Verbal Reasoning - Common Tricks

What do you do, what do you not do

Dispersion of Keywords

DO

• scan for repetition of keywords if answer is unclear

• piece together information from different parts of passage if needed

DON’T

• assume first instance of keywords is enough

• fixate on single part of passage with sufficient information

Mitigation and contradiction

DO

• scan sentences before and after keyword

• be aware of context of targeted reading

• read around keywords to spot potential mitigation/contradiction

DON’T

• only read keyword and ignore context

• think targeted reading precludes you from getting relevant context

• get paranoid everything gets contradicted and waste time

Juxtaposition

DO

• look for bridging phrases that explicitly link pieces of info

• clearly establish causality or consequence

DON’T

• assume link between two things unless explicitly stated

• be fooled by close proximity of 2 things with no bridging phrase

Outside Knowledge

DO

• stick to stated info/logical inference from passage

DON’T

• confuse common knowledge with logical inference

Numbers

DO

• be prepared to do mental maths

• look for numbers in passage once you see numbers in question

• remember an average can come from numbers above, below and equal to it

DON’T

• assume something is false because the number in the item isn’t in the passage

• forget to read context around numbers before calculating sums

• use on-screen calculator (avoid if possible)

Synonyms

DO

• look for keywords first

• think of common synonyms before searching & resort to finding them last

DON’T

• worry too much about all possible synonyms unless certain keyword is absent in passage

Faulty Logic

• flawed reasoning e.g. all humans are mammals, so all mammals are human

DO

• ensure reasoning is perfectly sound before choosing true answer

• be weary words such as ‘all’ in items - can this be backed up?

DON’T

• rush to select true because item looks the same as passage

• confuse cause and effect when it comes to logical inference