VERBAL REASONING STUDY GUIDE

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Test Format
Each question is accompanied by a short passage. Questions are either
True/False/Cannot Say questions, or Multiple Choice questions. All questions are related
to the passage given for that particular question.

What Are the Passages About?

Passage type, topic and subject vary greatly, but it is important to remember that the
passage topics are merely vehicles to testing your abilities. They are testing your verbal
reasoning skills, not your background knowledge of a topic. Perhaps you have outside
experience on a topic that makes a particular question easier- that is great! However,
you do not need complex outside knowledge of passage topics in order to do well on
this test.

Tips: Read and use the passages! The answer very often lies directly in the passage.
Sometimes you really have to read and analyze closely in order to find it. While it won’t
give you all the answers, the passage is a resource at your disposal- USE IT!

Strategies
Since each question has a passage, there are basically two ways to approach solving
their questions.

1. Read the passage first, and then answer the questions related to the passage.
• Read over the passage and take note of a few key things:
▪ What is the overall message or meaning of the passage?
▪ What are the key details?
• Who, what, when, where, why, how?
▪ Look for logical connections and relationships
• Cause and effect
▪ Map out the passage to understand how the passage flows from beginning
to end
• Key= Understand the passage
i. If you DON’T understand the passage, re-read it! To get questions right, you
need to understand what is going on in the passage.

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 ii. When answering the question- find support in the text. For each question, you
must ask yourself - Does the text support this?

Pro: Better understanding of the whole passage, which helps you with smaller parts
of passage.

Con: Less efficient, less question focused.

2. Read the question first, and then read the passage to hunt for the answers to the questions.
• Read and fully understand what the question is saying. You must know what the
question is asking.
i. TIP: Read all of the questions to help you gain information and context to
what the passage is about.
• Once you fully understand the question, look through the passage to find the
answer.
i. TIP: Look for key words. The question usually has a word that is unique and in
the passage. Locate that word in the passage and it will take you right to the
answer.
• This is a multi-faceted step, because in doing so you find both the answer and text
that supports your answer.
• Once you find the passage support, read a bit of the text around the answer to try
to reach an appropriate level of context to be certain that the answer is correct.
• Use information that you learned from the other questions to help you.

Pro: More efficient, answer focused & directed.

Con: May not fully grasp passage and hurt you during comprehension questions.

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True/False/Cannot Say Exam
On the True/False/Cannot Say exam, there are three levels of questions that will be
asked. The three levels are “Basic”, “Intermediate”, and “Advanced”. Below are
examples for what each questions looks like, and some tips to answer each question.

Basic:

In this story, Uncle Tom was a slave master who had sold his slaves.

A. True
B. False
C. Cannot Say

Tips: “Basic” questions are simply being able to recall/identify basic facts from the text.
The key to getting a basic question correct is to read and understand the text on a
broad level. Always look for the answer to be supported somehow by the text, and
make sure you avoid any tricks. Often, the questions will say the opposite of what the
intended meaning of the passage is which can be easy in some cases, and difficult in
others. Many times, the correct answer hinges on just a couple of words, so reading the
question carefully is important to ensure it matches with your understanding of the
passage.

Intermediate:

According to the passage, the Democratic Party has historically been the dominant party
in Southern politics.
A. True
B. False
C. Cannot Say

Tips: The key to answering this “intermediate” level question is connecting two ideas that you
know/can prove are true from the passage. While “basic” asked to identify one thing,
intermediate often requires a connection of ideas. For example, to get this right, you need to
come away from reading the text with both the ideas that “the Democrats were Southern”
and “the Democrats were dominant/powerful”. The connection is not too complicated, but it
does add a layer of thought above what is required in basic. Fortunately, the key strategy is
the same. If you read and understand the passage, the answers should be obvious.

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Advanced:

The primary emotions that this passage intends to evoke are pride and patriotism.

A. True
B. False
C. Cannot Say

Tips: This is a far more difficult question because it requires you to make inferences or
draw conclusions based on the reading, more than just recalling facts. This question
requires you to read the passage and identify what the primary evoked emotions are.
That requires you to read and understand the passage at a high level and pick up on
the feeling aspects of the text, not just what it says. That is a more nuanced, advanced
skill, but is also a critical skill. A key strategy for answering this would be to, of course,
read and understand the passage. Additionally, one could highlight key descriptive
words, or jot notes down while you read to capture what you are feeling or thinking.
For this particular area, reading the passage first might be the most helpful strategy.

