Fundamentals: The Six Steps | Critical Analysis & Reasoning Skills for MCAT PDF Download

Based on these core skills, here are the six steps to follow when working the Verbal Reasoning section.

Step 1: Rank and Order the Passages

Ranking 

• The passages are not necessarily, or even usually, presented in order of difficulty. There is no reason to waste time on the hardest passage or passages, only to skip or rush through an easy passage at the end of the section. So, your first step, as you reach each new passage, is to decide if it is a NOW (or easier) passage, a LATER (or harder) passage, or a KILLER passage (one that you will simply randomly guess on). 
• To assign a rank, skim a few lines of the passage and see if you can easily paraphrase it. If you can, it’s most likely an easier passage to understand. Also quickly scroll through the questions; notice if there are lots of long, complex questions and answers or difficult question types. Base your ranking on the combination of the difficulty of the passage text and apparent difficulty of the questions.

Ordering 

• If a passage is a NOW passage, go ahead and work it through, completing all of the questions. If it is a LATER or KILLER passage, fill in a random guess for each question and use the MARK button to identify it as a passage you have skipped over. Also note the passage number on the top of your scratch paper.
• Once you have completed the NOW passages in the section, come back through the section and complete the LATER passages, and make sure that you have filled in your random guesses on your KILLER passage or passages. (See Chapter 6 of this book for more information on Ranking and Ordering.)

Step 2: Preview the Questions 

Knowing what topics show up in the questions will help you work the passage more quickly and effectively. Before working the passage, read through the question stems (not the answer choices), looking for words and phrases that indicate important passage content. Do not worry at this stage about understanding the question or identifying the question type. (See Chapter 3 of this book for more information on Previewing the Questions.) 

Step 3: Work the Passage

As you read through the passage, use the highlighting function (sparingly) to annotate the most important references in the text. This would include things like: question topics, topic sentences, words that indicate shifts in direction, the author’s tone, different points of view, and conclusions. As you read, articulate the Main Point of each chunk of information (usually, each paragraph). Use your scratch paper, especially on difficult passages, to jot down these main points. As you read, think about how these chunks relate to each other; that is, track the logical structure of the author’s argument in the passage. (See Chapter 3 of this book for more information on Active Reading and Annotation.)

Step 4: Bottom Line 

After you have read the entire passage, sum up the Bottom Line: the main point and tone of the entire passage. For particularly difficult passages, write this down on your scratch paper to make sure that you have understood the main point and purpose of the passage as a whole. (See Chapter 3 for more information on finding the Bottom Line.)

Step 5: Attack the Questions

This is how the question will be formatted on the screen:
1. When an argument is inductive, that argument: 
(A) is necessarily less conclusive than an argument that attempts to use deductive logic.
(B) is based on probability, such that the likelihood that its premises are all true is no greater than the likelihood of the truth of its conclusion.
(C) seeks to find or identify causes or explanations.
(D) when valid, may be based on evaluation of a representative sample of a population.
Do the questions in groups: Specific questions first, then General questions, and finally the Complex questions. As you work each question, follow these steps:

• Read the question word for word and identify the question type. 
• Translate the question task into your own words, thinking about what the question is asking you to do with or to the passage. 
• When the question stem provides a specific reference to the passage, go back to the passage before reading the answer choices and find the relevant information (reading at least five lines above and below the reference). 
• Paraphrase the passage information, and then, with the question type in mind, think about what the correct answer will need to do. 
• As you go through the choices, use POE actively. Look for reasons to strike out incorrect choices, and select the “least wrong” of the four. (See Chapters 4 and 5 of this book for more information on identifying and answering different question types.)

Before you move on to the next passage, scroll through the questions from top to bottom, making sure that you have not left any questions blank.

Step 6: Inspect the Section

At or before the 5-minute mark, double-check to make sure that you haven’t left anything blank. You can use the Review function at this stage. Do NOT rethink questions you have already completed. Your goal in this step is simply to make sure that you have selected an answer for each question.