can be 4 people and they are being compared with the average lifespan of 1 billion Indians so it’s pretty impact-less. As long as it’s insignificant compared to 1 billion, the argument is not weakened.

Answer 16

‘Indians are rich’ doesn’t NECESSARILY mean ‘all Indians are rich’, it can mean ‘Indians on the whole i.e. as an a group of people are rich’. Use context and meaning to decide.

Just because people spend more time on X rather than Y doesn’t mean X is more effective, it can be that people spend more time on X but pay more attention while doing Y.

Question 17

Pay close attention when percentages are given in the question and/or the option choices. They can mingle to strengthen/weaken.

Eg : Air conditioners consume a lot of electricity and each summer, the power generation systems at Bhilai are strained. Fortunately, recent innovations have led to the design of air conditioners that use 30% less power per unit of air cooler than any other air conditioner. Hence, once these are available, the strain on Bhilai’s power generation systems will be relieved.

Correct Answer : Most people at Bhilai do not use ACs since the monthly cost to power them in about 20% more than what they’re willing to spend.

Answer 17

At first the correct answer seems useless but observe that if the ACs reduce power consumption by 30% and currently most people do not use ACs since the monthly cost to power one is 20% then the new ACs will lead to a net reduction in their costs : 120*70 = 8400
Hence, most people will be able to afford ACs further increasing the power requirement and strain.

Question 18

Common ways to strengthen an argument :

1) Provide a premise to support or add support to the conclusion [You add support to the conclusion, not a premise. You can just add a premise. Reinforcing an already established premise is useless]
2) Explicitly state an assumption upon which the argument depends.
3) Address an issue that could affect the validity of the conclusion
4) Rule out an alternative cause of an effect
5) Confirm a conclusion by changing ,adding or eliminating a variable.

What does NOT STRENGTHEN :

1) Options that clarify/magnify/confirm
2) Options that explain stuff

Answer 18

IMPORTANT : It is not necessary for the premise provided by the correct answer to prove that the conclusion is definitely correct. The support provided by the answer choice just has to make the conclusion more likely to be true.

Question 19

When as assumption upon which an argument relies is uncontroversial (universally accepted to be true), the presence in the argument of that unstated assumption has NO impact on the strength of the argument.

Answer 19

When an argument relies upon a controversial assumption, that assumption is a point of weakness in the argument. Since the assumption is effectively a premise in the argument , if it were false, then the conclusion would not be fully supported and the argument would not be sound.

Question 20

Even though the end product might be eco friendly, its manufacturing process might not be. This is an important point targeted in questions.
Imagine that Tesla cars are very eco friendly but the mining and processing required to make its batteries produces more greenhouse gases than the non electric cars it hopes to replace, then it’s effectively the same in terms of harm to the atmosphere.

Answer 20

When an argument uses cause and effect reasoning, by eliminating even one credible alternative cause for the observed effect, we can strengthen the support for the conclusion.
NOTE : This is only for cause and effect reasoning and you are eliminating alternative CAUSE not alternative approach.

Eg : If bats are exposed to noise at levels greater than 50 db, they are unable to navigate to feed themselves. Hence, they starve to death. Over the past year, there has been a 75 percent increase in the number of dead bats found within a 2 km radius of JPMT. Therefore, it is likely that there has been noise above 50 db near JPMT.

Correct answer : When many of the dead bats were tested for the presence of pathogens associated with diseases that kill bats, only 2% tested positive.

Since, the answer rules out what could be a very plausible alternative cause for the bats’ deaths, it has strengthened the argument.

Question 21

IMPORTANT : Some incorrect answers to Strengthen questions are incorrect because their only function is to seem to confirm/magnify/clarify the validity of the premises. Since the premises are already considered facts, these answers are waste and incorrect.

Answer 21

Eg : Premise : Around 65 mil years ago, a giant asteroid wiped out majority of the species. The asteroid released a large amount of soot into the atmosphere causing mass extinctions.
Incorrect answer : The giant asteroid wiped out 75 percent of the species.
This just clarifies that it was indeed a majority that was wiped out which DOES NOT STRENGTHEN.

Eg : The ancient Mayan city of Tikal collapsed suddenly. The residents of Tikal to maintain the city cleared 2/3rd of the forests in the area. It is hypothesized that Tikal collapsed because of the drought caused by the forest clearing.

Incorrect answer : Clearing of forests to make way for city development was a common practice for Mayans
Incorrect : In order to sustain their lifestyle, residents of Tikal would have to fell majority of the trees in the Tikal area.

We know that 2/3rd of the forests were fell, the above answers just add more info which is useless from a strengthening POV

Question 22

Don’t get tricked into choosing a choice that explains part of the passage rather than supports the conclusion of the argument.
THESE OPTIONS ARE VERY TRICKY, DON’T FALL FOR IT.

Answer 22

Eg :
Crime in Mumbai has decreased over the last 40 years, this might partly be because of the reduction of lead in the air and water which would otherwise affect cognitive functioning on entering the human body.

Incorrect : The adding of lead to gasoline for automobiles in Mumbai has been phased out over the past 4 decades.
EXPLAINS WHY LEAD IN THE AIR HAS REDUCED. BUT WE ALREADY KNOW IT HAS REDUCED SINCE IT IS GIVEN IN THE STEM. THIS IS USELESS.
Incorrect : Lead in water can be absorbed in the stomach if water with lead is consumed.
EXPLAINS HOW LEAD ENTERS THE HUMAN BODY, BUT WE ALREADY KNOW IT DOES

Correct : In Maha cities where most water is still transported using lead pipes, crime rates haven’t changed over the last 40 years.

Question 23

In questions like ‘all of the following strengthen the argument EXCEPT’, the correct answer NEED NOT weaken the argument. It just needs to not strengthen which could also mean ‘not have any effect on the argument’.

Answer 23

When you’re talking about the effectiveness of something, the likelihood of it DOES NOT matter.

Fluenzy : Our spanish course is best. Our students scored on average 87 points more than other coaching class students. Hence, using Fluenzy is the best way to master Spanish.

Incorrect : Spanish teachers feel that Fluenzy grads tend to speak near perfect Spanish and demonstrate deep mastery of Spanish language.

Even if every expert feels Fluezy grads are very skilled at Spanish, this fact WOULD NOT strengthen the argument that Fluenzy in particular was the cause of those skills. It could be the motivation of the students who could be using supplements to learn that was the deciding factor

Question 24

Resolve the paradox :
The correct answer will present additional info that reconciles two seemingly incompatible statements, showing how they can exist together harmoniously.

Learn to recognize the keywords that indicate a contrast between the two seemingly contradictory facts.

Answer 24

For resolving the paradox questions, the most crucial step (just like identifying the conclusion) is identifying what you have to explain.

One thing that helps is observing which direction the correct answer has to explain. Does it have to explain an increase/decrease/sideways movement?

Question 25

Something that was true all along would not explain any increase or decrease in some other thing. Much = some but not all Much =/= All has not increased = stayed same OR decreased ('stayed same' as an additional possibility is important to note) If there are two counteracting forces in an answer choice, it’s possible that it answers a paradox regarding why something hasn’t changed

Answer 25

Knowing that X causes Y does not mean that X is necessary for Y to happen. If there is X and something on top of it that makes it better/worse than Y. Removing that ‘something’ will make it EQUAL to Y and not better/worse than Y. If we can interpret an answer choice in multiple ways, it cannot help us to explain the paradoxical situation. -> VERY VERY IMPORTANT Some options will explain both an increase and a decrease, since this takes us in multiple ways, it is WRONG.

Question 26

Resolve the paradox : Fees for parking in BKC has increases. BMC has improved public transport (lmao) by adding bus routes and by increasing the number of trains that run per hour. However, the no. of people using public transport to travel in BKC has decreased. Is this option correct/incorrect : Many people who live in BKC do not consider the cost savings they can achieve by using public transport worth the hassles of using it.

Answer 26

Incorrect. We have no reason to believe that BKC people who don't consider the cost savings from using public transportation worth the hassles didn't already have the opinion before the improvements to public transport. So, they likely weren't using it before and they're still not using it now. This would NOT explain a DECREASE. BE CAREFUL OF OPTIONS THAT STATE GENERAL TRUTHS NOT TIED TO EVENTS IN THE STEM.

