Sometimes I struggle with understanding the situation described in a CR question. Specifically, I just attempted Verbal2 CR #62, and have no idea what's going on in the intro paragraph. I've tried reading it slowly and mapping out what's going on, but I'm still stuck. Here's as far as I got:
Antib--> destroy virus
H infection-->kert in eye
eye cell = H cell
Mapping this took me longer than it should have. I am so confused by the last statement of the passage. I thought keratitis was caused by the herpesvirus, not by antibodies to it?
More broadly, I need help with a general solution for when I don't understand the upfront situation in a CR question.This happens from time to time. What's the best way to approach a problem / guess when I get "stuck" like this
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- AceTheGM@
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- RonPurewal
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Re: CR: Not understanding passage
The secret to this all-too-common problem is to try to insert yourself into the situation in the problem.
If possible, you should imagine that you're directly involved in the situation itself. Anyone with a personal interest in some situation will somehow magically be "smarter" than they would be without such an interest.
E.g., I know people who claim that they can't do percent-change problems, but, as soon as their favorite brand goes on a % sale at local retailers and/or they have %-off coupons, whoa! they can suddenly do the problems.
As a CR example, take a look at #109 in the 12th edition (#110 in the 13th edition). Can't reproduce the problem here. But, if you put yourself in the shoes of the kids who make the prank calls, then it's infinitely easier to understand both the original motivation (i.e., the call boxes are anonymous) and the essence of the correct answer (Oh snap, I'm gonna get caught! Guess I just won't make that prank call in the first place).
If you don't personalize the situation in this way, it's much, much more difficult to see the importance of "anonymous", which then just looks like another random word in the text. (If you busy yourself with classifying the statements and trying to formalize the logic, it's basically impossible to see which words are more important than others.)
If possible, you should imagine that you're directly involved in the situation itself. Anyone with a personal interest in some situation will somehow magically be "smarter" than they would be without such an interest.
E.g., I know people who claim that they can't do percent-change problems, but, as soon as their favorite brand goes on a % sale at local retailers and/or they have %-off coupons, whoa! they can suddenly do the problems.
As a CR example, take a look at #109 in the 12th edition (#110 in the 13th edition). Can't reproduce the problem here. But, if you put yourself in the shoes of the kids who make the prank calls, then it's infinitely easier to understand both the original motivation (i.e., the call boxes are anonymous) and the essence of the correct answer (Oh snap, I'm gonna get caught! Guess I just won't make that prank call in the first place).
If you don't personalize the situation in this way, it's much, much more difficult to see the importance of "anonymous", which then just looks like another random word in the text. (If you busy yourself with classifying the statements and trying to formalize the logic, it's basically impossible to see which words are more important than others.)
- RonPurewal
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Re: CR: Not understanding passage
This particular problem seems rather hard to personalize directly, but, just imagine that you're one of the researchers. Your research funds"”and your future career"”depend on whether you get things right. In that light, things should come into much clearer focus, because everyone is better at reasoning if there are incentives to be better at it.
For instance, take a look at the second-to-last sentence of the passage, which says, in essence, "The eye is built a lot like a herpes virus."
Then you can notice (perhaps after re-reading) that the similarity is in terms of proteins. Who looks at proteins? "Antibodies do!", says the first sentence.
If you can get yourself to care enough to see the sentences in this kind of way"”as a puzzle, of sorts, that you have concrete (if imaginary) incentives to solve"”then you can even anticipate where the rest of the argument is headed: Well, since the eye looks so much like the bad guy (virus), maybe the antibodies start attacking the eye by mistake. Friendly fire.
For instance, take a look at the second-to-last sentence of the passage, which says, in essence, "The eye is built a lot like a herpes virus."
Then you can notice (perhaps after re-reading) that the similarity is in terms of proteins. Who looks at proteins? "Antibodies do!", says the first sentence.
If you can get yourself to care enough to see the sentences in this kind of way"”as a puzzle, of sorts, that you have concrete (if imaginary) incentives to solve"”then you can even anticipate where the rest of the argument is headed: Well, since the eye looks so much like the bad guy (virus), maybe the antibodies start attacking the eye by mistake. Friendly fire.
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