Holding Text
Method: Our Optimized Way of Ensuring 100% Accuracy on the GMAT.
Step One: Identify the Question Type and Task.
With all critical reasoning questions read the question first in order to understand what you are asked to find. Any question that asks you to explain or resolve a paradox, discrepancy, or strange situation is a paradox question.
To resolve a paradox, first identify the paradox then find a choice that resolves that paradox.
Step Two: Read the Argument and Extract Necessary Information.
The paradox will be the information that you need.
Step Three: Formulate an Answer to the Question
Give yourself a general sense of what a resolution to the paradox might be. This may not be “the answer,” but it will give you a framework for recognizing the answer.
Step Four: Eliminate Answer Choices That Are Obviously Wrong.
On the initial pass through the answer choices, keep any choice that seems right or that you don't have a definitive reason to eliminate.
Step Five: Compare Remaining Choices.
Compare the remaining choices for subtle differences. Revisit the question and argument to ensure that you have not overlooked some subtlety.
Example One:
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Bengal tigers, a near extinct species of tiger, are known to suffer extraordinary hardships when placed in captivity. Captured Bengal tigers rarely produce offspring and contract a much greater number of illnesses during their captivity, yet the consensus among the zoological community is that captivity is the best opportunity to save this species from extinction.
Which of the following best explains the apparent discrepancy in the statements above? (A) Captive Bengal tigers reproduce at a rate slightly lower than that of wild Bengal tigers. |
Step One: Identify the Question Type and Task
A question that asks you to "resolve a discrepancy" is a paradox question.
Step Two: Read the Argument and Extract Necessary Information.
The necessary information is the paradox.
Paradox: Captive Bengal tigers contract more diseases and rarely produce offspring yet captivity is the best option for the survival of the species.
Step Three: Formulate an Answer to the Question
Wild tigers face hunters, starvation, and other animals as well as disease (captive tigers face none of these).
Step Four: Eliminate Answer Choices That Are Obviously Wrong.
(A) Only addresses one side - this might explain why they reproduce rarely in captivity, but it does not explain why captivity is better. To explain the paradox, both sides must be connected.
(B) Exacerbates the paradox - this leads to the idea that perhaps the wild tigers should be caught, treated, and released rather than put into captivity and it in no way explains why captivity is the best opportunity.
(C) Does not explain - this choice does not provide any reason that would justify placing them in captivity as a better option than the wild. Other species have no relevance here.
(D) Keep - this suggests that the diseases contracted in the wild are fewer in number and will lead to the extinction of the species (since the tigers will not be able to reproduce), thus making it plausible that rarely producing offspring is the better option to never producing offspring.
(E) Dismisses the paradox - this choice dismisses the entire question by saying the tiger is not really going to be extinct Remember that you want a choice that resolves the paradox, not one that ignores, dismisses, or changes the paradox.
Step Five: Compare Remaining Choices.
No need.
Choose D.
Example Two:
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A recent survey of 100,000 patients suffering from sever acid reflux disease found that a large majority of the patients reported that missing a meal or two immediately eased the symptoms. Yet neither fasting nor dieting are used in treating acid reflux disease even though conventional treatments, which use drugs, are ineffective and have serious side effects. Which of the following most explains the fact that neither fasting nor dieting is used in treating acid reflux disease? (A) Prolonged fasting can cause other physical complications, including but not limited to lightheadedness and fainting. (B) The precise cause of acid reflux disease has not yet been linked to any particular foods, or types of foods. (C) The symptoms of acid reflux disease return as strong or stronger at the next snack or meal. (D) For some suffers of acid reflux disease, missing a meal induces a temporary feeling wellness. (E) Forcing patients to adhere to a diet or fast is more difficult when a patient is feeling ill. |
Step One: Identify the Question Type and Task
A question that asks you to "explain" a situation is a paradox question.
Step Two: Read the Argument and Extract Necessary Information.
The necessary information is the paradox.
Paradox: Fasting eases symptoms but is not used to treat acid reflux.
Step Three: Formulate an Answer to the Question
There must be other problems with the use of fasting and dieting as treatment.
Step Four: Eliminate Answer Choices That Are Obviously Wrong.
(A) Keep - this choice offers a possible explanation.
(B) Does not explain - this choice does not provide any information that explains the situation, since the argument made no claims about specific foods.
(C) Keep - this choice offers a possible explanation since if the symptoms come back stronger, then the patient is worse off.
(D) Does not explain - this choice does not provide any information that explains the situation, since missing a meal is not the same as dieting or fasting.
(E) Does not explain - this choice does not provide any information that explains the situation, since just because something is difficult doesn't mean the outcome isn't worthwhile
Step Five: Compare Remaining Choices.
Now you must decide between choices A and C. The difference is quite subtle - choice A states that prolonged fasting “can” cause complications, but it is not a guarantee. Perhaps if only .05% of patients developed complications, this would not provide as strong an explanation as choice C, which definitively states that symptoms come back stronger.
Choose C.
GMAT Definitions:
Paradox
Inference
Premise
