Strengthen/Weaken LR Help

[Miami88]

Hi guys,

So far I am doing pretty well in the LR section getting about 80-90% accuracy at about 1:45 per question (just started studying, of course I want to get that to 100% accuracy under 1:20).

I am noticing, however, a discrepancy with my Strengthen/Weaken questions. Its taking me twice as long to get through these questions and I am averaging about 30-50% accuracy. Any tips on finding the right answer?

[EarlCat]

General questions like this are hard to answer, because its tough to know what you're not understanding.  Post some questions (PT#, Section#, and Question#) that have you stumped.

[Miami88]

General questions like this are hard to answer, because its tough to know what you're not understanding.  Post some questions (PT#, Section#, and Question#) that have you stumped.

I understand why they are right and wrong - after the fact.

This lead me to figure out where the error is occurring and I have pin pointed it. I am actually doing great in preparation for questions (understanding conclusions, evidence, assumption, scope, formal logic, keywords etc.) and most of my predictions are dead on with the correct answer choices - and all of this is done within efficient times. It seems, however, the answers themselves are messing with me. For some reason I can't see through the awkward language. When I do I get really excited because it sticks out immensely from the rest, but if not I begin to tread.

I have noticed this now in my Reading Comprehension section as well. I understand everything just fine until I begin reading the answers - even when I have the exact prediction of the correct answer, I often don't see it. This, then, seems to be a major issue I am having with all questions.

Any advice? Here are examples of the above issue. I know exactly why they are wrong but maybe there are common "wrong answers" that I am falling for that I just don't see?

PT 27, Sec 3, Q 24 - Answered A instead of E
PT 24, Sec 3, Q 9 - Answered B instead of E
PT 35, Sec 1, Q 4 - Answered D instead of C
PT 24, Sec 3, Q 22 - Answered D instead of C
PT 36, Sec 3 Q2 - Answered C instead of A
PT 17, Sec 3, Q 12 - Answered B instead of D


By the way, thank you so much EarCat - so far you have really helped!

[EarlCat]

PT 27, Sec 3, Q 24 - Answered A instead of E

PT27 S3 Q24 is actually C.
We are asked why Freud said "nothing is incredible" in fairy tales.  The sentence in which that appears says, "...in those stories everything is possible, so nothing is incredible."  The answer must be, then, something along the lines of "In those stories everything is possible."  C does that: "fairy tales are so fantastic that in them nothing seems out of the ordinary."

A and E, on the other hand, talk about the reader.  The fact that the child reader can understand a fairy tale (A) or that the reader represses elements of a fairy tale (E) don't tell us why Freud said nothing in them was incredible.

[Xlogic]

I am actually doing great in preparation for questions (understanding conclusions, evidence, assumption, scope, formal logic, keywords etc.) and most of my predictions are dead on with the correct answer choices - and all of this is done within efficient times. It seems, however, the answers themselves are messing with me. For some reason I can't see through the awkward language. When I do I get really excited because it sticks out immensely from the rest, but if not I begin to tread.

I have noticed this now in my Reading Comprehension section as well. I understand everything just fine until I begin reading the answers - even when I have the exact prediction of the correct answer, I often don't see it. This, then, seems to be a major issue I am having with all questions.

Any advice? Here are examples of the above issue. I know exactly why they are wrong but maybe there are common "wrong answers" that I am falling for that I just don't see?

I'm sort of in the same boat. I have the most consistent problems with Necessary Assumption and Strengthen/Weaken questions.
Most times when I review the question it makes sense (sometimes not).

One thing you may want to do, which I've been working on, is categorizing the wrong answer choices during your review.
Is the answer option wrong because it is...
- Out of scope (careful with this one)
- Narrow scope
- Reverse (Strengthen instead of weaken)
- True, but irrelevant (doesn't strengthen or weaken)

(Is there a pattern in the wrong choices you choose??)

I've also been working on high level strategies for Strengthen/Weaken questions as well as other question types.
For Strengthen/Weaken: What's the conclusion, how is it supported? What's the Gap?

I used to get burned a lot because I would quickly cross off answers that seemed out of scope. But I've noticed that for Strengthen/Weaken questions, the correct answer is often something I did not think about. So, maybe from that standpoint, we should focus more on what the correct answer should do, as opposed to what we think it will actually be.

I say this because often times I'm like "Yeah, the correct answer must be this... and then I go through choices A to E and damn near cross every one of them out! Damn!". The correct answer could strengthen/weaken the argument by a mere 1% and still be right.