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Describe relationship

(Rel.)

Questions that appear in comparative passages that ask us to describe the relationship between the two mini-passages.

Avg. 0.3 per section

“How does the purpose of passage B relate to the content of passage A?”

0%
27%
53%
13%
7%

Avg. difficulty: 3.0

Correct answer criteria

  • Accurately describes the relationship between one passage and another
  • Does not contain anything unsupported

Key tactics

  • Forming a broad anticipation is often useful (e.g. noting where the passages agree and disagree, or whether they build on one another), but often process of elimination is required
  • Read the stem carefully, noting the precise elements being compared (e.g. in the example stem, the PURPOSE of one passage is compared to the CONTENT of the other)

Answer choice tips

  • Judge answer choices by a MSS standard - wrong answers will often contain subtle unsupported elements
  • Be prepared for abstract answers - take time to match different parts of the correct answer to the stimulus. If you can't find support for every part of the answer, it's wrong

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Logical reasoning question types

Alternate explanation Analogy (LR) Argument part Bad authority Causal chain Causal mechanism Causal reasoning Circular reasoning Conditional reasoning Confusing sufficiency and necessity Correlation Diagram? Directionally wrong Eliminating options Equivocation Evaluate Except (LR) Failed alternate explanation False dichotomy Fighting the hypothetical Fill in the blank Flaw or descriptive weakening Illusory inconsistency Inference Internal contradiction Irrelevant corroboration Kick it up Lack of support v. false conclusion Link assumption Main conclusion or main point Math Mental state v. reality Method of reasoning or descriptive Miscellaneous (LR) Misdirected response Most strongly supported Must be false Must be true Necessary assumption Parallel flawed method of reasoning Parallel method of reasoning Part v. whole Phenomenon-hypothesis (LR) Plausibility Point at issue: agree Point at issue: disagree Principle PSA - find or complete the application PSA - find the rule Quantifier Relative v. absolute Resolve reconcile or explain Rule-application Sampling Source attack Strengthen Sufficient assumption Time Unwarranted assumption Value judgment Weaken Weighing factors

Reading comprehension question types

Analogy (RC) Application Art Author’s attitude Author’s perspective Comparative Critique or debate Describe approach Describe organization Describe relationship Except (RC) Humanities Implied Law Logical continuation Main point Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Miscellaneous (RC) Other’s perspective Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC) Principle or generalization Problem-analysis Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Purpose of paragraph Purpose of passage Science Single position Spotlight Stated Structure WSE (RC)

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