Predicting Correct/Incorrect Answers in CR
When summarizing Critical Reasoning (CR) questions from the Official Guide (OG), Dustin reviews the answer choices and categorizes the passages by narrative type and question type. This helps him anticipate common correct and incorrect answer patterns after reading the passage and question, even before looking at the options. Mastering these patterns can significantly speed up your selection process on test day, improving both accuracy and efficiency.
(*Note: These are “common” patterns intended to assist and accelerate your thinking. They do not guarantee that the answer will always follow these trends. Therefore, during the actual exam, don’t get stuck trying to predict the answer; if you can’t predict, move on to reviewing the options to save time. For high-difficulty CR questions, the correct answer might deviate from typical patterns. Incorrect answers are often designed to mimic the logic of correct answers but subtly diverge from the passage’s core theme or scope. For guidance on identifying misleading answer choices, please refer here.)
Below, we will analyze common correct and incorrect answer patterns for:
- Common Narrative Types
- Question Types
Common Narrative Types
Because many passage types share similarities, with practice, you’ll recognize how a passage is written often indicates the direction the answer will take. This is a fundamental tendency in how GMAT logic questions are designed. Therefore, we will introduce five common narrative patterns in GMAT logic questions (these may be combined) and discuss how to anticipate the logic behind correct and incorrect answers.
Experiment vs. Control
This question type is characterized by the passage mentioning two groups of subjects. One group has characteristic A, while the other does not (or has characteristic B). It is then observed that one group is more… than the other. This leads to the conclusion of a causal relationship between the two, such as:
People who do regular volunteer work tend to live longer, on average, than people who do not. It has been found that “doing good,” a category that certainly includes volunteer work, releases endorphins, the brain’s natural opiates, which induce in people a feeling of well-being. Clearly, there is a connection: Regular releases of endorphins must in some way help to extend people’s lives.
For the strategy to solve this type of question, please refer to this video. Additionally, this question serves as an excellent example.
Change in Quantity or Degree
If the conclusion involves a change in quantity or degree, it falls under the “Change in Quantity or Degree” type. For example:
In the last decade there has been a significant decrease in coffee consumption. During this same time, there has been increasing publicity about the adverse long-term effects on the health of the caffeine in coffee. Therefore, the decrease in coffee consumption must have been caused by consumers’ awareness of the harmful effects of caffeine.
The approach to solving this type of question involves “deconstructing” the factor of change mentioned in the conclusion and considering which factors determine (or are related to) this factor. Then, review the premises. Any missing factors not mentioned in the premises are likely directions the correct answer will explore.
For the strategy to solve this type of question, please refer to this video.
*It’s important to note that although the video focuses on “money,” the problem-solving approach can be applied analogously whenever the conclusion involves any change in quantity or degree. For instance, if a question states, “With a large influx of population, the city will become more crowded,” consider what factors determine the “crowdedness” in the conclusion. These would be the “number of people” and the “amount of space.” Looking back at the premises, which only mention the “influx of population,” a potential direction for a weaken question would be that “the available space in the city increases.” Conversely, for strengthen/assumption questions, the answer might suggest that “available space does not increase (or even decreases).”
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Alternative
The passage will present two opposing arguments. For example, it might be believed that cause A is responsible, but another person argues it is cause B. Previously, method A was used, but now a new method B is proposed to replace the old one A.
Snowmaking machines work by spraying a mist that freezes immediately on contact with cold air. Because the sudden freezing kills bacteria, QuickFreeze is planning to market a wastewater purification system that works on the same principle. The process works only when temperatures are cold, however, so municipalities using it will still need to maintain a conventional system.
For weaken/strengthen questions, pay attention to the following: To weaken B, you can either attack B directly or strengthen A. To strengthen B, you can either support B directly or weaken A. To weaken a new method, besides pointing out its drawbacks, the correct answer might also highlight the irreplaceable benefits of the old method.
For explanation questions, please refer to this article.
Time Frame
When a question describes events or changes that occurred within a specific period, it’s classified as a “Time Frame” question type. For example: A policy was implemented five years ago, and during these five years, the crime rate decreased. Therefore, the policy was effective in combating crime. Or, as in:
To reduce productivity losses from employees calling in sick, Corporation X implemented a new policy requiring employees to come into work unless they were so sick that they had to go to a doctor. But a year after the policy was implemented, a study found that Corporation X’s overall productivity losses due to reported employee illnesses had increased.
When evaluating answer choices, be particularly careful that the time frame mentioned in the option falls within the period discussed in the passage. For instance, discussing events from ten years ago is irrelevant to the changes that occurred over the past five years. Similarly, discussing future outcomes is unrelated to past changes.
For example, option (B) Before the policy was implemented, employees who were not sick at all often called in sick. is irrelevant to the time frame.
Broken Bridge
When the conclusion introduces a new concept not present in the premises, we call this a “Broken Bridge” question type. For example:
Voters commonly condemn politicians for being insincere, but politicians often must disguise their true feelings when they make public statements. If they expressed their honest views—about, say, their party’s policies— then achieving politically necessary compromises would be much more difficult. Clearly, the very insincerity that people decry shows that our government is functioning well.
The phrase “our government is functioning well” is completely absent from the preceding sentences. In such cases, the correct answer will focus on establishing (for strengthen/assumption) or breaking (for weaken) the link between this new concept and the content of the premises. For instance, the weaken answer in this question is:
(A) Achieving political compromises (an old concept mentioned earlier) is not all that is necessary (no necessary relationship) for the proper functioning of a government (a new concept introduced in the conclusion).
For a detailed discussion on Broken Bridge questions, please refer to this article.
Question Types
The first half of this video covers Dustin’s predictive approach for “Weaken, Strengthen, Assumption, and Evaluate” question types. It also touches upon passage narrative patterns and potential correct/incorrect answer logic, which slightly overlaps with the above but is complementary. We hope you can integrate this information during your self-study. (Dustin will provide a consolidated version later, as this video is several years old, while the teaching above is more recent. Dustin is always evolving!)
Additionally, Dustin has specifically compiled intuitive judgment strategies for explanation and assumption questions, which often cause confusion:
CR Practical Strategy Compilation: Explanation Questions
CR Practical Strategy Compilation: Assumption Questions We believe that after reviewing this material, you should be able to anticipate most questions. After reading the passage and question, you’ll have a preliminary idea of how the correct and incorrect answers might be structured.
