Ask yourself what youre missing

When Im working through Critical Reading questions with a student, I regularly encounter the following scenario: The student reads and understands the question without a problem. The student goes back to the passage, re-reads and accurately summarizes the section in question, then formulates a general idea about what information the correct answer should contain. The student looks at the answers but fails to see one that clearly fits. The students eyes start to glaze over with panic as he stares at the page. At this point, I usually interject nonchalantly, So what are you going to do now? Student (looking sheepish): Uhhh I dont know? Me: What happens when you work through the whole question carefully and then nothing seems to work? Student: Is it (C)? Me: Dont guess. What do you do when you think you know what the right answer is going to say but none of the answers say it? Student: No, wait, I think it might actually be (B). Me: I said dont guess. Whats the question you need to ask yourself when this happens? Student: Uhh I dont remember Me: I somehow feel that weve had this conversation already. Like, oh I dont know, two or three or five hundred times. Cmon, this is probably going to happen when you take the test, and you need to know how to handle it. Student stares blankly. Me: What am I missing? What am I not seeing? Thats the question I always ask myself. If Ive worked through the whole thing carefully but still dont see the answer, thats a sign that Ive missed something. Im either focusing on the wrong thing, or Im just plain thinking in the wrong direction, and that means I need to go back and reconsider my original assumption. See how Im turning it back on myself and taking responsibility for not knowing the answer? The people at ETS didnt mess up; the answer is there, its just not something Im not expecting. If Im not getting it it means Ive overlooked the necessary information. Look, I did the exact same steps you did, and I wasnt sure about the answer either. That happens to me too. But the difference is that I didnt just decide to guess when I didnt see the answer right away I went back and tried to figure out where I went wrong. And if you seriously want to get every question right, you have to be willing to do that as well. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I tend to have this conversation most frequently with students scoring 700+ theyre so accustomed to spotting the answer immediately that theyre simply flummoxed when they dont, and then go into all-out panicking/guessing mode. Needless to say, this is not a particularly helpful strategy for getting to 800. So for the record, when you think youve figured everything out but actually havent, heres what to do: 1) Assuming that youve correctly understood both the question and the passage, start by crossing out the answers that absolutely, clearly do not make sense. Make sure you cross out the whole answer, not just the letter; when your visual field isnt being cluttered by extraneous information, its easier to focus on whats left. 2) Now, carefully read the answers that remain. You might have simply misread something or overlooked a key word the first time around. If thats the case, youre done. But if not 3) Go back to the passage and look for specific textual elements that usually indicate importance: if you have a colon or dashes or italics or strong language (e.g. most) or a major transition like however or therefore, the information around it is probably going to be key, and the correct answer will probably restate it in some form. Make sure also that you have the necessary context for the lines in question; sometimes the right answer wont make sense if you only consider the lines referenced. Remember that function or purpose questions regularly go either way: sometimes you need to focus on the lines given, and sometimes you need to focus on what comes before or after, and theres absolutely no way to tell upfront which one it will be. If you havent read both places and cant figure out the answer, chances are youve been focusing on the wrong place. 4) If youre still stumped, start with the most specific (usually the longest) answers and pick a concrete aspect to check out. If an answer mentions that an author was criticized on moral grounds but the passage only indicates that she was criticized because her work was challenging aesthetically (i.e. it didnt conform to traditional notions of beauty), you can eliminate that answer. Remember that the correct answer might be phrased in much more neutral or general terms than the passage itself; if an answer accurately describes whats going on in the passage but does so neutrally while the passage is fairly negative or positive, its probably the answer. Remember also that you shouldnt eliminate answers simply because you find them confusing; your understanding has no bearing on whether theyre wrong or right. 5) If you still truly have no idea, skip the question and come back to it if you have time. Its not worth wasting five minutes on if there are other things you can answer more easily.