CR – State the Goal

This technique can be applied to almost any Critical Reasoning question, but it works especially well for strengthen, weaken, evaluate, and explain question types. Train yourself to form a sentence beginning with ‘I’m looking for an answer that…’ or ‘I’m looking for a reason why…’. Be sure to give the full context and not just a generic statement. Something like ‘I’m looking for an answer that strengthens the conclusion’ is not as effective as, for instance, ‘I’m looking for a reason why profits will rise next year’.

Official Guide practice (find these in your Official Guide or at www.gmatclub.com)

Do the following problems untimed. Cover the answers and write down the goal of the correct answer before reading the answer choices.

CR09994 Astronomer: Most stars are born in groups of thousands

CR03940 Editorial: The roof of Northtown’s municipal equipment‐storage building

CR01295 During the earliest period of industrialization in Britain

CR05452 Suncorp, a new corporation with limited funds,

CR67830.02 Pretzel Vendor: The new license fee for operating a pretzel stand

CR09117 The heavy traffic in Masana is a growing drain on the city’s economy

CR06728 To reduce waste of raw materials, the government of Sperland

CR00792 The difference in average annual income in favor of employees who have college degrees,

For further practice, pick out some problems from the Official Guide or your past practice tests.