Transcript Verbal Reasoning Strategies •Curriculum for Increasing Verbal Reasoning Scores VR Strategies • Verbal Reasoning Passage Types and Strategies. – The natural science passage. • Subjects.

Verbal Reasoning Strategies
•Curriculum for Increasing Verbal Reasoning
Scores
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VR Strategies
• Verbal Reasoning Passage Types and Strategies.
– The natural science passage.
• Subjects include mainly astronomy, biology, chemistry, and
physics.
• Don’t assume you’ll do well on this section because of your
experience with science courses.
– NSPs are challenging because they are usually lengthy and full of
details.
– Examinees tend to focus on details and lose track of main ideas.
– Examinees expect questions that will test their recollection of
facts.
• Your mission is to understand the ideas and arguments of
the passage.
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VR Strategies
– Reading strategies for the natural science passage.
• Identify two or more competing arguments or ideas.
• Understand who and what supports each idea, and
separate that from the author’s stance.
• Form conclusions in your mind based on the facts.
• Summarize the main idea of each paragraph as you
read (Begin by physically doing this then move on to
“mental mapping).
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VR Strategies
– Question strategies for the natural science passage.
• Test makers often ask for answers you’d least expect.
• Natural science questions often ask about hypothetical
opponents or supporters of various theories discussed in the
passage.
– Identify the main arguments and ask yourself which group would
support one hypothesis over another.
• Read answer choices A through D extremely carefully for
each question, and eliminate wrong answers as you proceed.
– Note extreme, unqualified words like always, never, not, and
must because they generally indicate incorrect answers.
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VR Strategies
• Try to recall the dates and time periods mentioned in
the passage (But not at the expense of losing the main
idea).
• Pay attention to which arguments the author supports
or rejects.
– The author’s usually espouse a position on the topic.
• Do not overanalyze natural science questions.
• Eliminate wrong answers.
– Look for obvious wrong answers and use the strikethrough to
eliminate them.
– Usually one or two answers are obviously false.
– Obvious wrong answers are clearly opposite to what is stated
in the passage.
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VR Strategies
– The Social Science passage.
• Most of the passages come from journal articles and
are very challenging.
• The range of topics include sociology, anthropology,
economics, psychology, political science, education and
history.
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VR Strategies
– Reading strategies for the social science passage.
• Be prepared to read about cultural or political
movements, along with important dates, time periods
and key arguments.
• Some key strategies to employ with social science
passages.
– Look for comparisons made by the author.
» Usually, these passages present two or more points or
arguments.
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VR Strategies
– Reading strategies for the social science passage.
• Pay attention to the argument supported by the author
compared to others that he or she writes about.
• Identify the assumptions of the author and look for any
biases.
• Identify any assumptions relevant to the arguments made by
competing experts.
• Consider what groups of people would support or reject
various theories or ideas presented in the passage.
• Read every sentence carefully.
• Identify implied ideas woven into the passage.
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VR Strategies
– Question strategies for the social science passage.
• Social science questions often test your understanding
of how certain views relate to statements from the
passage.
• Pay attention to the tone of the author and rarely is this
tone extreme or strident.
• Many social science questions ask about the intentions
of the author.
• Read the passage first, and then answer questions.
• Read each answer choice A through D carefully and
twice to make sure you understand each question
completely.
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VR Strategies
– The Humanities passage.
• Because pre-med students generally have poor
exposure to subjects in the humanities, “bone up” on
these topics by reading books and journals dealing with
them.
• The range of topics include art, language, literature,
communication, religion and philosophy.
• Be prepared for many details and facts including
important dates, time periods, artistic or literary
movements, cultural groups, etc.
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VR Strategies
– The Humanities passage.
• Reading strategies for the humanities passage.
– Keep track of facts and dates, as well as key ideas.
– Expect to read about people who criticize certain viewpoints.
– Determine the strengths and weaknesses of arguments
expressed by critics.
– Be sure to understand how the opinions of the author
compare to those of other experts mentioned in the passage.
– Read for meaning and not just details.
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VR Strategies
– The Humanities passage.
• Question strategies for the humanities passage.
– Many questions test your direct understanding of the various
viewpoints found in the passage.
– Some questions ask about how the author would respond to a
concept in the passage.
– Try to answer the question in your own mind before reading the
answer choices because answer choices are tricky and
misleading.
– For each point that the author makes, determine why the author
is making that point.
– Look for assumptions upon which the conclusion is based
because the correct assumption is one that must be true in order
for the conclusion to stand.
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