Not Reading All Answer Choices

[Question Asker]

Hi. I would like to know if it is a good strategy to not read all the answer choices for a question if a student can't finish a section on time. For example, if a student reads all the answer choices then he can only finish 16 of 25 questions. However, if the student does not read all the answer choices and just selects the answer he thinks is best for each question then the student can finish 20 of 25 questions.

I would like to know whether this is a good strategy for logical reasoning and reading comprehension.

Thank you.

[Jon Denning]

Thanks for the question, and welcome to the Forum!

This is a common one, where people often wonder about the "dangers" of selecting an answer and moving on without giving the remaining options any thought. In fact, we've addressed it quite a few times before in this very Forum:

http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... f=2&t=6772
http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... =15&t=1607
http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... f=2&t=4462
http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... f=2&t=6287
http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... f=6&t=6439

And that's far from an exhaustive list. Point being, test takers ask about this a lot.

My personal take is that you should always strive to read every answer in LR and RC (LG less so, as right answers there tend to be more easily/definitively proven), since the test makers are notoriously great at making wrong answers appear attractive, and disguising right answers so that they're not initially appealing. But I realize that time considerations play a role and reading 125 answers (roughly) in an LR section can be a tall order.

With that in mind, let me remind you that it's all a matter of measurable quantity: do you regularly come away with more points by finishing 20 questions on a pick-the-first-answer approach, or by finishing 16 questions and reading every answer? Seems easy enough to determine with just an A/B comparison. So time yourself with both approaches and see!

Ideally speaking you read everything...realistically speaking though some adjustments may prove necessary, and that's okay! The key is capitalizing on the measurable nature of both, experimenting a bit—even in terms of confidence; maybe only select and move for answers where you're extremely (80+%) certain they're correct—and using those results to dictate what's most appropriate for test day.

Keep me posted on your progress, and let me know if you have any additional questions!

[Richardjh]

This is one of the situations all of us are facing. But according to me. not reading all the choice to save the time is not a good option. Our question makers will be so tricky that they will make the option such that we will get confused with the right and the wrong one. So if we don't read it it fully we will surely choose the wrong one.So my opinion is to read all choices.

[Jon Denning]

Yeah Richard I agree. It's a common, and sometimes confusing, issue. It really comes down to confidence and accuracy, where the more (correctly/accurately) confident you are, the more appealing it is to pick and move. But as you point out, the test makers are so good at creating attractive wrong answers, and disguising right answers, that not giving all five some consideration is always risky.

Personally I read everything and weigh them relative to one another—if I see one I like I compare the others to it—as quickly as possible, so that I'm less likely to be lured into a mistake, and still conserve as much time as possible when reading them all.

The "test" I mention above should be the deciding factor though. If you get more points selecting the first answer that appeals to you and moving on than you do reading them all but running out of time, then the decision is an easy one