My super detailed approach to every single question of CR

<p>Continuing with the Test 1 from the 1st edition of the Blue Book.</p>

<p>Section 5</p>

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<li> “instead of being”, “could be” tell me that I should be looking for two words that have opposite meanings, so I eliminate C because both words are positive, not contrasting; “and worth exploring” tells me that the second word is positive. I eliminate B and E because the second words are negative. A doesn’t make sense, so my choice is D. Both words are contrasting and “fascinating” fits well with “worth exploring”.</li>
<li> “win her approval through praise” tells me that I should look for the first word meaning something alike. A, B and C can be eliminated. D’s second word doesn’t fit, then the answer is E.</li>
<li> “thin, pliable and somewhat transparent” gives me a hint what kind of a word I should be looking for. A,B,C and E do not fit the description. My choice is D.</li>
<li> “mixture of dialects” are used to reflect something that means a mixture of few things. E, heterogeneity, fits perfectly. Other words do not fit here.</li>
<li> She apologized but her excuses failed to serve their purpose. What is the purpose of apologizing? To appease the other party. B, palliative, fits here.</li>
<li> Underline the phrases in 5-6. Read the first half of the passage till you read the phrases. Now you see that you have to find something that “seems to have sprung out of the blue and does not appear to signify anything in particular”. D seems like a good choice. All other phrases’ origins are explainable.</li>
<li> Underline the last sentence and read the rest of the passage. “Explanations are frequently posited but are too often unpersuasive”. This sentence tells me that the author will give an example of something “unpersuasive”. Author says that the explanation for the phrase “to be joshing” is fallacious. Let’s find the answer among the choices. B, invalidate a theory, fits.</li>
<li> After reading the question I see that I will need to read the whole passage to answer. The passage explains the purpose and approach of a study of Western cities (I identified the main idea of the passage and have an answer for the next question). The question asks you how will this study start. The answer is in the sentence “It aims to start with… and buildings that grew up to cater to them.” Let’s look for the answer among the choices. B - “role of central market-places” fits here. A – no crime rates were mentioned. C- “portraits of famous people” is wrong because this study is concerned with the functions of buildings, not people. D – “architectural challenges” are not the topic of the study. E – “ancient archeological sites” are not the topic of the study.</li>
<li> I determined that the main idea is “explanation of the purpose and approach of the study”. Let’s look among the answers. C is the correct choice. A – the study is not criticized. B – no one is talking about expense here. D – out of topic. E – no, it is not; defending includes persuading the other party why the decision is good but the tone of the passage is not defensive.</li>
<li>Underline people in lines 4-5 and 46. “Prospective buyers coming to gape” and “People stoped and stared and admired”. These lines are enough to answer the question. Let’s see in order. A – it has nothing to do with prospective buyers or admirers. B – doesn’t fit the lines. C – seems correct. D – no one is talking about methodology here. E – doesn’t fit the gapers (gaping doesn’t mean being acquisitive) and admirers(admiring doesn’t mean being generous). C is the best choice.</li>
<li>Underline the relevant sentence and read the first paragraph. The author is saying that she would feel uncomfortable and assumes that Sheila will be feeling the same. Let’s look to the choices. A says exactly that, so it is the correct answer. What about the rest? B – that is not what the author is saying. C – “is insecure about promoting her books” is wrong because the author says she would be embarrassed if her books were read in her presence, no promoting is needed here. D – the first paragraph is not about that. E – the paragraph is not about that.</li>
<li>I note that there must be some kind of a contrast between the paragraph I just read and the next one. For now the paragraph says that the author feels uncomfortable and expects Sheila to be uncomfortable too. Read the next paragraph. From the first few sentences I can understand that the reality was opposite from what the author expected. Let’s see the answer choices. I see that B is exactly that. Other choices do not fit here.</li>
<li>Underline the word “justice”. You don’t have to finish to read the second and the third paragraph. Start reading the fourth paragraph till you reach the word “justice”. You can see that you need to read a little bit more to understand what kind of justice is that. Stop after you read “…in front of it”. You have the information: the author is saying that no place in her home allowed the painting to “glow as it wanted”. Look to the choices. A – the point is not the artist here. B – “the widest possible audience” makes the answer wrong; no one is talking about showing the painting to the widest audience possible. C – the choice seems to fit. D – it’s not the point here. E – “elegant surroundings” is not the requirement here; you could be trapped by the phrase “in our ordinary house” and assume that it needed a more elegant house, but you would be wrong. The author explains exactly that the problem was: the lack of light and the small size of the rooms. That has nothing to do with elegance. So the correct choice is C. </li>
