Questions that involve EXCEPT

[pateljay.osu]

I get very tripped up on questions that involve EXCEPT in the question stem. For example:

"Each of the following, if true, describe a flaw EXCEPT"

"Each of the following, if true, strengthen the argument EXCEPT"

Is there a strategy in order to stay focused and organized on these? I start confusing myself on what I am looking for half way through the choices. I can answer them correctly, however I consume a lot of time in the process.

Thanks in advance!

[ohthatpatrick]

To a certain extent, these questions WILL take longer on average than non-EXCEPT questions, because we really have to find 4 correct answers (vs. the usual 1).

In terms of forgetting that you're working on an EXCEPT question, a lot of people will actually draw a line on their test booklet from the word EXCEPT down to the bottom of the answer choices.

This line going right through all the answers helps remind us that we're doing an EXCEPT question.

In terms of the question stem, be careful about assuming you're looking for an opposite.

For example, the correct answer to Strengthen-EXCEPT is not necessarily "Weaken". It could just be irrelevant.

Similarly, the correct answer to Inference-EXCEPT is not "must be false" but rather just "not provable based on the info provided".

So it's dangerous to try to simplify the problem by flipping your goal to the opposite of what the question stem asks for. Instead, it's better to just ask yourself, four times over, "Does this Strengthen? Yes. Get rid of it. Does this? Yes. Get rid of it. Does this? Hmmm, not really? Keep it."

We're generally looking for something irrelevant, so if you really need to gamble on one of these questions without taking the time to do your full diligence, then pull the trigger on the first answer you see that seems conclusively irrelevant.

I think the normal way people get turned around on these is during the down to 2 phase.

Say we're doing Strengthen-EXCEPT. Normally we knock out 3 answers pretty quickly. We start studying the final 2. One of them works in a sneaky way (it DOES Strengthen although it's not immediately obvious how it's relevant), while the other one DOESN'T work, even though it superficially seems relevant.

We figure out, "Ah, okay so D strengthens but B doesn't." And then we pick D.

D'oh! The one that strengthens is the one we're supposed to be crossing out!

So just be extra careful at that moment.

Other than that, I would say appreciate these guys for what they are: more time-consuming than the average question. If you're tight on pacing, save these for last.

Hope this helps.

[pateljay.osu]

Thanks that was very informative!