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

Argument part Evaluate Fill in the blank Flaw or descriptive weakening Inference Main conclusion or main point Method of reasoning or descriptive Most strongly supported Must be false Must be true Necessary assumption Parallel flawed method of reasoning Parallel method of reasoning Point at issue: agree Point at issue: disagree Principle PSA - find or complete the application PSA - find the rule Resolve reconcile or explain Strengthen Sufficient assumption Weaken

Reading comprehension question types

Analogy (RC) Application Author’s attitude Author’s perspective Describe approach Describe organization Describe relationship Implied Logical continuation Main point Meaning in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Other’s perspective Principle or generalization Purpose in context (of word, phrase, or idea) Purpose of paragraph Purpose of passage Stated Structure WSE (RC)

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