As you can see, the questions increase in difficulty between tests. As a test-taker, this
will challenge you, but will also help raise you to the next level for your next test
provided that you prepare!

Helpful Hints for All Sections

• Find evidence from the text to support and confirm your answer. Most times, the answer is
in the passage. Do not make the questions harder than it has to be! Use all the resources
available to you- and the passage is one.
• Find definitive proof!
o If the answer is true or false, there will be definitive proof in the text or in logical
thinking that the statement is one of the absolutes.
o If there is no definitive proof, the answer is “CANNOT SAY”. Only use cannot say
when you truly cannot say. Don’t be afraid to use this response if the text does not
adequately support or answer your question.
• Remember- the test is about interpreting the passages. Do not rely on outside knowledge
to answer a question. Everything should be based in the text!
o Do not make assumptions or inferences that are too broad. If you do this, the answer
is likely a “cannot say.”
• False is the hardest answer to select. You must always find the direct contradiction
between the statement and the text to prove that the statement is false. If you can
identify the contradiction, the question becomes much easier.

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 o If you cannot identify a direct contradiction, consider answering “cannot say”. It
may be a trick question!
o Also consider the question may test vocabulary or comprehension skills. These would
be more difficult because you must understand the passage at a higher level in
order to identify the contradiction with the statement.
• “Cannot Say” answers are not supported by the text either way. Look for the lack of a
specific detail that would tip the answer one way or the other.
• READ, RE-READ, and UNDERSTAND the passages. READ, RE-READ, and UNDERSTAND the
statements. UNDERSTAND what it takes for something to be proven true or proven false.

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Critical Thinking Skills
For the critical thinking skills test, there are two types of questions being asked:
Evaluating Conclusions and Critical Reasoning.

Evaluating Conclusions:
For these questions, a statement will be given for you to evaluate its nature as either
true, false or cannot say. Each of the statements given is a conclusion drawn from a
passage. Below is an example of a passage and a question:

“The ’76 campaign played out as debates over busing and fair housing roiled
neighborhoods in the North. The rising black constituency posed a strategic
dilemma for the all-white roster of Democratic candidates, which weighed
outreach against fears of a backlash from blue-collar “white ethnics.” The mere
act of campaigning in black areas was enough to win Jimmy Carter credit from
the top-ranking black official at the Democratic National Committee, who said:
“He isn’t saying much, but he’s going.”

That wouldn’t do for long, though, and the Carter presidency proved a turning
point. From black leaders, Carter faced accusations of reneging on
commitments and taking their support for granted.”
Source: Steve Kornaki, NBC News Journey to Power; the History of Black Voters, 1976-2020 (July 29, 2019)

Aside from Jimmy Carter, other Democratic candidates did not go campaign in black
areas enough.
A. True
B. False
C. Cannot Say

The conclusion here is related to Jimmy Carter’s campaign strategy compared to

other Democratic candidates. How do we either prove this statement true or prove it
false? If we can’t do either, we “cannot say” if the conclusion is valid or invalid.

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Key for Solving: Find evidence in the passage that directly addresses what it says in the
statement. If the passage and the conclusion align, the answer is most likely “true”. If
they contradict each other, the answer is probably “false”. If the passage does not
directly address your conclusion, or gives too little information to determine its veracity,
the answer is probably “cannot say”.

Solution: Here, the answer is “True”. This part of the passage gives it away: The mere act
of campaigning in black areas was enough to win Jimmy Carter credit from the top-ranking
black official at the Democratic National Committee, who said: “He isn’t saying much, but he’s
going.”

That statement proves that Carter did go campaign in predominantly black areas. It
also comes in the context of discussing the crowded Democratic field, which gives
meaning to the last quote- “He isn’t saying much, but he’s going.” This quote, in this
context, means that Carter is not necessarily saying anything new, important or
groundbreaking when he speaks to these communities, but at least he is going. This
implies the other Democrats were not going, so Carter’s mere presence made him
more popular among the black demographic. The fact that most Democrats would
not go proves that the answer is “True”.

The same principles from the “True/False/Cannot say” section apply. Answers should
be based in the text, and a close reading and understanding of both the passage and
the conclusion are essential to getting these questions correct.

