Verbal Reasoning and Critical Analysis
What the exam tests
Verbal Reasoning and Critical Analysis measures whether you can extract an argument's structure, test assumptions, and separate evidence from opinion. Questions often ask for a conclusion, an assumption, a strengthener, a weakener, an inference, or a flaw.
Core rules
- Identify the conclusion first; premises support it, and background does not.
- An assumption is an unstated premise needed for the argument to work.
- A necessary condition is required; a sufficient condition guarantees. Confusing the two is a classic error.
- To weaken, show an alternative cause, a bad sample, or a reversed relationship. To strengthen, close a gap or rule out an alternative.
- Stay within scope: an answer that is true but irrelevant does not help.
Worked example
Argument: A retailer's sales rose after it launched a loyalty program, so the program caused the increase. The hidden assumption is that no other major driver changed at the same time. A competitor closing stores would weaken the causal claim because it offers another explanation for higher sales. A survey showing customers like the program would strengthen the claim only if it also links liking to repeat purchases.
Traps
Do not accept correlation as causation. Do not choose extreme wording such as always or never unless the argument requires it. Do not mistake an example for a general conclusion. Do not import outside facts that the passage never mentions.
Exam habit
Before reading options, state the conclusion and the gap in one sentence. That reduces attraction to plausible but off-scope answers.