Parallel Reasoning in RC - Quick Question

[moshei24]

I feel like the parallel questions in RC tend to be extremely difficult if you don't have a complete grasp on the passage. Do you have any advice on how to approach this type of question in that situation?

Thanks!

[Adam Tyson]

I find that most often the Parallel Reasoning questions in RC come in the form of "which of these magazine article titles is most similar" or something like that. Those questions don't lend themselves well to typical Parallel Reasoning approaches like doubling the conclusion, but they do tend to work well with the test of abstraction. Try prephrasing an abstraction of the arguments presented in the passage (and these tend to come up a lot in comparative reading, so prephrase an abstraction of the main point of each short passage), and then apply that abstraction to the answer choices. For example, in the course we cover the comparative reading passage about national minorities and the problems faced by the Roma. An abstraction of the first passage might be "The lack of a clear definition causes problems, especially for a particular group", while the abstraction of the second passage might be "a particular definition should be modified so as not to exclude that same particular group."

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Adam

[moshei24]

I forget that most people don't use abstraction for all parallel reasoning questions like I do, lol.

Also, the type that I'm referring to isn't the one where it's with titles, sorry!

I'm referring to ones like in Oct 2010 #27 or like in Oct 2012 #13.

Any ideas? Also, trying to prephrase wouldn't work in this situation, as I'm referring to a situation where I don't have a such a great grasp on the passage, because it's rather difficult like in the ones I mentioned. If I have a grasp, it's a lot simpler, but what about when my understanding of the passage is shaky?

Thanks!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Clearly, having a solid grasp of the passage is key; if your understanding is "shaky," many of the questions will seem quite difficult. That said, by "solid grasp" we really mean understanding the elements that comprise the VIEWSTAMP method. I often find that the parallel reasoning questions you describe are easy to answer if you understand the purpose of the passage and its overall organizational structure. These are "big picture"/abstract questions: you don't need to have a solid grasp of every single detail in order to get them right.

Thanks!

[moshei24]

So, most of the time, my best bet for a PR question on RC is to look at it from a big picture perspective?

Thanks!

[Steve Stein]

That really depends on how broad the question is. For the one you referred to in the 2012 test, that answer is based largely on the closing paragraph. The one from 2010 is basically answered by the third paragraph.

Regardless, I think that attempting a prephrase every time is a great idea. You are more likely to be confused by their clever wrong answer choices if you don't have at least some idea of what you're looking for.

And if you know that this type of question gives you trouble, I'd advise doing the other questions in the passage set first, ideally crystallizing your understanding of the passage in the process.

I hope that's helpful! Let me know--thanks!

~Steve

[moshei24]

Well, prephrasing this type of question would just be thinking about the idea it points at. It's not like most other prephrases.

I guess my best bet is just to think about what it's talking about based on where it points me to.

Thanks!

[r miller]

it concerns me that you mention not having a clear grasp of the passage - the use of the term "shaky".
it is difficult to answer any of the questions without a clear understanding of the passage. this - including structural understanding - should be your main goal when reading . we don't really read passages ----> we analyze them, pick them apart.

when i say clear understanding, i mean of the passage generally. as i believe was already mentioned, you're not reading to memorize every detail, but rather to know where the passage is generally going. if you do not have a fairly good idea, it's problematic to be answering any questions, although some will help you expand your basic understanding of the passage. but, you should see that that last requires you to work backwards, reverse engineer your understanding.

anyway, you tend to focus in on specific questions and certain of the accompanying answer choices. better to focus in a better understanding of the passage before rushing to get to and answer questions. of course, there is time pressure, but this is why we practice.

good luck!

[r miller]

it occurred to me to add that, while we certainly want to understand the mechanics of every question, so that we may do better on the next one - that is of course what we call learning, lol, if you simply don't understand one, don't obsess, but go on, look at some others, and, if necessary, come back to the problem later or another time. it may hit you differently or better, or your other forays may have increased your knowledge and experience, and you may now have less trouble with the earlier one. keep in mind, of course, that some questions are similar or repetitive, in either in form or idea, and other questions can increase your repository of knowledge, helping you deal with other questions, which may simply be variations.

in fact, this is to an extent part of a good strategy for working the entire test, itself.

tx and good luck!

[moshei24]

Thank you!