Critical Reasoning
These questions are quite different, largely because we have moved away from
True/False/Cannot say into a true multiple choice question. For this test, your task is to
demonstrate your ability to think critically about the passage and the different answer
choices. This is a step up in difficulty from the previous tests; however, many of the
same principles still apply. A solid understanding of the passage and each answer
choice is necessary to do well on this part of the test.

Tips:

• Read the passage; understand the meaning as well as some finer details.
• For each answer, verify as much as possible with the text. Use the passage to your
advantage!

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• Inferences are required- analyze the information to logically come up with the best answer.
You will have to think!
• Choose the best answer: One of the four answers is correct. Sometimes, it will be seem that
a question has two answers that are correct. Study those answers closely, because one of
them has an element within it that is not exactly right. The same line of thinking goes for
questions that you perceive to have no good answer choices. One of them IS correct, and
it is your task to find the best one.
o When trying to discern between two seemingly viable answers, look for small details
and overall relevance to the question. A statement could be accurate and
supported by the text, but perhaps does not address the question being asked as
directly as another answer does. This is tricky, but the “best answer” will be
supported by the text and directly addresses the question being asked.
• Use process of elimination!
o If you know an answer is wrong, cross it out. This way, if you do come to two answers
that you simply cannot decide between, a guess will give you a 50% chance at
getting the correct answer! Even if you can only eliminate one of the four answer
choices that you know is incorrect, your chances of guessing the correct answer
have increased from 25% to 33%.

Example:

“The World Health Organization has decided to narrow an experiment with Ebola
patients to two treatments that show real promise.

The treatments, known as REGN-EB3 and an antibody called mAb114, were being tried
out in patients with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with antiviral
drugs ZMapp and Remdesivir.

The test of the drugs started in November as a part of the emergency response to the
outbreak in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces.”

Source: Christensen, Jen (August 12, 2019) Two new Ebola treatments show promise in the fight against the outbreak in Congo, CNN,

Based on the passage, which of the statements below is false?

A. An outbreak in certain provinces served as the impetus for testing new drugs and
treatments.
B. The World Health Organization is aware of the problem and is actively working to fix the
Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
C. Ebola is a major problem for the Democratic Republic of Congo and its people are
subject to outbreaks on somewhat of a regular basis.
D. The drugs mentioned in the article did not test well when testing began in November.

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Solution: This question requires you to evaluate each of the four answer choices to
determine which one is false. This means that three of the four are correct and one
(the correct answer) is false. A good understanding of the passage is required. The best
approach here is a systematic one. Go through each answer choice and evaluate it.

A is true because the passage says “The test of the drugs started in November as a
part of the emergency response to the outbreak in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces”.
A is also somewhat of a test on your knowledge of the word “impetus”. The reason for
their beginning testing was an outbreak in those provinces. A is proven to be true from
the text, and thus, is not the correct answer.

B is true because the passage is all about the response from the World Health
Organization and what treatments they are doing to fix it. A solid understanding of the
reading proves that this is accurate, and also, not a correct answer.

C is not supported anywhere in the passage above. We know that Ebola has
happened in the country so it very well might be true, but we cannot say for sure. We
also have no proof that it is false. At this point, you cannot eliminate C, but it lacks
proof that it is the correct answer.

D is the correct answer because it is blatantly false. The passage states that the tests
started in November and that the two drugs being discussed showed “real promise”.
Thus, the statement in D is a direct contradiction to the information and logic given in
the passage, which makes this statement inaccurate. Since it is false, it is the correct
answer, and the best answer, to this question.

Questions like this on the critical reasoning test require thought and analysis. As
modeled above, the most effective way to approach questions like this is a systematic
approach. You are being given the correct answer (out of four) and the passage
contains all the clues you need to get the right answer. Evaluate each answer choice
carefully, compare it with the text, find validating or condemning evidence in the
passage, and make logical inferences to verify each choices correct or incorrect
answer. Yes, this method is more tedious and time consuming, but it will ensure that you
get the most questions correct.

Reading Comprehension:
Reading Comprehension is a critical skill in being an effective reader, writer and
communicator. These questions simply test your ability to read a passage and
understand, remember, and analyze them. The test is split into three sections: Basic,

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Intermediate and Advanced. Each tests a different level of comprehension and
requires more skill and ability.