Question 27

The following choices are incorrect on resolve the paradox questions : 1) Choices that explain the wrong thing 2) When the paradox involves a difference between two things but an answer choice shows how the two are similar. This is fine ONLY IF it shows that the paradox is not actually a paradox. In ALL other cases, it is incorrect. 3) Choice that makes the situation more paradoxical 4) Choice that seems to contradict one of the two facts -> This is not allowed since the facts that make are present in the stem are considered irrascible 5) Discusses the facts that make up the apparent paradox without explaining how they can coexist -> very tough to detect 4 and 5 are VV IMPORTANT.

Answer 27

Cause and effect reasoning error : 1) The fact that some event X occurred before some event Y does not necessarily indicate that event X caused event Y or event Y caused event X to alter/end. 2) The simultaneous occurrence of the two events does not necessarily indicate that one causes the other. 3) The fact that two variables show a correlation does not allow us on the basis of that fact alone to conclude that a cause effect relationship links them.

Question 28

You can weaken a cause and effect claim by : 1) Showing that the relationship is reverse of what was concluded 2) By showing that there exists an alternate cause for the effect -> Tricky, this applies even when i don't say X is the only cause of Y. Even if I say X causes Y and an alternate cause is discovered, it weakens. 3) By finding a third variable that causes both of the observed events. 4) By showing that the effect does not occur when the supposed cause occurs. 5) By showing that the effect occurs even when the supposed cause does not occur -> This applies on a case by case basis. For Example : if the argument is that a particular cause is THE cause then it will obviously be weakened by the case where the effect persists when the cause is removed.

Answer 28

Health experts : The prevalence of dementia is 1 in 3 for people aged over 85. Neurons exposed to herpes viruses in the lab have formed protein plaques of the type associated with dementia. Now it is clear that the cause of dementia is herpes virus. Weakening Option : Not all protein in the neurons of people experiencing dementia clumps into plaques. The above tricky option is a pseudo weakener, it appears to contradict the premise that dementia forms neural protein plaques similar to herpes virus plaques by trying to say that it does not form plaques for all the neural proteins. But that doesn't matter since we know from the premise that dementia does form plaques for the protein which is similar to herpes virus plaque. Further, premises are inviolate. Hence, this option is incorrect.

Question 29

You can strengthen a cause and effect claim by : 1) Ruling out alternative causes 2) Showing that when the cause is not present the effect does not occur 3) Showing that the relationship cannot be reversed.

Answer 29

Since every year DPS students score more marks in 10th board exams than KPS students, the teachers at DPS are more effective in teaching than KPS teachers. Strengthening option : Some teachers at DPS have received awards for excellence in teaching. The above DOES NOT strengthen since it is a general statement. We are talking about teachers at large at DPS being more effective than the teachers at large at KPS. The fact that some won awards does not lend weight to the above. Further, we do not know about KPS teachers' situation. It might be the case that they also won equal or even more awards than DPS teachers. Don't select ambiguous options as correct.

Question 30

Recently bee populations have been declining worldwide. Since this decline has occurred simultaneously with the increased use of neo pesticides on crops, which results in the presence of neo in crop plants' nectar and pollen which bees use, it is the use of neo pesticides that underlies the decline in bee population. Strengthen answer : The current decline in bee populations involves a greater percentage of bees than were involved in similar declines in bee populations that occurred in the past.

Answer 30

VERY VERY IMPORTANT AND TRICKY The option DOES NOT strengthen the argument. We do not know for sure if neo pesticide indeed causes bee decline since there could be some other factor which actually causes the decline which has also increased recently as compared to before which would ALSO be in line with this option.

Question 31

If, in a stem, two conclusions A and B are given and we need to support( or weaken) A over B. Then, we can do this by weakening (or supporting) B since this will strengthen (or weaken) A by making B less (or more) likely -> This comes up in difficult question and is V IMPORTANT.

Answer 31

Experiencing something and getting diagnosed with the same thing can happen at different timestamps. One can have depression from childhood and get diagnosed with it as an adult.

Question 32

When you have questions that revolve around a scientific study, be careful when checking general comments. Since, they may seem useful but not actually affect the conclusion. Eg : Ingredient X is an inactive agent used to increase the shelf life of antibacterial hand soaps. People claim that X causes rare skin infections. As evidence, numerous studies have shown that people who frequently use antibacterial hand soaps with X are significantly more likely to experience these rare skin diseases than people who do not use such hand soaps. We need to strengthen. 1) Most of the people who participated in the study cited did not wash their hands more frequently than does the average user of soaps containing X

Answer 32

VV IMPORTANT This statement may seem like it is strengthening by eliminating a possible alternative clause (over washing is causing issues and not X) but it is not. It just says that 'most' do not wash their hands more frequently, if the population not using X in the study doesn't wash hands more frequently while the group using X washes it more frequently, then over-washing can still be the cause of skin infections. If ALL the people in the study have the SAME frequency of handwashing and still people using X get issues then X still remains the cause.

Question 33

Unlike questions in other types of GMAT questions, which may not be fully supported by the facts given, the correct answer to an inference question is a conclusion that is fully supported by the facts given and thus must be true ALWAYS (and not sometimes/under some conditions) Basic guidelines for Inference questions : 1) Never bring in outside information/knowledge. Do not fall for answer options that state facts that are true but are not inferences supported by the facts in the stimulus. 2) IMPORTANT : An inference NEED NOT summarize the passage or provide a main conclusion to an argument. GIVEN AN ARGUMENT, AN INFERENCE IS SIMPLY ANY CONCLUSION THAT CAN BE PROPERLY DRAWN, IT NEED NOT BE THE MAIN CONCLUSION. 3) Do NOT seek to predict answers to inference questions. 4) Do NOT confuse assumptions with inferences. Assumption serves as a bridge between the premises and the conclusion. Inference is an unstated conclusion that must be true if the premises provided are true. 5) If a statement or condition, when negated, contradicts basic information contained in the original passage, then this statement MUST BE important (important, need not be the answer always)

Answer 33

In Inference questions, look out for answers that present info from the original argument in a distorted fashion. It only takes a small change to render incorrect an otherwise correct answer. The correct answer will sometimes use different words to discuss the same ideas while trap answers will use the same words to discuss ideas that are different from those in the stimulus. Hence, don't word match. Tricky : We must be careful to not select answers that are out of proportion with the information presented in the stimulus. Progression of words : Some -> many -> most -> All Never -> Seldom -> rarely -> sometimes -> often Eg : 'not guaranteed' means a probability of less than 100% while 'unlikely' means a probability of less than 50% Change in TENSE can also make an answer out of proportion to the stimulus. Inference questions may include incorrect answer choices that say things that are true in the real world but are not supported by the statements in the stimuli. There choices are NOT correct.

Question 34

In the US, a customer has to pay sales tax to a state only when goods purchased are purchased from a retailer with a physical presence in the state in which the customer is located. Since many online purchases are made by customers in one state from retailers with physical locations only in other states, in many cases, customers do not pay sales tax on online purchases. Pick the inference : 1) It is possible that an online retailer located in the US would never have to charge sales tax on any purchases made from it. 2) Customers usually make online purchases from retailers without physical locations in the states in which the customers are located.

Answer 34

TRICKY 1) Is correct. If ALL the customers are from a state without the online retailer's physical presence, then no sales tax needs to be paid. 2) Out of proportion. While the passage says that 'many online purchases....', 'many' could be a small percentage of all online purchases. So, the fact that 'many' online purchases... DOES NOT necessarily mean that customers USUALLY make online purchases...

Question 35

While surgery to treat cataracts restores vision clarity quickly, it is somewhat expensive. At the same time, there are relatively inexpensive holistic methods that some people who experience cataracts could use to clear their vision within a reasonable timeframe, just as effectively though not as quickly as surgery does. Nevertheless, even people experiencing cataracts who could clear their vision within a reasonable timeframe via use of holistic methods generally opt for surgery instead. Pick the inference : 1) People are more concerned about the time involved in dealing with cataracts that the expense involved. 2) More money is spent in the process of solving problems involving cataracts than necessarily has to be spent to solve them.

