l_guy

Hi, could you give me advice on how to tackle with the following types of questions:
1)Words in Context
2)Tone/Attitude
3)Means that the author uses (e.g. defining terms,making approximations etc)

Thanks in advance

diamondbacker

As a general piece of advice, on all CR questions, keep in mind that there is ALWAYS ONE correct answer. This correct answer is going to be backed up somewhere in the passage. So, if you're vacillating between two choices, simply look for clues. Step back and look at your choices (especially on tone questions). Try and figure out which one is supported. If an answer is "condescendingly tolerant," then try to find specific words and phrases that back that up. Chances are, only one of them is going to be supported. Try to answer the question for yourself based on the passage before looking at your answers, because that's where CB tricks you with similar answers.

raller

Words in context, you should probably immediately be extremely suspicious of the common definition, those are akin to the 'none of the above' tricks you find on the math section- they fool people by the boatload. Other than that, just reread the sentence 5 or so times.
Tone questions are the hardest, imo, the key is just to read the stupid passage several times over. If you skim or read quickly you may notice words that will lead you in the wronf direction. My solution to reading quickly is simply to whisper the passage to myself, that guarantees that I catch everything.
Means questions, tbh, I find are pretty easy, just know the terms you've been given as choices and practice recognizing them many times over.

Equilibrium

Raller, it is a bad idea to read the passage over and over. You'd be better off skipping the question, if you have to read the passage carefully over and over.

blah1290

for tone/attitude look for words in the text, they usually signify what the author is feeling...also look at concluding/intro sentences...and its good to know vocab words for the tone becasue the answer choices could be like "cynical" and "disdain" and stuff and if you dont know those words then theres no way you can get the tone right.

same with what the author means, like how does the author portray someone..."caricature" "dilatory"...if you dont know those words then theres no way to pick the right answer choice

for words in context, read the sentence around it and also it should go along with the passage (try and substitute every word choice in)

if you have time read and read it over again, but i seriously doubt you will even have time to read it twice (unless its short reading passage...)

raller

Depends on if you have the time. If you do, there's no reason not to go indepth.