Basic

Basic reading comprehension questions test your ability to understand very

rudimentary details and a baseline understanding of the passage as a whole. These
questions will not require higher level thinking and complex connections. The best
strategy for these is simply to read the passage through, and try to answer the
questions immediately. If you have basic comprehension skills, you should be able to
choose the right answer easily for these questions. However, if you are struggling with a
question, there is no need for concern. These questions all rely heavily on the passages,
and are more fact based and less abstract. If you are struggling, resort back to the
relevant parts of the passage to help assist you in choosing your answer.

Example:

“U.S. health officials are making a new attempt at adding graphic images to cigarette
packets to discourage Americans from lighting up. If successful, it would be the first
change to U.S. cigarette warnings in 35 years.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed 13 new warnings that would
appear on all cigarettes, including images of cancerous neck tumors, diseased lungs
and feet with amputated toes.

Other color illustrations would warn smokers that cigarettes can cause heart disease,
impotence and diabetes. The labels would take up half of the front of cigarette
packages and include text warnings, such as "Smoking causes head and neck
cancer." The labels would also appear on tobacco advertisements.

The current smaller text warnings on the side of U.S. cigarette packs have not been
updated since 1984. They warn that smoking can cause lung cancer, heart disease
and other illnesses. These warnings "go unnoticed" and are effectively "invisible," the
FDA said in its announcement.”

Source: Associated Press (August 15, 2019) US Makes New Push for graphic warning labels on cigarettes

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 If the FDA-approved images mentioned in the passage were approved, what would the
likely impact be on cigarette sales?
A. Sales increase
B. Sales decrease
C. No change in sales
D. Cannot Say

This is a good example of a basic inference that you would need to make to answer
this question. The answer is extremely logical. B, the sales would decrease if the FDA
approved images were printed on cigarette cartons. Upon reading the passage, you
should have gotten the idea that these images would be huge deterrents for people
to buy, and subsequently smoke, cigarettes. Clearly, if these images were approved,
the sales would decrease because people would be turned off by the graphic health
risks portrayed on the carton. B is the logical answer.

If you wanted to approach it systematically, it would also be very easy to do. A and C
are illogical and could be eliminated immediately. D is tempting because it doesn’t
directly say that sales would decrease in the passage. However, remember that you
are choosing the BEST answer. B is supported by the text in that it is inferring the sales
would decrease.

Tips: Read the passage to get the general idea and key information. This should be
enough to answer most of the questions. If you are struggling with a question, go back
to the relevant parts of the passage and do a closer reading. You will be much more
efficient with this approach.

Intermediate

These questions are a significant step up in difficulty from the basic questions. They
require more analytical thinking, a closer reading, and a deeper understanding of the
passage and its meaning. Read the passage carefully at first pass; the details are
important. However, don’t get lost in the details that you miss the overarching
meaning, theme or message of the passage.

Example:

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“As he witnessed the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, a piece of
Hindu scripture ran through the mind of Robert Oppenheimer: “Now I am become
Death, the destroyer of worlds”. It is, perhaps, the most well-known line from the
Bhagavad-Gita, but also the most misunderstood.

Oppenheimer died at the age of sixty-two in Princeton, New Jersey on February 18,
1967. As wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, the birthplace of the Manhattan
Project, he is rightly seen as the “father” of the atomic bomb. “We knew the world
would not be the same,” he later recalled. “A few people laughed, a few people
cried, most people were silent.” Oppenheimer, watching the fireball of the
Trinity nuclear test, turned to Hinduism. While he never became a Hindu in the
devotional sense, Oppenheimer found it a useful philosophy to structure his life around.
"He was obviously very attracted to this philosophy,” says Rev Dr. Stephen Thompson,
who holds a PhD in Sanskrit grammar and is currently reading a DPhil at Oxford
University on other aspects of the language and Hindu faith. Oppenheimer’s interest in
Hinduism was about more than a soundbite, it was a way of making sense of his
actions.”

Source: Temperton, James (August 9, 2017) Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds'.

Which of the following statements is best supported by the passage?

A. Hindu scripture predicts apocalyptic weapons like this in their ancient prophecies.
B. Oppenheimer was Hindu and believed in their philosophy and way of life.
C. Oppenheimer and everyone else recognized the magnificent and otherworldly power of
the weapon they had just created.
D. Hindu’s are non-violent, and Oppenheimer realized after the test that he had just violated
a basic Hindu principle.