Answer 35

Very tricky 2) is correct. 1) makes an assertion about people's concerns because the passage defines only what people choose not what motivates them. For all we know, PEOPLE ARE NOT EVEN CONSIDERING THESE FACTORS WHEN GOING FOR SURGERY. IT COULD ALSO BE ABOUT THE EASE OF ACCESS TO THESE HOLISTIC METHODS. IMPORTANT AND USEFUL CONSIDERATION : PEOPLE MIGHT NOT EVEN BE AWARE OF THE EXISTENCE OF HOLISTIC METHODS HENCE THEY ARE NOT OPTING FOR THEM. WE ARE JUST TALKING ABOUT CHOICES NOT THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THEM.

Question 36

Correct answers to inference questions can be : 1) Drawn from the entire passage by using it's entirety to conclude something. 2) Drawn from a small portion of the passage.

Answer 36

If margin on product A is 10% and that on B is 20% and the average margin has increased this year over the last, then it NEED NOT BE that B sold more this year compared to A in absolute numbers than last year, all we need is that the RATIO of B to A was greater this year than that of last year. There are multiple ways in which the average margin can increase without the raw numbers of B increasing : 1) Sales of B stays same and sales of A decrease 2) Sales of both decreased but sales of A decreased more

Question 37

Lets say we have a sample size of y doing activity x and the average is z. If we know that the average has increased, we cannot be sure than majority of y are doing more of x leading to the increased z. It can be possible that majority of y have reduced doing x but a few are doing x so much that the average is still increasing. Took a lot of time to understand this FFS

Answer 37

If the percentage change of x is same as the percentage change of y, this alone does not tell us anything about the raw numbers. The raw numbers could have stayed same (0% change for both), decreased (-ve % change for both) or increased (+ve % change for both)

Question 38

If/Then statements do not necessarily retain their validity when reversed. If it given that an increase in A causes an increase in B. That alone is not enough to comment anything about how a decrease in A will affect B. If it is given that if someone does A then it must be that he has B. This alone does NOT allow us to infer that if someone has not done A then he does not have B. Eg : It is impossible to complete TTP without developing strong BS skills. This does NOT allow us to infer that someone who hasn't completed TTP does NOT have strong BS skills. It is possible that someone who has NOT completed TTP STILL HAS BS skills.

Answer 38

IMPORTANT : Understand this to be applied in other questions of similar setting : If it is given that 'bearings in wind turbines are subject to extreme mechanical pressures that eventually cause breakdown. Proper lubrication of bearings extends the life of bearings, and the better the lubricant used, the more the lubricant extends the life of the bearings in which it is used' -> This does NOT allow us to infer that lubricant is the only factor that contributes to the breakdown of bearings. There can be numerous other factors such as location, humidity, maintenance etc. that can also affect it. Similar but slightly different example : As VO2 Max increases, so does a person's ability to produce ATP, the higher the ATP levels, the more work per unit of time that person's muscles can perform. Conclusion : If an athlete's VO2 Max is equal to the average person's, that athlete's muscles can perform no more work per unit of time than the average person's muscles can perform The above conclusion is INCORRECT. Notice that the passage does not say that a person's VO2 Max level is the ONLY FACTOR that affects how much work per unit of time that person's muscles can do. There can be other factors which affect and thus alter the amount of work done per unit time.

Question 39

In Find the Conclusion questions, an argument's conclusion must follow only from the information presented in the argument and any assumptions made by the argument. The conclusion cannot be based upon outside information that was never mentioned or implied.

Answer 39

1) One major diff between Inference and Find the Conclusion questions is that the correct answers to Inference questions have to be true given what the stimuli say, while those to Find the Conclusion questions don't NECESSARILY have to be true given what the statements say. 2) Further, Inference correct answer can pick part of the stimulus but the correct answer to the Find the Conclusion question has to capture the entire paragraph's essence and flow logically from it. 3) The correct answer to an Inference question CANNOT depend on any assumptions, because assumptions are not necessarily true and the correct answer to an Inference question must be true given what is said in the stimulus.

Question 40

IMPORTANT : How the question stem differs for Inference and Find The Conclusion : Inference stems ask you to draw from the passage and not what is supported. Inference questions are strictly worded and say things like 'which of the following can be properly drawn' Conclusion questions, rather than asking what can be inferred FROM the statements, asks what is SUPPORTED by the statements. It is comparatively mildly toned by saying 'most strongly supports', 'best supports' etc.,

Answer 40

An inference question asks us to find a choice that can be inferred FROM the statements in the passage. A Conclusion question asks us to find a choice that is supported BY the statements in the passage. The above makes the most sense and helps in demarcating. For inference, we don't have the support of conclusions and other unsaid but implied things, so it needs to be drawn FROM whatever is given. Conclusion on the other hand just needs to be well supported by the passage. Inference stem examples from TTP : 1) 'which of the following can be properly inferred/drawn/concluded on the basis of the above' 2) 'if the above are true, which of the following must also be true' 3) Conclusion stem examples from TTP : 1) which of the following is most strongly supported by the passage 2) which of the following conclusions is best supported by the information above

Question 41

Find the conclusion wrong answers : 1) Depend on outside information. 2) Some answers choices express things that may be true and logical in real life but not supported by the passage. These will always be incorrect. 3) Extend past what is actually supported by the passages 4) State conclusions that are supported by some of the info in the passage but they conflict with key details found in the passage

Answer 41

If X is necessary for Y to happen, this does NOT mean that X is sufficient for Y to happen. In other words, other things along with X might be required for Y to happen. So, if we have X but lack a few of the other things, Y might not happen. 'Does not have any effect' means in a bidirectional way i.e. it neither increases NOR DECREASES. If X can do something and Y can also do something. Then the combination of X and Y 'CAN' do something. It doesn't make it more/less likely than individual X or Y. VV IMPORTANT : If something ceases to exist or becomes constant, it is no longer correlated to another quantity. Any correlation that comes after this is due to some other relationship.

Question 42

'In the first 20 years of growth, an average acre of new rainforest will remove a total of 75 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and the biomass of an average acre of mature rainforest stores the equivalent of 109 tons of carbon dioxide' Conclusion A : 'An average acre of rainforest in which tree growth has been going on for 10 years holds around 37.5 tons of carbon dioxide' Conclusion B : 'The older a tree gets, the less carbon dioxide that tree absorbs over the course of the a year'

Answer 42

Both conclusion A and B are WRONG. The passage does not tell us that there is a linear relationship at play between age and CO2 consumption. It is possible that it is exponential in which case Conclusion A is false. Further it is possible that it increases with time until maturity in which case B would be wrong. To elaborate if every year it increases till year 20 and gets to 75, it is possible that maturity is hit at 21 years and the remaining 109-75 is consumed in a single year thus greater than all the preceding 20 years. Bottom line : Don't assume a linear relationship implicitly.

Question 43

Profit margins of a product include the cost to the company that makes and sells the product. Thus if the profit margin is x%, it is net of all costs incurred by the company.

Answer 43

In Evaluate the Argument questions, there are four forms in which answer choices can appear : 1) Questions that can be answered Yes or No 2) Questions that can be answered in two ways that are not Yes or No - In this case, pick extreme answers and use them. Eg : What proportion? One tenth/ Nine tenth How common? Very common/ Very rare How likely? Very likely/ Definitely will not happen What ratio? 1:100/100:1 How different? Completely different/exactly the same How much stronger? Much stronger/not at all stronger 3) Questions of other types -> This needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis 4) Statements rather than questions -> In this case we need to look either for a strengthener or a weakener. We won't know which one to look for however. In some cases, you might have to create two CONCLUSIONS for yourself, one if favor and one against before evaluating the options.

Question 44

In Evaluate the Argument questions, we must be looking for assumptions made in the argument. In many cases, the answer choices in Evaluate the Argument questions pose questions that can be answered in two ways, either Yes or No. In such a case, the correct answer to an Evaluate the Argument question must be a question such that, if answered Yes the argument is affected in one way (either strengthened or weakened) and if it is answered No then the argument is affected in the reverse way.

