![\"Manhattan](\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2019\/02\/gmat-critical-reasoning-tips.png\")
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Feeling stumped by GMAT Critical Reasoning? Here are our 10 best GMAT Critical Reasoning tips. You\u2019ll find tips for studying Critical Reasoning before test day, as well as maximizing your chances of getting tough questions right.<\/span><\/p>\n A normal GMAT Critical Reasoning argument contains a conclusion and premises that support the conclusion. However, there are a couple of unusual problem types (Draw a Conclusion and Explain the Discrepancy) where this doesn\u2019t apply. Draw a Conclusion problems don\u2019t have a conclusion at all! <\/span><\/p>\n The only way to tell what problem type you\u2019re solving is to read the question, which always appears beneath the argument. Always read the question first. That\u2019s how you\u2019ll know whether you\u2019re about to read a normal argument or something weird. If you don\u2019t do this, you can waste time looking for a conclusion that isn\u2019t even there. <\/span><\/p>\n For more on the different GMAT Critical Reasoning problem types, check out this article by expert instructor Stacey Koprince.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a way to really understand a GMAT Critical Reasoning argument. First, spot the conclusion of the argument. Then, ask yourself this question: <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy does the author believe that, anyways?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Most GMAT Critical Reasoning problems don\u2019t ask you to just point to the premises and the conclusion. You need to understand the author\u2019s reasoning and how it supports their claim. Here\u2019s an example: <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt often costs much less in the long run to lease a car than to buy a comparable one. If you own a car, it depreciates in value over time. A monthly lease payment can also be as little as half the amount of a loan payment for the same car.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The conclusion is in the first sentence. The second two sentences are premises, but you shouldn\u2019t stop there. Instead, break down the author\u2019s reasoning until you understand why she believes her conclusion. Here are her premises: <\/span><\/p>\n But how do those premises connect to her belief? <\/span><\/p>\n Once you start really questioning how the premises connect to the conclusion, you\u2019ll start to spot assumptions that aren\u2019t necessarily true. A lower monthly payment doesn\u2019t mean that something is less expensive, after all. But that\u2019s what the author thinks, so it\u2019s a critical part of the argument!<\/span><\/p>\n A lot of Critical Reasoning problems ask you to find holes in an argument. A good way to do this is by <\/span>thinking of strange and extreme scenarios and asking whether the argument would still make sense<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at that argument about car leases again. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt often costs much less in the long run to lease a car than to buy a comparable one. If you own a car, it depreciates in value over time. A monthly lease payment can also be as low as half the amount of a loan payment for the same car.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Take the first premise, about depreciation, and picture a weird scenario related to it. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Take that strange possibility, and use it to poke a hole in the argument! If the amount of depreciation is tiny, then you can\u2019t argue that a leased car will cost \u201cmuch less.\u201d Therefore, the author is assuming that the depreciation is significant. <\/span><\/p>\n Try the same approach with the second premise.<\/span><\/p>\n Sure, the monthly payment would be much lower for a lease, but in the long run, you\u2019d save money by buying a car.<\/span><\/p>\n The weakest parts of an argument are its strongest claims. Which of these claims is less likely to be correct? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n How about this pair? Which statement is less likely to be right? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And this one? <\/span><\/p>\n In each pair, the first statement is less likely to be right than the second one. That\u2019s because the first statement makes a stronger, bolder claim. In the words of the late Carl Sagan, \u201cextraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.\u201d Without extraordinary evidence (a study of every single diabetic person in the world), it would be extremely hard to prove that <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> diabetes is caused by sugar. <\/span><\/p>\n When you do Critical Reasoning problems, you should read arguments skeptically. Look for ways in which the argument could be wrong. One of the best places to find issues with an argument is by attacking the strongest claims it makes. If you see strong language, such as \u201call,\u201d \u201cevery,\u201d \u201ccannot,\u201d \u201cnever,\u201d etc., you can probably think of a counterexample.