This is an “intermediate” question because it requires analysis of “which statement is

best supported”. However, while this type of question is not easy, you do have a big
advantage here; the answer is supported in the passage. The answer is in the passage,
and your job is to uncover it. For these types of questions, the systematic approach is
the best strategy.

A is not supported in the passage at all. That one is easy to cross out and eliminate
from contention.

B is a half-truth. The passage states that Oppenheimer was not a Hindu, but did believe
in many of their philosophical principles. The statement is misleading, because it labels

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Oppenheimer as a Hindu, which he did not label himself as. At this point, you can likely
cross this one off. You might cautiously leave it on the board, but do so fully
recognizing it is not a great option.

C is true because the passage describes everyone’s reaction when they saw the
bomb for the first time. It sparked Oppenheimer to say that famous line, but it was clear
by everyone’s reaction in that moment that the gravity of what they had just seen was
now upon them. C is a great option, but you should ALWAYS check all four answers.
Even if you believe that you found the right answer, do not cut corners! Check every
answer!

D is not supported by the passage and is also a half-truth. Hindu’s are by nature non-
violent (as is every religion on a philosophical level). However, that is not mentioned in
the passage, and the passage certainly makes no mention of Oppenheimer feeling
guilty and like he violated a principle. This is clearly not the right answer.

This leaves us with C as the best answer.

The example does a great job of illustrating strategies and difficulty level of
intermediate questions. This requires a good understanding of the passage details and
its overall meaning, but is rooted in the passage and does not require complex
analytical skills or abstract thinking skills.

Tips: Read the passage closely to catch key details. Make sure you understand the
passage as a whole and the meaning of the passage. Refer back to the passage to
verify all of the answers!

Advanced:

These questions are among the most difficult of any verbal reasoning test. They require
a deep understanding of the content, the ability to form nuanced analysis of the
passage, contextualizing the information and making connections from the passage to
other, abstract ideas. Read the questions, answer choices and passages very closely.
Often, these questions come down to one or two words and can be tricky to pick
apart. While the basic questions were primarily recall, these are analytical and will
require you to think. However, they are not impossible! As always, there are a few
strategies that make these more manageable.

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Tips:

• Use the passage to help you and verify all answers with the passage. You will have to make
more inferences than the intermediate question, but the passage is still an incredibly
valuable resource.
• Systematically use process of elimination on all answer choices. This will help immensely to
narrow your choices until you either arrive at the right answer, or make the best guess
possible.
• While you can choose your own personal strategy, we would recommend that you read
the passage first to gain a general understanding, then read the questions, and then go
back through the passage, specifically hunting for the information that you seek. This is the
most effective way of solving these problems because you gain a baseline familiarity with
the text before searching for specific pieces. If you read the questions first then go back, it
may cause you to miss the overall intended meaning of the passage.

Example:

“In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure
of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has
been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young
Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need;
not as a call to battle, though embattled we are--but a call to bear the burden of a
long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a
struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war
itself.”

John F. Kennedy (1961) Inaugural Address

Which statement most accurately captures Kennedy’s intended message?

A. The time has come again for Americans to band together to fight against the common
enemies of mankind.
B. It is up to the citizens of the country, not the leadership, to achieve the country’s vast and
lofty goals.
C. Americans must fight again; like the graves of so many Americans who had answered the
call, this generations fight has come.
D. The problems facing America are hard, and will only get harder.

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To get the answer to this question, you must have a deep understanding of what
Kennedy is saying and what he means. All of the answer choices presented are
reasonable and in many ways, true. So in trying to find Kennedy’s intended message,
you are trying to find which statement most accurately summarizes what Kennedy was
trying to say. This requires an understanding of the entire passage and its meaning.
Let’s look through this systematically:

A is a great answer, as it is especially representative of the last paragraph where he

calls on all Americans to answer the summons to help fight the problems facing all
mankind.

B is also true, as evidenced by the first line of the speech.

So far, both A and B could be correct!

C is a true statement if you interpret Kennedy’s words in a certain way, but that
interpretation is not the most accurate way to encapsulate what Kennedy is saying.
Given how good A and B were, it is safe to cross C off this list, because it already is
clearly not the best answer.

