#help How to eliminate answer choices that are not mentioned in the passage..

ltypku23

Hi 7Sagers,

The questions that eat up much of my time (and eventually I choose an incorrect answer) are those that have answer choices not mentioned in the passage. This happens a lot especially in "author would be most likely to agree" questions.
After reading the passage (~3.5 min), I really don't remember those details. But at the same time those not mentioned answer choices have some mentioned words and it takes so long to check them in the passage (and finally i usually pick a wrong one after spending 3 min on that question).

For those who had this problem but already solved it, what's your secret?

Thanks in advance!

ltypku23

.. crickets chirping..

drbrown2

I don’t think there is a trick to fixing this problem, but I am improving by simply reading for structure and practicing. Once you review enough you will notice the types of author perspective questions that continue to show up. Actively reading and paying attention to the details that are often asked make the questions slightly more intuitive.

There are some author’s perspective questions that are really easy and others that are so subtle you are probably going to get it wrong pretty often. Don’t spend 3 minutes on any question. Eliminate the ones you are sure you can eliminate and as soon as you get stuck between 2 answer choices move on. If you have the luxury of an extra couple minutes at the end you can return. Guessing between 2 answer choices after 1 minute is better than spending 3 minutes deliberating between multiple answers and still probably getting it wrong.

ltypku23

Thank you @drbrown2 ! Yeah, time management problem! For me right now, I occasionally become so "into" the question and forgot about the time....

kleinstd

Make sure you note the author's main argument, what is the author's opinion about the subject thats being written about. If you understand the author's attitude, perspective, and argument these questions should be quite simple. Hope this helps!