<\/span><\/p>\n Modifiers? These are supposed to be GMAT Critical Reasoning Tips, not GMAT Sentence Correction tips<\/a>, right? But modifiers can actually help you with GMAT Critical Reasoning. Here\u2019s an example: <\/span><\/p>\n The patio is wet. Therefore, it must have rained last night. <\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s a modifier in the conclusion: the phrase <\/span>last night<\/b>. When you see a modifier in the conclusion, zero in on it and see if it points you to a flaw in the argument. In this case, what if it rained this morning, or two days ago, instead of specifically last night? <\/span><\/p>\n How about this one? <\/span><\/p>\n Bicycle helmets cause an 85% reduction in the frequency of cycling-related injuries to the head and face. The province of Malvernia hopes to prevent a significant fraction of cycling injuries by mandating helmet use for everyone under the age of 12, starting this year. <\/span><\/p>\n Now, we have three modifiers. One is in a premise: <\/span>to the head and face<\/b>. The others are in the conclusion: <\/span>for everyone under the age of 12 <\/b>and <\/span>starting this year. <\/b>Be skeptical of both of these! What if there are currently almost no head and face injuries? Reducing them by 85% would be good, but it wouldn\u2019t prevent a significant fraction of <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> injuries. And where did the people under age 12 come from? It\u2019s possible that head and face injuries primarily, or solely, affect older cyclists. Finally, \u201cstarting this year?\u201d What if everybody is already wearing a helmet right now?<\/span><\/p>\n GMAT Critical Reasoning loves to confuse you with percents, numbers, rates, and relationships. Critical Reasoning might not be on the Quant section, but a little math awareness still helps! Here are some concepts to be careful with: <\/span><\/p>\n Here are two <\/span>bad arguments<\/b> that you might see, based on these ideas. Can you find some flaws in each of these? <\/span><\/p>\n A lot of GMAT Critical Reasoning arguments talk about <\/span>why<\/span><\/i> something happened<\/span><\/a>. According to data from GMAT Navigator, this type of argument shows up a lot in really tough Critical Reasoning problems. Here\u2019s what it might look like: <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJoel showed up to work this morning in a brand new Lamborghini. He probably won the lottery.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n The conclusion is that Joel won the lottery. It\u2019s trying to explain <\/span>why<\/span><\/i> he\u2019s driving a Lamborghini! Some arguments also make assumptions about why something happened:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been sick all week. I should stop going outside when it\u2019s raining.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n In this argument, the author doesn\u2019t directly explain why she\u2019s been sick. But she implies that she\u2019s been sick because she\u2019s been going outside in the rain. Let\u2019s see one more: <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere were strange lights in the sky over Seattle last night. We were probably visited by UFOs.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n This type of argument often shows up in tricky Weaken the Argument problems. One way to weaken this type of argument is to show that there might have been <\/span>another<\/span><\/i> reason for whatever happened. If there\u2019s a different possible explanation\u2014swamp gas instead of UFOs, for instance\u2014then the explanation in the argument might be wrong. <\/span><\/p>\n Try thinking of good weakeners for the first two arguments, about the Lamborghini and the week-long illness. Here are ours: <\/span><\/p>\n Weakener: \u201cThis afternoon, I saw Joel on the news, being arrested for car theft.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Weakener: \u201cI work in a daycare and every child there has been sick for two weeks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In this article, GMAT instructor Ryan Jacobs explains why you shouldn\u2019t cross off \u201cweird\u201d Critical Reasoning answers<\/span><\/a>. Here\u2019s the rundown on <\/span>answer choices that look weird. <\/b>In some problem types, the most boring-looking answer is often the right one. (By \u201cboring,\u201d we\u2019re talking about anything that just reuses ideas and language from the argument, rather than introducing a new idea.) <\/span><\/p>\n In other problem types, \u201cexciting\u201d answers are more likely to be right. An \u201cexciting\u201d answer is one that tells you something brand-new that wasn\u2019t addressed in the argument. Here\u2019s the breakdown: <\/span><\/p>\n Boring answers are usually right<\/b> in Find the Assumption problems and Draw a Conclusion problems. <\/span><\/p>\n Exciting answers are usually right<\/b> in Strengthen\/Weaken\/Evaluate the Argument problems and Explain the Discrepancy problems. <\/span><\/p>\n Why? Find the Assumption and Draw a Conclusion are all about using the information you\u2019ve been given. You\u2019re not allowed to add in any new facts. In these problems, the right answer often looks dull and wishy-washy.