Answer 44

If the effect of the Yes/No test is unclear or unwarranted by the passage, that option cannot be the answer. EACH LEG of the Yes/No needs to have a clear effect and both legs need to have opposing effects Similarly if there is no effect of the Yes/No on the argument, that option too cannot be the answer. To find the answer to an Evaluate the Argument question that has answer choices that are statements, identify the conclusion of the argument, and then, find a choice that either weakens or strengthens the support for the conclusion. Many cyclists who ride in the the town in which protected cycling lanes have not been added have never gotten into collisions with motor vehicles -> This alone does not strengthen/weaken. The lanes could still be helpful even in many do not get into collisions by preventing the ones who do. Further even if 90% of 10000 do get into collisions, 1000 don't which is 'many' but this does indicate that the lanes do prevent collisions.

Question 45

When you're trying to evaluate whether something had an effect/result, you need two reference points, one from before and one from now or some other point to compare between. Statements about a point in time's state without any context about how it was before gives us NO USEFUL INFO. REMEMBER THIS WHEN EVALUATING OPTIONS ACROSS ALL CR QUESTIONS TYPES

Answer 45

In answering Evaluate the Argument questions, beware of incorrect choices that highlight info that is pertinent to the topics that arguments are about but does not affect the support of the arguments. To do this, it is very very important to KEEP THE CONCLUSION ALWAYS IN MIND. Beware of incorrect choices that bring up info that misses the point of the argument and affects the wrong conclusion. Basically all the pointers of strengthen/weaken apply here.

Question 46

The conclusion can sometimes be in the question stem and not the passage. Evaluate : It was found that the percentage of men who applied to B-Schools represented by those men who were admitted was much smaller than that for women. Hence, the admission process is biased against men. Possible answer : Did significantly more men than women apply to the B-Schools. The above is incorrect since if we need to make a comment on a fraction : number admitted/number applied. Saying/Knowing something about the numerator or denominator ALONE is not sufficient. It is possible that even if the number of men applied is higher, the number getting admitted is also higher.

Answer 46

In answering a logical flaw question, our job is to do one of two things : 1) Choose an answer that best describes a flaw found in the argument OR 2) Choose an answer that, if true, would weaken the flawed argument. Logical flaw questions are mostly advanced assumption questions since the flaw commonly stems from the assumption made. Even if two things are similar in MANY WAYS, they could be quite different from each other. Pure logical flaw ask us to point out a flaw in the argument as it currently stands and WITHOUT bringing in new info in the correct answer.

Question 47

Some logical flaw questions are hybrids of Weaken the Argument questions and pure Logical Flaw questions. These questions also ask us to point out a flaw in the author's argument, but they bring in new info in the correct answer, in a way quite similar to the way in which regular Weaken the Argument questions do.

Answer 47

Sometimes if you are torn between two options which are both vague and don't seem to directly mean what is required. Try to compare the jumps in logic they entail and choose the one with has smaller/lesser jumps.

Question 48

Necessary information, significant information, and sufficient information differ from each other in key ways. A necessary condition is one that has to be satisfied in order for a conclusion to be correct/outcome to occur. A sufficient condition is one that is sufficient by itself to ensure that a conclusion is correct or an outcome will occur. When an argument that requires sufficient info for arriving at its conclusion uses necessary info or significant info instead, that argument will be flawed.

Answer 48

IMPORTANT AND TRICKY TO DETECT : In order for a logical flaw answer choice to be correct, it has to have two characteristics. It has to describe something that actually goes on in the argument, and what it describes has to be a flaw in the argument. Many Logical Flaw incorrect answer choices satisfy the first criterion, as they describe things that the author or arguments actually do, but do not satisfy the second one, as what they describe are not flaws. Eg : An answer choice could say that the author fails to establish that a certain idea is correct, and it could be the case that the author does not establish that that idea is correct. At the same time, if it does not matter for the support of the argument whether that idea is correct, then the fact that the author does not establish that is correct is not a flaw in the argument. An argument can be constructed based on an observation/opinion without explaining the reasoning/mechanism driving that observation.

Question 49

The most commonly stolen model of a car is not necessarily the model of car that is most likely to be stolen. -> Remember this in other contexts as well. You can't jump from numbers to percentages. To elaborate : Let's say there are 500 Hondas stolen out of 10,000 and 100 Lambos stolen out of 1000 Even though raw number of Hondas are higher, in probability term, Lambos are higher and more likely to be stolen.

Answer 49

An argument such as 'cellular waves cause cancer' can be intact even if only 1% of the people in our sample get cancer on exposure to cellular waves. We don't necessarily need a high percentage of people to have been diagnosed with cancer for it to be true that cellular waves cause cancer. It's possible that the 99% who did not get cancer were taking anti cancer drugs.

Question 50

A complete the passage questions could ask us to do whatever the other CR questions do i.e. state an assumption, weaken the argument, strengthen the argument etc. The last sentence of the stimulus gives us cue words which appear before the blank that are excellent indicators of the type of role that the answer that fills that blank performs in the argument.

Answer 50

IMPORTANT : When answering a complete the passage question, by converting the sentence with the blank into a question, you can make the differences between the wrong answers and the correct answer more obvious. You can use 'why' or 'what' based on the cue words before the blank. 'why' works well for sentence with 'because/since/as' Always plug your chosen answer choice back into the passage to make sure that this choice makes the passage flow logically. 'Oil company profits are heavily influenced by factors such as level of economic activity and seasonal variations in temperature' -> This does not tell us ANYTHING about the direction of the movement of profits. It just tells us that the profits are affected by some things. Since this can be taken in multiple ways/directions which are all equally likely, this is an INCORRECT options due to ambiguity. A difficulty in increasing something would NOT EXPLAIN a decrease. It would explain a no change situation. -> Made a silly mistake on this FFS

Question 51

The answer to a complete the passage question must work with, and logically fit with, the passage as a whole. Any answer choice that fits only with the final sentence, and does not fit logically with the passage as a whole, will be incorrect.

Answer 51

'Some countries are in the process of passing laws capping the total quantities of fossil fuel related pollution allowed to be created annually within their borders' -> This does NOT mean that the laws are passed. This also does NOT mean that the caps have been reached.

Question 52

BE VERY CAREFUL in complete the passage questions since trap answers will go slightly off base from the direction of the passage and the conclusion to appear correct while being incorrect. IMPORTANT : Some trap answers will sound plausible or inferable given what is stated in the passages and yet these answers don't logically complete the passages. Do NOT choose such answers. (Unless the passage EXPECTS to be completed by a conclusion/inference.)

Answer 52

When a passage discusses a plan or a course of action, it is important that we do not select an answer choice that addresses a material issue that is not, however, the issue that is the focus of the passage. If an answer choice can be interpreted in multiple different ways then it has no clear direction and hence is WRONG. -> APPLIES TO ALL CR QUESTION TYPES

Question 53

In tougher questions, something that helps is matching sentiments/emotions : Eg : In general, greater the number of versions of a particular type of item a consumer is offered, the smaller are the differences between versions, and the greater is the likelihood that the consumer will be able to choose a version well suited to that particular consumer. however, because much of the satisfaction a consumer derives from choosing an items comes from the belief that the version chosen is clearly the best version for that consumer, in many cases, consumers offered greater number of versions of items ______. 1) Have difficulty choosing between versions that do not have pronounced differences between them. -> NOT SUPPORTED. THE FACT THAT SATISFACTION COMES FROM CONSUMER BELIEF... DOES NOT SUPPORT THAT THEY HAVE DIFFICULTY CHOOSING. -> THIS IS HOW MATCHING SENTIMENT (SATISFACTION =/= DIFFICULTY) HELPS. Other options : 2) Becomes so overwhelmed that they do not purchase any of the version -> WRONG, coz unsupported. 3) Are less satisfied with the choices they end up making that are consumers who are offered fewer versions with bigger differences between versions. -> CORRECT, MATCHING SENTIMENT WORKS HERE

Answer 53

Some consumers maintain that eating organically grown bananas is not much different from bananas grown with pesticides since the run off from the pesticide using farms drifts onto the organic farms. Ironically, this contamination is another reason _____ Ans : Why a label certifying that a food was grown organically never means anything The above answer is INCORRECT. First off, it is not ironic. Second, the fact that bananas are contaminated does not mean that a label certifying that a food was grown organically 'never means anything'. It might mean that such a label is suspect, but not that such a label 'never means anything'. Some (incorrect) answers that explain things described in the passage but do not actually complete the passage are tough to detect. They are INCORRECT answers.

