CR questions taking a lot of time

[Arjun51]

Hi all!

I have been practicing CR questions for quite a while now and have observed that during the actual exam, under time pressure I get many questions wrong and I also spend too much time trying to understand the argument as well as the answer choices. Now, even after spending about 2-3 minutes on a question, I fail to get to the correct answer choice, ultimately guessing and moving on.

However, when I analyze the same problem post completion of the exam, without any time constraint, I take a lot of time to understand the argument and the answer choices and get the correct answer quite often.

So, can anyone please guide as to how can one speed up one's thinking process for such questions?

Looking forward to your replies!

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Good logic. I would recommend a combination of things: speed up your process (i.e. do the same steps, but quicker), and make your process simpler, so that you can solve problems even when you're a bit stressed.

Learn to recognize "marker words". For example, when you see 'since', 'however', 'therefore', what do these tell you about the parts of an argument? Also, pay attention to words in the question stem: can you define an 'assumption', an 'inference', etc. ? When you're reviewing questions, do you analyze wrong answer choices? You'll begin to see patterns such as reversal traps, not relating to the precise conclusion, mixing up two important terms, unnecessarily subdividing etc. And, finally, be familiar with common logical errors, such as 'correlation-causation', 'affirming the consequent', etc.

In short, you can be much more clinical with CR problems than most people realize. Keep note of your specific takeaways from problems you get wrong.