<\/span><\/p>\n In the other problem types, new information is good! You\u2019re specifically trying to add in a new fact that will impact the argument. An answer choice that seems to come out of nowhere could be right. <\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s more reading material about boring answers on GMAT Verbal<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Ever catch yourself crossing off an answer choice just because you were sick of looking at it? Because it sounded weird or didn\u2019t make sense to you? Because you couldn\u2019t figure out what it was saying? We all do this, but it\u2019s not a good move. <\/span><\/p>\n In hard GMAT Critical Reasoning problems, the GMAT writers <\/span>want<\/span><\/i> the right answers to look off-putting and strange. After all, the hard problems are hard because most people don\u2019t pick the right answer! If you eliminate something just because it looks weird, you might have just crossed off the right answer. <\/span><\/p>\n Where does the \u201cstuck between two\u201d problem come into it? The next time you get stuck between two answer choices, take a second look at those answers. You probably aren\u2019t stuck because they both sounded great! More likely, they both sounded pretty lousy. Usually, one of them was an answer that you didn\u2019t really understand. The other was an answer that made sense but that you weren\u2019t totally satisfied with. You were dealing with a <\/span>wrong versus weird<\/b> scenario. <\/span><\/p>\n This article by GMAT instructor James Brock gives you the details on wrong versus weird<\/span><\/a>. The quick tip, though, is to <\/span>pick the weird answer, not the wrong answer<\/b>. If you know an answer is wrong, cross it off, even if the other answer doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense! It\u2019s okay to pick an answer you don\u2019t totally get, as long as you eliminated everything else.<\/span><\/p>\n First of all, keep an error log for Critical Reasoning\u2014even if it seems hard or pointless at first! Here\u2019s why it\u2019ll pay off. You can use your Critical Reasoning error log as an opportunity to understand yourself better. <\/span><\/p>\n Every time you eliminate an answer or pick an answer, you had some kind of reason for it. Some of those reasons will be good ones (you thought through the logic and picked the answer that seemed to follow the rules). Other reasons won\u2019t be so good. They might even make you feel silly when you think back to them. Here are some common \u201csilly\u201d reasons to cross off an answer: <\/span><\/p>\n Every time you get a Critical Reasoning problem wrong, dig into <\/span>why you eliminated the right answer <\/b>(even if you did it for a silly reason). Also, think about <\/span>why you chose the wrong answer<\/b>. You might have had a logical reason for it, in which case you should reflect on your logic and see if you can figure out what went wrong! Or, it might have been a \u201csilly\u201d reason too.<\/span><\/p>\n The point of keeping a Critical Reasoning error log isn\u2019t to beat yourself up over mistakes, or to record every detail of the correct solution. It\u2019s to find patterns in how you think and how you act that you might not have noticed otherwise. Knowing yourself is the first step to being a smarter, stronger, faster GMAT taker. ?<\/span><\/p>\n Want more guidance from our GMAT gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free! We\u2019re not kidding.\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Check out our upcoming courses here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Chelsey Cooley<\/a> Feeling stumped by GMAT Critical Reasoning? Here are our 10 best GMAT Critical Reasoning tips. You\u2019ll find tips for studying Critical Reasoning before test day, as well as maximizing your chances of getting tough questions right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,873,880,929,874,52871,930,2,10],"tags":[54245],"yst_prominent_words":[54235,54231,54239,54166,54230,54226,54233,54236,54241,53635,54227,54167,54229,54172,54228,54238,54243,54237,54240,54232],"class_list":["post-16880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critical-reasoning","category-for-current-studiers","category-gmat-101","category-gmat-prep","category-gmat-resources","category-gmat-strategies","category-gmat-study-guide","category-how-to-study","category-verbal-on-gmat","tag-critical-reasoning-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16880"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16936,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16880\/revisions\/16936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16880"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=16880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. Don\u2019t start at the beginning.<\/b><\/h4>\n
2. Why do you believe that, anyways?<\/b><\/h4>\n
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3. Get weird on GMAT Critical Reasoning<\/b><\/h4>\n
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4. Look for places to drive a wedge in.<\/b><\/h4>\n
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5. Spot the modifiers.<\/b><\/h4>\n
6. Don\u2019t be fooled by sketchy math.<\/b><\/h4>\n
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7. Some arguments \u201ctell you why.\u201d<\/b><\/h4>\n
8. Boring is beautiful\u2026 but not always.<\/b><\/h4>\n
9. What if you\u2019re stuck between two answers?<\/b><\/h4>\n
10. Know yourself.<\/b><\/h4>\n
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\n![\"Chelsey](\"https:\/\/cdn2.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/11\/chelsey-cooley-150x150.jpg\" "\\"Chelsey")
<\/a>\u00a0is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/i><\/b>Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master\u2019s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170\/170 on the GRE.\u00a0<\/em><\/i>Check out Chelsey\u2019s upcoming GMAT prep offerings here<\/a>.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"