Question 54

When solving a Method of Reasoning question, our job is to focus on how the argument is organized and analyze the argument's structure. We are not concerned with whether the argument is good/bad/valid/invalid.

Answer 54

Common question stems : 1) The argument proceeds by 2) The exchange above supports the claim that the two parties disagree about 3) The X responds to Y by doing which of the following? 4) The X uses which of the following techniques in responding to Y? 5) The method of the argument is to 6) The author develops the argument above by 7) Which of the following best describes the argument above?

Question 55

The verbs used in answers to describe the action of speakers in Two Part Method of Reasoning questions can help us arrive at correct answers. IMPORTANT : 'Rejecting' is different from 'pointing out/'suggesting' which is different from 'arguing' which is different from 'questioning'. Be sure that the argument does one before you choose it over the others.

Answer 55

IMPORTANT : Comes up in harder Method of Reasoning questions : Answering Method of Reasoning questions involves considering the structure and wording of the arguments presented. Therefore, an answer choice that presents new components/assertions/considerations cannot be correct. In MOR questions, EVERY part of an answer must be correct, otherwise it is wrong.

Question 56

Polo : The highways outside our city are congested. Hence, we need to widen the lanes to accommodate more traffic. Marco : When Austin, Texas responded to traffic congestion by widening a main highway, the availability of new lanes induced more drivers to use the highway, causing the congestion to increase. Answer : Marco refutes the conclusion by establishing that two disparate situations are analogous. Note: The above answer is INCORRECT. Marco is stating a fact, he is NOT refuting. THERE IS NO INTENT MENTIONED HERE, DON'T ASSUME INTENT. Answer : Marco uses the example of a particular case to illustrate the inadvisability of assuming that all such cases are the same. -> Polo is talking about a particular case. There is no need to assume that all cases like the one he discusses are the same. Hence, the above answer is WRONG.

Answer 56

SUPER TRICKY : Pay attention to the time frames the answers belong to. There is a difference between 'argument brings up additional evidence to show that implementing a plan is unlikely to have the desired effect' and 'argument brings up additional evidence to show that a certain possible cause did not have a certain effect'. The former is about the future and the latter is about the past. In answering MOR questions, don't fall for incorrect answers that are worded to sound much like what the arguments do but don't actually describe the methods used by the argument.

Question 57

SUPER SUPER TRICKY : Reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone area restored the area's ecosystem by restoring important relationships between animals and plants. Some ecologists theorize that similar results can be obtained by reintroducing dingoes into Australia. However, the longstanding relationship types that existed in Yellowstone are not commonly found in Australia. Hence, reintroduction of dingoes would not necessarily have the same effects as in Yellowstone. Answer : 1) The author demonstrates the effect of a factor by using a comparison of situations that include and do not include that factor. 2) The author brings up evidence that indicates that a comparison upon which a theory is based may not take into account a key difference.

Answer 57

1) is WRONG. The author DOES NOT DEMONSTRATE the effect of any factor (longstanding relationship types). The author merely mentions that the longstanding relationship types are less common in Australia. 2) CORRECT

Question 58

IMPORTANT : DON'T WORD MATCH, IF THE ARGUMENT CONTAINS A DISAGREEMENT/CHALLENGE, IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR THE CORRECT ANSWER TO INCLUDE THE WORD/SENTIMENT OF DISAGREEMENT/CHALLENGE.

Answer 58

In Boldface MOR questions, we are given stimuli that includes one or two sections that are in boldface. In answering such a question, our job is to identify the role that any section in boldface plays in the argument. A key move in boldface MOR is locating the MAIN conclusion of the argument (if present). This should serve as a reference point.

Question 59

IMPORTANT : Sometimes, a sentence has a conclusion followed by the evidence and the evidence is in boldface. In this case, the evidence only provides the EVIDENCE and is NOT THE CONCLUSION even though the boldface is a part of the sentence that has the conclusion. Hence, only look at the boldface part in isolation and NOT IN CONJUNCTION with the non boldface part of the same sentence. The above applies only to CR. In RC, read it IN CONTEXT.

