Choosing Between Two Good Answers

[agg554]

In my most recent practice tests, I consistently come down to two answers in my LR section. It feels as though I'm choosing the wrong one every time. When I review my test, I understand why the other one is the right answer.

My question is: How do I get past this!? Why am I always going for the wrong answer!? Are there good 50/50 techniques or things I should know for when I'm deciding between two answers?

[Steve Stein]

Good question!

First, it's great that you are able to rule out all but two answer choices on so many occasions. Part of the reason that you feel like you're consistently choosing the wrong one is that the mistakes are the ones that draw your attention. After all, in the instances when you chose the right answer, that was the end of the story.

As for narrowing down the final two, I would recommend that you try focusing a bit more on the conclusion of the stimulus, and maybe circling the important words in the answer choices--the ones that limit an argument or make it absolute. If you start to circle the words such as "only" and "many" you might find that the wrong answer choice is easier to rule out.

Finally, I would recommend that you go back over the ones that you've missed in the past--it's great that you can usually understand the right answer in retrospect--to me that says that you should maybe be more meticulous with your notating, and perhaps should be taking a bit more time eliminating that final contender.

I hope that's helpful--let me know. Thanks!

~Steve

[moshei24]

Just want to add my two-cents.

One thing I would suggest is that if you narrow it down to two choices, and both seem a little bit off, look at the ones you crossed out. A few times, I cancelled out a few, and was down to two, but neither seemed good enough, and the answer ended up being one I crossed out earlier.

Also, instead of trying to figure out which one is right, try to figure out which is wrong. That helps a lot, too.

Also, to elaborate a little bit on what Steve said about circling words like "only" and "many," realize that very often a question is wrong because of a slight difference in absoluteness or time-wise or even in terms of numbers/percentages. Look for which answer matches up worsely with the stimulus.

Let me know if that helps.

Thanks!