Verbal Reasoning Prep Strategies

Section Strategies

Reading Comprehension Questions

• Do not expect to be completely familiar with the material presented in passages. Your understanding of the subject matter is not required to answer the question.
  
• Read the passage carefully and analyze each passage carefully before reading the questions.
  
  
• Focus on key words and phrases to maintain an overall sense about the context of the passage.
  
  
• Select the answer that fits based on the information given in the passage.
  
  
• Don’t rush through the passages. This section is about comprehension, not speed.

Critical Reasoning Questions

• Determine exactly what the question is asking. For this section, read the question first and then the material on which it is based.
  
  
• Pay close attention to:
  • What is put forward as factual information
  • What is not said but necessarily follows from what is said
  • What is claimed to follow from facts that have been put forward
  • How well those claims are substantiated.
    
    
• When reading arguments, determine how sound the reasoning is. It is not necessary to pass judgment on the actual truth of anything put forward as fact.
  
  
• If a question is based on an argument, identify what part of the argument its conclusion is.