Answer 59

``` Boldface Trickiness : 1) Often, in Boldface questions, main conclusions are not preceded by conclusion signaling words like 'therefore', and the conclusions are worded so as to be barely noticeable. Further, they need not appear at the end of the argument. Eg : a) 'That perception is correct' b) 'it is not' etc. ``` NOTE : Signaling words need not always indicate conclusions. 2) The portions in boldface can be worded and positioned to appear to play roles other than the roles that they play. Eg: By bolding the last sentence of the passage to make it look like a conclusion and highlight another portion to make it appear as if it supports the last sentence. 3) The arguments in Boldface questions can contain multiple conclusions and premises to support the conclusions.

Question 60

SUPER TRICKY : Find the conclusions A recent study showed a correlation between the quality of wine and the price of wine. While these results indicate that generally, a winery's improving the quality of its wine will enable that winery to increase the price that it receives per bottle, it would be wrong to conclude from the existence of this pattern that a winery will benefit financially from improving the quality of its wine. There are costs to improving wine quality such as money spend on new tech and top notch winemakers and therefore wineries that improve quality often see lower ROI than are seen by wineries that produce lower quality wine.

Answer 60

Intermediate conclusion : A winery will benefit financially from improving the quality of its wine. Main conclusion : It would be wrong to conclude from the existence of this pattern that a winery will benefit financially from improving the quality of its wine. NOTE : The intermediate conclusion is INSIDE the main conclusion. When finding conclusions, find it in conjunction with the passage to check if it's a premise/evidence or indeed a conclusion. Intermediate conclusions can support main conclusions. Generally, conclusions can support other conclusions. VVVV IMPORTANT : There is a difference between the conclusion of the argument and the belief/conclusion of someone else for example : doctors/some people/conventional wisdom

Question 61

To find analogous cases in MOR questions, make sure the direction of items match between the argument and the answer choice i.e. if increase in A in spite of decrease in B is due to C's increase in the argument. The correct answer choice will have X increase while Y decreases due to Z's increase. Further, in case of a fraction, make sure that the directions of the numerator and denominator match between the argument and the answer choice i.e. if in the argument, num remains intact and denom increases, in the correct analogous answer, the num should remain intact while the denom increases.

Answer 61

If the 'rate of change' has not changed, that DOESN'T MEAN THAT THERE IS NO CHANGE. THERE IS CHANGE AT THE USUAL RATE, ONLY THE RATE IS CONSTANT/NOT CHANGING.

Question 62

Pointers to identify main conclusions : 1) It does not support any other statements. 2) Other statements support it. Main conclusions need to be supported by at least one other statement in the passage. 3) IMPORTANT : It is not someone else's conclusion/opinion/belief.

Answer 62

Unsupported statements CANNOT be evidences. Information is not the same as a claim/opinion/assumption/belief/stance. If there are words like 'X might be wrong in their claim' etc. in the conclusion which indicate that the author is not sure of something he's talking against, then avoid firm words like 'author rejects the claim of X'. (Use this only as a tie-breaker and NOT A MAIN POINT OF ELIMINATION)

Question 63

A sentence can support MORE THAN ONE CONCLUSIONS which can occur in the same argument/passage SIMULTANEOUSLY. Eg: Tom is a stud. He pulls chicks who care about dating good looking guys. He is also good looking. The sentence 'he pulls...guys' supports both the first and last sentences which are both conclusions.

Answer 63

If a statement says when something will happen, it is NOT supporting the 'something', it is just specifying when it will take place/happen.

Question 64

While reading : 1) Focus on retention. After reading each para, try to recite a short summary of what you just read. 2) Focus on understanding. After reading each para, explain why the author wrote that para and how the para connects to the preceding text 3) Focus on the main point of the article. What was the main idea of or the driving force behind the article, as a whole. 4) Focus on the tone of the author.

Answer 64

When you summarize a para, make sure it's not too broad so as to skip key details and overgeneralize. Eg : In 1918, EH enlisted as a volunteer at the IRC to drive an ambulance. However, this stint was short lived. About one month into the assignment, he was injured by mortar fire and spent some months recovering in a Milanese hospital. Correct : EH's IRC work was short-lived because an injury required his hospitalization. Incorrect summaries : EH's life, EH's time in IRC, EH was injured in Paris. DON'T BE A PARROT AND USE THE AUTHOR'S WORDS/SENTENCES. BUT KEEP IT CONCISE, THE LONGER IT IS, THE MORE TIME YOU'RE WASTING.

Question 65

Sometimes a para talks about a general idea and then applies it to some person/thing and describes how that person/thing went about the same general idea. In this case, the summary should include ONLY THE GENERAL IDEA.

Answer 65

Primary purpose questions will not cover only a part of the passage. It will encompass the entire passage. Stems of primary purpose questions : 1) The primary purpose of this passage is to 2) The passage is primarily concerned with 3) The main purpose of the passage is to 4) The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

Question 66

Pay attention to cause and effect claims, problems and solutions and opposing viewpoints. Useful pointers : 1) Opinions mentioned by the passage are generally strongly connected to the main points of a passage, so, we can often identify main points by finding opinions. Opinion markers like 'should, CLEARLY, assert, believe etc.' also help. 2) Strong language usage also hints towards the main point of the passage. A strongly worded sentence is very very useful. Strongly worded sentences emphasize something forcefully. 3) Comparison and opinion markers are also very important. Eg : 'Ironically' etc. 4) USEFUL : Conclusion markers also help identify the primary purpose of the passage. Eg : therefore, in short, in any event, all in all, by and large. Keep an eye out for these 5) Cause and effect markers/relations are also very helpful. Examples of causation markers : caused by, resulted from, consequently. 6) Rhetorical questions also have strong connections to the primary purpose of the passage. 3) VERY USEFUL : If you're caught between two options, check how much 'area' each option covers. The option which covers more area of the passage is better ('area' as in number of lines/paras) since it better describes the jist of the passage. 4) TRICKY : Presenting a characteristic/fact is NOT the same as explaining. The former is just stating something, the latter goes deeper and elaborates. Usually you're asked to choose between two options, the first uses 'the author presents' and the second uses 'the author explains'. If the passage does have an explanation, then choose 'explains' over 'presents'.

Answer 66

VERY IMPORTANT : The feel you get after reading a passage might be different from what a conclusion marker/conclusion would indicate. It's safer to go with conclusion/comparison marker than gut feel/intuition since the answer options will include both. Incorrect answer to primary purpose questions: 1) V TRICKY : Very narrow answer choices : These are tricky because they do actually cover something mentioned in the passage but NOT ALL OF IT. BE VERY CAREFUL OF THESE ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE PROVIDED IN CONJUCTION WITH ANOTHER OPTION THAT IS MORE VAGUE BUT IS ACTUALLY THE CORRECT OPTION. 2) Something that is mentioned frequently in the passage but is not the primary purpose. IMPORTANT : Home in on main points (openers/strong language/rhetorical questions), opinions, contrasts and conclusions to avoid this type of error. 3) Uses incorrect verb. Eg : Demonstrate is NOT the same as Present. The former means 'prove' and the latter 'describe'. PROVE is NOT the same as DISCUSS/DESCRIBE. Similarly 'ARGUE' is used to put forth a strong opinion which is not the same as 'DESCRIBE'. 'EVALUATE' means 'DETERMINE THE VALUE OF'. 'QUESTION' means 'CHALLENGE/ARGUE AGAINST'. IMPORTANT : When you use the above logic, do it in CONTEXT of the choices in which they appear, because sometimes a descriptive verb can be used in an argumentative choice. Eg : 'discuss reasons why a strategy is likely to be effective' is same as 'demonstrate why a strategy is likely to be effective'. Descriptive : Discuss, present, describe, illustrate, [explain], [examine], [identify], explore, [contrast]. Argumentative : Argue, contend, [demonstrate], [suggest], advocate, [propose], support, challenge, question, refute, correct. [] : important If the author is not presenting her own opinion, prefer descriptive verbs over argumentative. 4) Go too far or just change just enough to make the answer incorrect while seeming correct (some change just a word to a word not quite synonymous) by appearing to go in the same direction as the passage/correct answer.

Question 67

IMPORTANT MARKERS : Contrast, Agreement, Opinion, Conclusion, Support, Additional Point, Look Above, Causation, Rhetorical Question, Myth, Extreme and Qualifier. Support marker : For instance, in particular etc. In this case these provide support for something that appears before or after the sentence that uses this (generally) Additional point : Furthermore, additionally, moreover etc. The second, third or other sentences that support an opinion or conclusion use these. IMPORTANT : Hence, the conclusion will be 2 or more lines up. Noting these helps a LOT in specific purpose RC questions. IMPORTANT : 1) 'Explain' is not always the same as 'support' 2) 'theory' is not the same as a 'phenomenon' 3) a discovery can be a phenomenon.

Answer 67

VV IMPORTANT : Viewpoints are just opinions of the author/people. They NEED NOT BE FRESH IDEAS. For example, 'Tomorrow, A will happen' , 'market conditions ensure that tomorrow A will not happen' are TWO VIEWPOINTS. MADE A MISTAKE ON THIS FFS Similarly, 'X will happen' and 'X will not happen' are two viewpoints. DON'T COUNT THEM AS 1 and it's not an inference or something Also, 'However, despite what Aadith thinks, market economics nearly ensure that he will struggle to buy a house in Malabar Hill' -> This is a CONCLUSION of the author and not 'market economics'.

Question 68

