What is essential for maximizing valuable retention for relevant information?
- Get to know the author & their beliefs (contention and tone).
- Know the locations of information in the passage (categorisation).
What should you remember for maximizing valuable retention?
Main topic + definition/purpose, authors’ beliefs about everything, shifts in tone/topic + locations of topics.
What should you forget for maximizing valuable retention?
Explanations of minor concepts, lists of items, proper nouns, and numbers.
What is contention?
Contention is the standpoint or message that the author is trying to convey.
Where can contention typically be found in a passage?
At the start or end of the passage, around emotive language & adjectives, and around comparisons or transitions.
What is the difference between concept scanning and keyword scanning?
Concept scanning looks for anything related to a specific concept, while keyword scanning looks for the shape of 1-2 words.
When should you apply concept scanning?
When looking for the most effective answer options.
When should you apply keyword scanning?
When looking for specific names, locations, or dates.
What are good keywords?
Relevant, unique, and identifiable.
How should you evaluate answer options?
Prioritize options likely to be correct and eliminate those that look wrong based on initial reading, absolute language, prior knowledge, and predictions.
What is the priority when skipping passages?
Keep momentum by skipping long, jargonistic, or unfavorable topics.
What is the approach for avoiding assumptions in syllogism?
All are accuracy-based: true = yes, false = no, can’t tell = no.
What is the principle of a good argument?
Relevancy: Address both the problem and solution.
What are some minor principles of evaluating arguments?
Specificity vs Vagueness, Facts/Stats/Evidence vs Opinions, Answer length, Political correctness, Presence of an alternate solution.
What are characteristics of a bad argument?
Mentions other problems, fails to link to problem & solution, does not refer to relevant solutions.
What should you check first when interpreting a Venn diagram?
Always check the shortest length options and look for answer options with the question stem present.
What is the ‘Question first’ strategy?
Always go Q first to avoid being overwhelmed.
What are the steps for straight line thinking?
- Identify what the question gives and wants. 2. Plan each step from start to finish. 3. Find any data needed. 4. Rapidly do the maths.
What is eyballing?
Estimation using the final digit and graph/table trends.
What are some calculator limitations?
Cannot erase single digits, cannot reverse commands, cannot do BODMAS.
What does M+ do on a calculator?
Saves the number on screen as a positive value.
What does M- do on a calculator?
Saves the number on screen as a negative value.
What is the process for interpreting overwhelming information?
Question -> Title -> Headings -> Footnotes -> Context/Text -> Data/Graph.
What are the most common QR questions?
- % Change multiplier = Final value / Initial value. 2. Initial value = Final value / % change multiplier. 3. Final value = Initial value x % change multiplier. 4. % change = subtract 1 from multiplier, times by 100.
