Critical Reasoning for GMAT

Critical reasoning was the hardest part for me in the GMAT test. Probably not because is hard, but for the feeling that I do not know with what to start.

The texts are in form of an argument with three parts:

1. Conclusion = what the author is trying to convince you of.
2. Premises = pieces of evidence the author gives to support the conclusion.
3. Assumptions = unstated ideas or evidence without which the entire conclusion might be invalid.

To describe the eight questions types I will use the classification that I found in the book Cracking the GMAT (The Princeton Review):

Assumption questions = ask you to identify an unstated premise of the passage from among the answer choices.

• Gaps of logic:
  • Causal assumption = takes an effect and suggest a cause for it.
  • Analogy assumption = compares one situation to another, ignoring the question of whatever the two situations are comparable.
  • Statistical assumption = uses statistics to prove its point.
• Contain one of the following wordings:
  • Which of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
  • The argument above assumes which of the following?
  • The claim above rests on the questionable presupposition that …
• Guideline:
  • Assumptions are never stated in the passage. If you see an answer choice that comes straight from the passage, it is not correct.
  • Assumptions support the conclusion of the passage.
  • Assumptions frequently turn on the gaps of logic (see up).

Strengthen-the-argument questions = ask you to find the gap in the logic of the argument and then fix it with additional information.

• Contain one of the following wordings:
  • Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the author `s argument?
  • Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the author` s hypothesis?
• Guideline:
  • The correct answer will strengthen the argument with new information.
  • The new information you are looking for will support the conclusion of the passage.

Weaken-the-argument questions = ask you to find a hole in the argument and expose it.

• Contain one of the following wordings:
  • Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the conclusion drawn in the passage?
  • Which of the following indicates a flaw in the reasoning above?
  • Which of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the argument above?
• Guideline:
  • The statement you will look for should weaken the conclusion of the passage.
  • Frequently trade on the gaps of logic: cause for an effect, the representative of the statistics, analogy of a situation.

Inference questions = they do not really ask you to make an inference.

• Contain one of the following wordings:
  • Which of the following can be inferred from the information above?
  • Which of the following must be true on the basis of the statements above?
  • Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the passage?
  • Which of the following conclusions could most properly be drawn from the information above?
• Guideline:
  • The answer is basic
  • Search for a situation described in the passage but do not go too far
  • These questions will concern the premises, not the conclusion

Mimic-the-reasoning questions = ask you to recognize the reasoning in the passage and follow the same line of reasoning in one of the answer choices.

• Contain one of the following wordings:
  • Which of the following most closely parallels the reasoning used in the argument above?
  • Which of the followings supports its conclusion in the same manner as the argument above?
  • Which of the following is most like the argument above in its logical structure?
• Guideline:
  • If A, then B

Resolve-the-paradox questions = ask you to resolve an apparent paradox or explain a possible discrepancy.

• Contain one of the following wordings:
  • Which of the following, if true, resolves the apparent contradiction presented in the passage above?
  • Which of the following, if true, best explains the discrepancy described above?
  • Which of the following, if true, forms a partial explanation for the paradox described above?
• Guideline:
  • Find the answer choice that allows both of the facts from the passage to be true

Evaluate-the-argument questions = ask you to ‘evaluate” or “assess” part of an argument.

• Contain one of the following wordings.
  • The answer to which of the following questions would be most useful in evaluating the significance of the author `s claims?
  • Which of the following pieces of information would be most useful in assessing the logic of the argument presented above?

Identify-the-reasoning questions = ask you to identify a method, technique or strategy used in the passage, or identify the role of a bolded phrase in the passage.

• Contain one of the following wordings:
  • The bolded phrase plays which of the following roles in the argument above?
  • The argument uses which of the following methods of reasoning?
• Guideline:
  • Identify the conclusion and the premise and think about how they are related.