As we read a passage, we must always seeks to identify the author's tone.

Answer 68

When you are asked to find the purpose of a word/sentence/phrase from a passage, the purpose must describe the purpose of the word/sentence/phrase in the passage, not just the word/sentence/phrase itself.

Question 69

When trying to find info in the passage, finding dates, proper nouns or technical terms is easier than finding other things. Always be cautious when you see extreme words in answer choices. It might be a stretch answer choice. Speculation trap choices in Detail questions say something that could be true given what the passage says or is likely true in reality but is NOT explicitly stated by or mentioned by the passage.

Answer 69

Whereas the correct answer to a CR Inference question is something that 'must be true' given what the statements in the passage say, in a RC Inference question, the relationship between the passage and the correct answer is often little looser than 'must be true'. So, we look for what is 'logically supported by the passage' rather than what 'must be true' in RC inference questions. If a passage compares A and B and says that A has C. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT B DOES NOT HAVE C. Similarly, if it says that A is likely to have C, that does NOT mean that B is NOT LIKELY to have C. VV IMPORTANT :To infer a comparison, there NEEDS TO BE A COMPARISON in the passage.

Question 70

Application questions ask us to apply info from the passage in a context outside the passage.

Answer 70

In strengthen/weaken the argument RC questions, it is possible that there is no evidence for support. We still need to find ways to strengthen/weaken the argument however. Further, RC strengthen/weaken have looser rules than CR. So, don't be surprised if a correct answer doesn't fit into the mould of CR correct answers.

Question 71

If a paragraph says that people believe A, but the author believes/proves it to be B, then that does NOT mean that people believe the direct opposite of what the author believes. -> VERY SUBTLE YET IMPORTANT. MADE A MISTAKE ON THIS FFS.

Answer 71

A paragraph that provides new insight/opinion/conclusion would NOT usually be summarizing stuff. If two things are said to be CONNECTED or ENGAGED TOGETHER, that does not mean that there is a direct relation between them, they can be related inversely or in any other fashion too.

Question 72

Ricard enlists the support of cognitive science; for instance, he cites psychologist Batson's empathy-altruism hypothesis and accompanying experimental evidence that 'benefits to self are not the ultimate goal of helping; they are unintended consequences'.

Answer 72

Q : The author mentions Batson's hypothesis most probably in order to? A : Argue that people are not motivated by the anticipation of personal benefits The above is wrong, 'benefits to ....consequences' are Batson's words and NOT the AUTHOR's. Hence, the author won't 'argue that X' where X is someone else's opinion. The author never says that 'people are not motivated...benefits'

Question 73

In a similar vein, if the argument/passage presented is descriptive and states opinions of people and not argumentative, then try to avoid answers that make it seem as if the author is stating that opinion (these answers use argumentative words). If the author does not state his opinion, an answer choice should not claim that he does.

Answer 73

Eg : 'A and B propose to do C as soon as possible'. Answer choice : The opinions of A and B are presented and then a proposal is made. The above is wrong. The author does not make a proposal here, 'A and B' do. Eg 2 : 'A and B propose to do C. However, D says that is stupid since C has never worked in this situation due to E'. Answer choice : 'A proposal is presented and demonstrated to be suspect'. The above is wrong, the author does not say that it is suspect, D does. Eg 3 : "People commonly do A. But experts assert that C and D are clearly superior to A" Answer : The author advocates the use of certain methods. The above is wrong. 'experts' advocate for C and D, not the author. A descriptive tone is being used throughout. VVV IMPORTANT NOTE ON THE ABOVE : You need to be smart about applying the above. Eg : 'Although there is a convincing body of research to substantiate the view of these experts, it is necessary to discuss some caveats associated with the PNF method. PNF instructor Kit says ......' Author's opinion is 'it is necessary to discuss some caveats of PNF'. Hence, the author says that they are important. Hence, although Kit says stuff, it is ALSO RECOMMENDED BY THE AUTHOR. Further, if he had said that it is necessary to discuss them and then said that they are useless or invalid, then they are not important and not recommended.

Question 74

'consider' is a good fit when the tone of the passage is 'reviewing' something 'qualify' a statement or assertion means : make (a statement or assertion) less absolute; add reservations to. VVV IMPORTANT : Remember that inference questions in RC are not always true inferences, they can also be like conclusions i.e. the correct answers do not follow the 'must be true' logic of CR inference, they follow 'what is best supported by' logic of CR conclusion.

Answer 74

Common trick in RC but NOT IN CR : Language in the answer choice is reversed from what the passage says but the meaning matches. This is commonly coupled with a cause effect statement. Eg : Doing DS lowers the risk of damage IS THE SAME AS not doing DS increases the risk of damage It is helpful to think of the above in a cause effect setting, if A causes B as per the premise, the absence of A should prevent B from happening, all else equal.

Question 75

OG Practice CR 1) Logical flaw questions need not always attack the assumption. They can point out other things as well like 'the author fails to address the candidate’s concern about the tax burden' etc. 2) Find the conclusion can have pretty random answers, you just need to find the one which is somewhat supported and it CAN involve logical jumps. 3) Some weakening/strengthening options say forward facing stuff like 'The quotas would have to be reduced if more boats began fishing in the pond'. As long as the argument's proposed plan still works after the possible alteration (reduction of quotas), it will still hold true and strengthen/weaken. So, don't eliminate it for being future facing and hence out of scope.

Answer 75

All Not All Some None (Notice, Some does not include 0) Not All All Most Not more than half (which means half or less, 0-50) None Some Exactly X Not Exactly X (Note that the sample space is both before X, X and after X, just not X) Significant Insignificant Never Sometimes Always Not Always Everywhere Not everywhere

Question 76

Very very tricky : It has hired a staff of auditors and forestry professionals who review documentation of the wood supply of Country X's lumber mills to ensure its legal origin, make surprise visits to mills to verify documents, and certify mills as approved sources of legally obtained lumber. Remember parallelism, 'to ensure it's legal origin', 'make surprise visits to mills to verify documents' and 'certify mills as approved sources of lumber' are all EQUAL AND PARALLEL. Hence, DON'T create a cause effect claim BETWEEN them i.e. surprise visits have NO BEARING on certification unless specified. OG Q :https://gmatclub.com/forum/stockholders-have-been-critical-of-the-flyna-company-a-major-furnitur-321874.html

Answer 76

The city of Workney, in raising bus fares from $1.00 to $1.25, proposed that 18 fare tokens be sold for $20.00 to alleviate the extra burden of the fare increase on the city’s poor people. Critics suggested alternatively that 9 fare tokens be sold for $10.00, because a $20.00 outlay would be prohibitive for poor riders. The alternative proposal depends on which of the following assumptions? (A) Poor residents of Workney will continue to ride the buses in the same numbers despite the fare increase. The above is WRONG, As long as the critics' plan resolves the issue of the $20 upfront charge, it doesn't matter if the number of poor residents riding the bus remains exactly the same after the fare increase.

Question 77

Historian: Newton developed mathematical concepts and techniques that are fundamental to modern calculus. Leibniz developed closely analogous concepts and techniques. It has traditionally been thought that these discoveries were independent. Researchers have, however, recently discovered notes of Leibniz’s that discuss one of Newton’s books on mathematics. Several scholars have argued that since | the book includes a presentation of Newton’s calculus concepts and techniques |, and since the notes were written before Leibniz’s own development of calculus concepts and techniques, it is virtually certain | that the traditional view is false |. A more cautious conclusion than this is called for, however. Leibniz’s notes are limited to early sections of Newton’s book, sections that precede the ones in which Newton’s calculus concepts and techniques are presented. (A) The first is a claim that the historian rejects; the second is a position that that claim has been used to support. (B) The first is evidence that has been used to support a conclusion about which the historian expresses reservations; the second is that conclusion. (E) The first has been used in support of a position that the historian rejects; the second is a conclusion that the historian draws from that position.

Answer 77

A) WRONG, The first boldface is NOT a claim, it is evidence. NOTE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CLAIM AND AN EVIDENCE. E) WRONG. The second boldface is not a conclusion by the historian, NOTE WHO IS SAYING STUFF WHEN SOLVING B) is correct

Question 78

because water is being used faster than it can be replenished The boldface enclosed in <> is a fact/observation even though it is supported by what comes after 'because'. it is NOT a conclusion.

Answer 78

Curator: If our museum lends Venus to the Hart Institute for their show this spring, they will lend us their Rembrandt etchings for our print exhibition next fall. Having those etchings will increase attendance to the exhibition and hence increase revenue from our general admission fee. Museum Administrator: But Venus is our biggest attraction. Moreover the Hart’s show will run for twice as long as our exhibition. So on balance the number of patrons may decrease. Q : https://gmatclub.com/forum/curator-if-our-museum-lends-venus-to-the-hart-institute-for-their-sho-209088.html The point of the administrator’s response to the curator is to question (A) whether getting the Rembrandt etchings from the Hart Institute is likely to increase attendance at the print exhibition (B) whether the Hart Institute’s Rembrandt etchings will be appreciated by those patrons of the curator’s museum for whom the museum’s biggest attraction is Venus (C) whether the number of patrons attracted by the Hart Institute’s Rembrandt etchings will be larger than the number of patrons who do not come in the spring because Venus is on loan (D) whether, if Venus is lent, the museum’s revenue from general admission fees during the print exhibition will exceed its revenue from general admission fees during the Hart Institute’s exhibition (E) whether the Hart Institute or the curator’s museum will have the greater financial gain from the proposed exchange of artworks The administrator talks about the NUMBER OF PATRONS, not the revenue. so D and E is out. C is correct.

