Two RC Question Stems

[gabs.baker]

Hello! I consistently miss two types of RC questions and would like some help with how to approach each one.

1."The author would be most likely to agree/disagree with which one of the following statements?"
- I know this is categorized as a MBT/AP but the "most likely" throws me off. Does that mean the answer is explicitly stated in the passage or that it's more of an assumption?

2."Which one of the following sentences would most logically complete the passage?"
- This expansion question is killer for me. I find these questions to be extremely time consuming since I feel like I have to go back and read the last few sentences of the passage. And even after doing that I still seem to miss them! Is there a better way to approach them?

Thanks for all your help!

[Elizabeth Mulkey]

Hi Gabs,

You're right in identifying these types of questions as Must Be True, and you can treat them like you would Must Be True questions in the Logical Reasoning section. The answer will be somewhere in the passage, but it will probably be a combination of ideas or an inference you need to make. Try to eliminate wrong answers by determining if an answer choice is something that could be true, but doesn't necessarily have to be true based on the information in the passage. Other wrong answers might be exaggerated - taking the information from the passage and making a broader statement than the passage actually supports. Also look at whether the answer choice contains new information, and be on the lookout for "shell game" answers that take information or ideas from the passage, then combine them in an incorrect way. It might be helpful to visualize the diagrams of Logical Reasoning Question Families from Lesson 1 - we're accepting the information in the passage as true, and then finding the answer choice containing only information from that closed universe of facts and arguments.

As far as the second type of question, a question phrased exactly like this will be much less common than the Must Be True questions, so working with more focus on Must Be True questions would be a more efficient use of time (if you're working with a limited amount of prep time before the test). A good approach to these questions may be to answer them after any Main Point questions or questions about the primary purpose of the passage. If you have a grasp on the author's tone or attitude, you can eliminate answer choices that don't "mesh" with the overall tone of the passage. Is the author generally positive about the topic? Criticizing the system? Advocating for a change? Understanding the author's perspective can help you answer a more global question. You may also want to save this question for last, after you've worked through the other questions and have a more solid understanding of the ideas at play in the passage. Hope this helps!

- Elizabeth