Identifying question "stems" for R.C.?

jrkovals

Hello anybody,

I just recently started studying for R.C. In LR, I found "identifying" question stems extremely helpful. It helped me tunnel mind for what I was looking for thus allowing me to eliminate incorrect answer choices more quickly. I am wondering if doing this is possible for R.C.? Are there groups of words that are sufficient for identifying all the different types of questions in the R.C. section? Thanks in advance for any future input.

Jake

Justin Giles

There are a few stems in RC, but most have an LR analogue. For example, "the passage leads to which of the following inferences" is MBT. "The passage most strongly supports" is MSS. There's also Strengthen and Weaken, usually in the form of "Which of the following strengthens the author's argument that..." The difference in RC is that the question types often ask you to target a specific piece. In LR, you strengthen the argument. In RC, you strengthen the *author's* argument, or the critic's or whoever.

Then there's the MP questions, the Argument Part questions ("the author brings up X primarily to..."), or the ever-dreaded Passage Structure questions ("Which of the following best describes the format of the passage?").

Hope that helps!