Question 79

In calculating the average commercial loan rate for the last 10 months, if the last month did not give out any commercial loans, it would NOT DROP the average, it would actually NOT FEATURE in the average calculation in the first place. Average would be = total rate on commercial loans handed out/ no. of commercial loans handed out.

Answer 79

In 1994, it was found that 98% of homicides in Country X occurred inside the victim's own homes. To combat this trend, the government enacted a gun buy back policy. Between years 194 and 2000, the no. of households with guns dropped by 30% and the country saw an 8% drop in the annual no. of homicides that happened inside the victim's homes. Politicians applauded the buy back policy, concluding that the decrease in the homicide rate must certainly be due to the decrease in household gun ownership. Which of the following if true calls into question the politician's conclusion? From 1994 to 2000, there was no increase in the no. of guns sold annually to members of household in Country X. The above is INCORRECT, premises are inviolate. Further, even if the no. of guns sold remains same, it is possible that the government bought more guns than households causing the 30% drop.

Question 80

For questions of the type 'X and Y disagree about which of the following:', it is necessary to check that the correct answer is something that X and Y go in OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS OF. i.e. X should agree with it and Y should disagree or vice versa. If both X and Y DISAGREE on the truth of the statement, then that CANNOT be the correct answer. Similarly if they both AGREE, that too cannot be the correct answer. Tricky example : https://gmatclub.com/forum/tony-a-short-story-is-little-more-than-a-novelist-s-sketch-pad-only-318368.html

Answer 80

Tough to understand statement, read and understand for practice : The transportation employees' union will not accept cuts in retirement benefits if doing so will not allow more transportation employees to keep their jobs. The above means : If not accepting cuts in retirement benefits WILL NOT allow more transportation employees to keep their jobs, then transportation union will not accept cuts in retirement benefits. Negation of above 'will not becomes MAY and not WILL' : The transportation employees' union may accept cuts in retirement benefits if doing so might allow more transportation employees to keep their jobs. => Note that you negate both the 'will not's and not only one of them.

Question 81

Be quick to use negation for both assumption and inference questions. Tricky paradox stem : Which of the following, if true, best accounts for the typical survey practices among market researchers?

Answer 81

Tricky : https://gmatclub.com/forum/although-there-is-no-record-of-poet-edmund-spenser-s-parentage-we-do-244212.html Observe how A has been discarded. Find a case which satisfies our argument's requirement but DOESN'T require option A's assumption. This will show that A is too large of a bucket.

Question 82

Negation testing helps in strengthen setting as well : https://gmatclub.com/forum/a-fossil-recently-discovered-in-marlandia-a-chain-of-islands-proves-306081.html See that in C, if I negate, it says that fossils that prove the relationship have been found elsewhere as well. Does this mean that the reptiles migrated to this place and came back? Not sure, what if this place was halfway across the globe. However, negate E, if these reptiles could have survived long at sea, the argument breaks down. IMPORTANT : note that the correct answer DOES NOT attack a premise. 'the finding is surprising since the ancestral species WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE..... twenty five million years ago' is a hypothesis, not a statement of fact that they went extinct during the sea level rise. Since it is not a fact, it is not a premise. Hence, it CAN BE ATTACKED. Similar example : https://gmatclub.com/forum/city-council-member-demand-for-electricity-has-been-increasing-by-204242.html Opinions of people CAN ALSO BE attacked and are NOT premises since they are NOT statements of fact. Think of the above question in a cause effect way : Scientists have concluded that part of Marlandia was left unsubmerged since recent fossils have been found from after the global sea level rise. By eliminating alternate cause => they could have survived for long at sea, we can strengthen.

Answer 82

if something positive comes with something negative, that might explain the no improvement situation : https://gmatclub.com/forum/when-new-laws-imposing-strict-penalties-for-misleading-corporate-discl-321906.html VV TRICKY : https://gmatclub.com/forum/recent-observations-suggest-that-small-earthlike-worlds-form-a-very-306076.html Observe that A does not weaken because : Sampling by itself is pretty sound, if the 200 planets observed form a representative sample, then the fact that 1 mil planets have not been observed makes sense since you don't need to, you have a representative sample for this particular purpose so that you don't have to observe the entire 1 mil. D on the other hand attacks the fact that we have a representative sample in the first place hence is a weakener.

Question 83

Always keep an eye out for extreme language. I incorrectly chose an extremely worded statement as correct without confirming : https://gmatclub.com/forum/neotropical-coastal-mangrove-forests-are-usually-zonal-with-certain-160800.html Q4

Answer 83

Likelihood is different from actuality, even if something's likelihood of doing something is low, it can still do it. https://gmatclub.com/forum/researchers-conditioned-a-group-of-flies-to-associate-a-particular-odo-306114.html

Question 84

Always pay attention to modifiers in answer choices, they provide quick eliminations. Restating/magnifying the premise does not strengthen. https://gmatclub.com/forum/columnist-metro-city-has-a-lower-percentage-of-residents-with-humanit-306086.html

Answer 84

Observe that preference does not always translate into action. Even if you prefer X over Y, you may still do Y because of any external forces (a free coupon in this case) : https://gmatclub.com/forum/to-reduce-traffic-congestion-city-x-s-transportation-bureau-plans-to-321905.html

Question 85

Some CR/RC answer choices are in tough to understand language. In such cases, try to get the overall picture of what the option is saying and see if it makes sense rather than trying to understand it word for word which can cause wastage of time. Eg : Observe that to get C untangled, you need not try to understand it word for word. You can see from the top that it mentions some confusion about some cause and effect. These are not mentioned in the argument, hence eliminate straight up. https://gmatclub.com/forum/banker-my-country-s-laws-require-every-bank-to-invest-in-its-local-co-306073.html

Answer 85

Super tricky : https://gmatclub.com/forum/arboria-is-floundering-in-the-global-marketplace-incurring-devastati-294558.html (second last question) Observe how you can advocate for X by talking about the negative consequences of not doing X. More so, eliminating A was tricky, check notes (I got it wrong ofc) Be careful when you see the word 'contrast', it implies COMPARISON, and there needs to be a comparison in the first place for it to be used correctly. https://gmatclub.com/forum/suppose-we-were-in-a-spaceship-in-free-fall-where-objects-are-weightl-204210.html Q5

Question 86

You are an idiot. : https://gmatclub.com/forum/mayor-the-financial-livelihood-of-our-downtown-businesses-is-in-jeopa-321898.html Earlier highlighted point : HOWEVER, if the argument says something along the lines of 'this is the only way' or 'something MUST be done to achieve something and there is no other way' or 'something is the best way to do something', then the assumption that some other plan will NOT work is required as an assumption. Hence, an alternative plan WEAKENS.

Answer 86

Important : Logical flaws need not always stem from the logic WITHIN the argument, it can be from general facts too. Like 'just coz there is a law, doesn't mean everyone will follow it' OG, Very tricky question in general, go through the expert answers : https://gmatclub.com/forum/since-1978-when-the-copyright-law-was-changed-books-that-are-less-tha-306091.html Tricky : https://gmatclub.com/forum/the-heavy-traffic-in-masana-is-a-growing-drain-on-the-city-s-economy-242147.html I ignored the correct answer using the TTP logic that what worked elsewhere won't necessarily work here but looks like it can. Sometimes, you are asked for a drawback of a proposed plan and not a weakener of the conclusion : https://gmatclub.com/forum/enforcement-of-local-speed-limits-through-police-monitoring-has-proven-268503.html

Question 87

This whooped me : https://gmatclub.com/forum/springfield-fire-commissioner-the-vast-majority-of-false-fire-alarms-102516.html Weird question type : https://gmatclub.com/forum/there-is-a-great-deal-of-geographical-variation-in-the-frequency-of-ma-1464.html

Answer 87

Super neat Boldface trick : https://gmatclub.com/forum/scientists-typically-do-their-most-creative-work-before-the-age-of-for-85273.html Basically look at the relative direction of the two BF statements, i.e. if they go in the same direction or opposite direction. Based on that, you can get quick eliminations.

Question 88

Multiple takeaways: 1) 'Some' trap : be careful of it 2) 'believe' trap : be careful to check if X believing something matters. https: //gmatclub.com/forum/educational-theorist-recent-editorials-have-called-for-limits-on-the-322535.html

Answer 88

Very tricky, bacterial infection is not 'an example'. ALWAYS REPLACE THE ANSWER OPTION BACK INTO THE STEM TO VERIFY. https://gmatclub.com/forum/resin-is-a-plant-secretion-that-hardens-when-exposed-to-air-fossilize-242509.html#p1909496 Q3

Question 89

https://gmatclub.com/forum/most-attempts-by-physicists-to-send-particles-faster-than-the-speed-of-207278.html

Answer 89

For Q2, see that you're asked about how tunneling time's interaction with thickness impacts something. Don't mention something that is related to the thickness but NOT time (E)