They help! Combo of someone's story and their tips is great. It shows how it's people who are taking the test, many of their struggles we can connect with, and it's good to know many others are doing/have done this too

Thank you! This helped me!

I don't use cause and effect (Cause-> Effect). It only works sometimes. Here's why:

"Green paint is guaranteed if you mix blue paint with yellow paint."

Cause: mix blue and yellow. Effect: green

mix blue and yellow -> green.

That's right. If we mix blue and yellow, we 100% will get green. We were guaranteed that by the sentence

"Green paint requires mixing blue paint and yellow paint"

Cause: mix yellow and blue. Effect: green

mix blue and yellow -> green.

That's wrong.

mix blue and yellow -> green means if I mix blue paint and yellow paint, 100% I will get green. The sentence doesn't say that. The sentence says if I want to get green, I will have to mix blue paint and yellow paint. But I may have to do other steps. The sentence doesn't say I will get green paint if I mix blue and yellow paint. It just says that mixing blue and yellow paint is a needed step to get green paint.

Here's an easy way to see it:

"College requires going to first grade." Cause: first grade. Effect: "college" But we know one can't go to college if all we've completed is first grade.

It's hard when it sounds right like yellow and blue paint making green.

Here's what I'm doing that works.

TLDR: Find the two concepts and compare.

"I don't have this one, so I certainly won't get that one." "this one" is Necessary.

"I have this one, and it is it enough (but not for sure the only thing needed) to get that one." "this one" is Sufficient.

I cannot guarantee this will work every time, but it has worked every time so far for me.

I find the two main concepts in the sentence and I ask:

Necessary Question: "Is this one necessary to have that one?" or if the words necessary and sufficient are losing their meaning because we've heard them so much by now: "Will I certainly not get that one if I don't have this one?" If yes, "this one" is your Necessary idea and it goes on the right side of the arrow. Try both concepts for "this one".

Sufficient Question: "Is this one sufficient to have the other?" or "Is this one enough, but not for sure all that is needed, to allow for the other?" If yes, "this one" is your Sufficient idea and it goes on the left side of the arrow. Try both concepts for "this one".

Necessary example:

"Hitting a nail requires a hammer"

Necessary Question: "Is hitting a nail necessary to a hammer?" or "Will I certainly not a hammer if I don't hitting a nail?" No. Switch concepts. "Is a hammer necessary to hitting a nail?" or "Will I certainly not hit the nail if I don't have a hammer?." Yes!

"Hammer" is necessary. Goes on the right

hit a nail -> hammer

Sufficient Example:

"Politicians that love the environment support policies to grow trees."

Necessary Question: "Are politicians that love the environment necessary to support policies to grow trees?" or "Will I certainly not get policies to grow trees if I don't have politicians that love the environment?" NO. Logically we may think so, but it's not necessary (always required).

Sufficient Question: "Is being a politician that loves the environment sufficient to support policies that grow trees?" or "Are politicians that love the environment enough, but not for sure all that is needed to support politics to grow trees." Yes.

"Politicians that love the environment" is sufficient. Goes on the left

politicians that love the environment -> policies to grow trees