D is true, but way too general as compared to A and B. Similar to C, this is not a bad
answer, but it already falls behind A and B, so it is safe to cross D off here as well.

When examining A and B, you need to look for what is the best “overall” statement.
They are both true, so now it comes down to which is the “better” answer for the
specific question being asked. When evaluated in this way, A emerges as the best
answer. A encapsulates everything that Kennedy is saying. B is focused on that
opening statement, but does not do as good of a job of fully capturing Kennedy’s
message as A does. A is the right answer.

As you can see from the example, these are complicated questions. They require
thinking and logical skills. However, they are not impossible. The answers are there
(either in the passage or through some logical conclusions) for you to find. The key is to
refer back to the passage and let the text guide you in what your answer will be.
Eliminate the answers that are clearly wrong, and when you cannot eliminate any
more, you have to split hairs on potentially several viable options. Additionally, be sure
not to get too bogged down in the details. Many of these questions are about the
overall message, tone or theme of the passage. Having a broader understanding of

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the passage is more likely a measure of success than becoming too caught in the
details initially. Once you have a solid understanding of those big picture ideas of the
passage, going back through to study the details will help guide your answer choices.

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Vocabulary
KEYS: Vocabulary tests are very different than the other tests that have been discussed
here. There is no passage to refer back to, and taking a systematic approach is much
harder. For vocabulary, it often comes down to whether or not you know the word in
question. If you know the word, you will get the question right. If you don’t, there are a
few strategies that could help you increase your chances at either arriving at the right
answer or making a good guess.

Example:

The __________ South was a society dependent on and built around slave labor, which put
them at odds with their northern brethren.
a. Periodic
b. Antebellum
c. Geographical
d. Xenophobic

While not all questions are formulated like this, most questions have some context that
you can refer to in order to help you. The correct answer here is B- Antebellum
(meaning before the war). If you know that word, you would likely get the answer
correct. If you did not know Antebellum, there are a few strategies that you could
employ:

• Read the sentence and contextualize

o What words make sense placed in the sentence?
o What context clues can you gather than might help you?
• What words do you know?
o You are given four words- do you know any of them? If you do, can you eliminate
any of the answer choices?
• Are there any prefixes that you know?
o Perhaps you know “Ante” means before. That could help tremendously in a situation
like this.

Again, so much is dependent on individual variance of word knowledge. But you will
run into words you do not know. When that happens, use these strategies. Each
question likely has something there that you have some knowledge on. It may not be
much, but use whatever knowledge you have to assist you in sorting through the
question to get to an answer.

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Language Presentation
The Language Presentation Test is designed to evaluate a wide range of written
language and grammatical skills. There are several different types of questions
contained in this section.

• Sentence Completion- Spelling and Grammar

• Spelling
• Restatements
• Written Communication
• Punctuation and Capitalization
• Information Presentation
• Paragraph Organization

The skills being tested are diverse, but all related to a similar set of skills. There are some
general strategies that you can take that apply to every single category:

• Read-“aloud”- How does it sound?

o For most of these questions, you can either solve the problem or eliminate incorrect
answers by reading it “aloud” (though you should probably think about how it
sounds in your head to not disturb other testers!). Your brain is trained to hear things
correctly. Read the answer choices EXACTLY how they are written. The wrong
answers will probably sound wrong. It will sound unnatural. This is a simple, yet
extremely effective tool to weed out incorrect answers.
• Does that look right?
o Especially for any questions related to spelling and punctuation, a lot of incorrect
answers will flat out look wrong. Similar to how wrong answers will sound wrong, you
will be able to recognize words that are very clearly spelled wrong. This strategy may
not get you to arrive completely at the right answer, but it should help you eliminate
at least one incorrect answer.
• Be systematic
o Process of elimination helps you immensely no matter what the topic of test is!
• Don’t overthink it
o With questions like this, your first instinct is often right. This is not to say you should not
take the time to think and consider each question, but do not overthink it and talk
yourself out of the right answer. For these types of questions, it is easy to question
yourself so much that you end up deciding on the wrong answer.
• Completion
o For the paragraph organization and information presentation, make sure that the
answers form a fully completed thought and makes sense with the flow of

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information. Answer choices could be “true”, but not the right answers because
they are not complete enough.

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