MCAT Verbal Reasoning

Sponsored by The Center for Teaching and Learning at UIS

FirstSteps
Makeapreparationschedule
Findresources
o CometotheCTL
o Borrowfrompeers
o Gotoyourlocallibrary

StrategyApproachtoVerbalReasoning

Energy

o Pullyourchairclosetothetable
o
Situpstraight

o Placeyourfeetflatonthefloorandbe

alert
o Practiceundertimedconditionsandgive

100%

Timing

o Readeverypassageintheordergiven
o
Attempteveryquestion

o Checkyourtimeafteryouvefinishedthe

fifthpassage
o
Guessatthedifficultquestionsandmove

on

TacticApproachtoVerbalReasoningFocus

AboutVerbalReasoning
85minutes
60multiplechoicequestionswithchoicesAD
9passagesand410questionseach
600word(approximately)passages
15=topscore

Confidence
o Beconfidentofyourscore
o Bearrogantwhenyouread
o Assumeyouhaveguessedcorrectlyonevery
answer
o Readcritically
o Assumeitsthewritersfaultthatyouare
confused
Focus
o Focusonthetaskathand
o Ignoredistractions

TakeFiveSecondBreak

HowtoStudyforVerbalReasoning
Takeverbaltestundertimelimitandscoreyour
o Beforeeachpassage,takeafivesecondbreak
answers
o Forgetthelastpassageandallotherthoughts
Takeaonedaybreak

Examinethequestionsandanswerchoices
o Situpstraight,concentrate,andfocus
Takeaonedaybreak
ReadEveryWord
Readfirstpassageinsametestandwritemainidea;
o Dontskim
matchyourmainideaforeachquestionandanswer
o Dontwriteinthemargins
choices;repeatforeachpassage
o Testsyourabilitytodetectandunderstand
AdviceaboutVerbalReasoning
ambiguities,notdetails
Readallofthequestionsfirstandskimoverthe
o Concentrateonthemainidea
passageslookingforkeywords.
o Dontreadthequestionfirst
ReadTheEconomistandTheWallStreetJournal
o Dontcircleorunderline
o Getexcitedaboutthetopic
Makenotesofthemainpointofeachparagraph
o Dontspeedread
Takea5secondbreakbetweenpassages
o Createanimageoftheauthorinyourmind
Getresttoensurepeakperformance
o Spend20secondsfiguringoutthemainideabefore
beginningthequestions

Last Edited 6/30/2008

Page 1 of 2
th

Information provided here was taken from Exam Crakers MCAT (5 Edition).

MCAT Verbal Reasoning

Sponsored by The Center for Teaching and Learning at UIS

FourToolstoAnswerQuestions
1. GoingBacktoPartsofthePassage
Onlywhenyoufinishanexamontime
Onlywhenyouknowwhatyourelookingfor
Onlywhenyouknowwhereyoucanfindtheanswer
2. MainIdea
Summaryofpassageinoneortwosentences
Reflectsauthorsopinion
Emphasizeminortopics
Questionswanttotakeyouawayfrommainidea
Constructthemainideainyourhead(20seconds)
Continuereadinguntilyougettosomethingyoudounderstand
Becomefamiliarwiththeauthor
Dontfeelthatyouneedtorememberthedetailsofapassage.
3. QuestionStems
Usethisinformationtoanswerthequestions
Somequestionsyoucananswerwithoutevenreadingthepassageoranswerchoices
Simplifythequestionandanswerchoices
4. AnswerChoices
Threeoftheoptionsaredistracters
Fivecategoriesofsuspecteddistracters
RoundAbout:movesaroundthequestion
Beyond:validityreliesuponinformationnotinthepassage
Contrary:contrarytothemainidea
Simpleton:toosimpleoreasytoverify
Unintelligible:dontunderstand
Correctanswer=softeners(mostlikely,hadatendencyto,seemed,etc.)
AbouttheWritingSample

AdviceaboutWritingSample
Two30minuteperiods

Divideyouressayintoseparateparagraphs
Takebothsidesoftheargument

sothemarkersknowyou'vecompletedeach
task
Giveguidelinetodeterminewhichsideiscorrectin

whichcase
Inserttransitionallinkstounifyyouressay

6(orT)=topscore

Uselogictomakethefirstparagraph

WritingSampleDirections

Explainthestatementwithanexample

Giveexamplecontradictingstatement

Giveguidelinewhenstatementistrueandfalse

Writeoutlineofthreestepsabove

Write2pageswithcorrectgrammar,spelling,
vocabulary,andhistoricalexamples

Last Edited 6/30/2008

Page 2 of 2

th

Information provided here was taken from Exam Crakers MCAT (5 Edition).