<li>Underline the sentence “It was a terrible mistake”. Read a bit above to undertand what mistake is the author talking about. The last sentence of the previous paragraph makes it clear. It was a mistake to sell the painting. Now let’s read on to get a bit more context. Finish with the “I should have found the way to keep it”. Let’s look to the choices. A – has nothing to do with what I just read. B – fits. The exact paraphrasing is in the lines “So it had been overwhelming, too large, too dramatic to contain in either house but I shouldn’t have let that matter, I should have found the way to keep it”. C – no one is discussing the value of the painting here. D – “betraying the trust” is not the subject here. E – there is no mention about how the author felt about the smaller painting.</li>
<li>Underline the metaphor and read the whole sentence and one after it (till you get the whole idea): “I grieved for it and wished I could buy it back, marry it again after the folly of a divorce. But it was too late”. I see that the author is experiencing intense remorse. Let’s see the answer choices. A – it is not what has happened. B – no one is talking about remembering childhood here. C – seems correct. D – artists have nothing to do with anything here. E – “of what they depict” makes the answer wrong; the emotions were felt not because of what was depicted in the painting. So the best choice is C.</li>
<li>Underline “like a poem” and read starting from the above of it. “I can see every detail of it in my mind’s eye anyway. It lives in my head. I can recite it like a poem, and so in a sense I can never lose it”. I get the idea – the painting is like a poem because the author remembers every detail of it/<code>can recite it</code>. Let’s see the choices. A – “share with others for pleasure” is not the idea of what I just read. B – “essential to a sense of identity” is not what the sentences say. C – it’s not it. D – we are not talking about the “first impression” here. E – says exactly what I just read. </li>
<li>Finish reading the passage from the other half of the fifth paragraph. “And then, in 1990… maudlin at saying my good-byes”. I get the idea. The author is trying to say good-bye to the painting; trying to let it go in her mind. Let’s see the answer choices. A – the creator of the painting has nothing to do with it. B – she doesn’t have the painting anymore, so there can be no difficulty “maintaining it”. C – she doesn’t have the painting anymore; she already divorced it. D – seems correct. E – “what it depicts” is not the point here.</li>
<li>The question asks what’s the purpose of the passage. Let’s remember that the main idea of the passage is the loss of a painting and feelings evoked by its loss. A – that wasn’t the idea of the passage, eliminate. B – out of topic. C – “emotional context of a particular series of events” seems like a possible answer, leave it. D – “economic value” of the painting was never discussed in the passage, eliminate. E – “artistic genre” wasn’t the topic of the passage, eliminate. It looks like my choice is C. </li>
<li>This kind of question should be answered lastly but read the italicized blurb. It says that the passage is about “aviation’s early years”. Having this in mind I can eliminate some choice without even starting to read the passage. B – is completely out of topic because the passage is not about the poetry, it is about the aviation (it doesn’t matter that there is a poem in it). Now go and answer all other questions. Now you have a picture of what the passage is about. A – though the aviation pioneers are mentioned, they are not the center of this passage; it is about aviation, not people. C – “effects on lifestyles” – no, that wasn’t the topic of this passage. D – “explain important principles of flight” was not the topic of this passage. E – this choice seems to be correct. I have my answer.</li>
<li>Underline the lines 3-9. Read the first sentence. So the further description will give me how Industrial Revolution was utterly different from “engineering that went into flying machines”. Read the description of the steam engine. Read the next sentence – “Airplane construction was the opposite of all that; it was about lightness”. Author juxtapositions two opposites. Let’s see the choices. A – “provided a model that aviation engineers could follow” - there was no such relation mentioned; the author depicted them as opposites so one cannot originate from the other. B – “society’s interest in travel” is not the point here. C – could be. D – “style over practicality” - no such thing was claimed. E – the author is not trying to argue anything like that. So C is the correct choice.</li>
<li>Underline “cheap end of the market” and read the second parapgraph till you finish the sentence with the underlined phrase. You read that The Wright brothers were making bicycles which were practical and cheap. Now look at the choices. A – “aviation’s progress was hindered” – no one is talking about that here. B – we are not talking about flying here but the bicycles. C – out of topic. D – could be. E – “were too extravagant” is opposite of what I just read. My choice is D. </li>
<li>Underline the lines 31-36. Read the paragraph that contains the poem with intention to find why the poem is mentioned. “…the body was earthbound, but it enclosed a soul that flew – in meditation, in poetry…”. So the poem should express “a flying soul” or something. Let’s see the choices. A – the poem is not meant to illustrate that. B – the poem doesn’t provide the solution to the mystery of flight. C – that is not what the poem is trying to show. D – “those who analyze the mechanics of flight” – that is not what we are talking about here. E – here is the answer.</li>
<li>Underline the quotation. Now read the last paragraph till you finish the sentence with the quotation. The lines I just read are saying that “the new light engineering that allowed people to fly” seemed like a poetry to the uninitiated, “machinery is our new art form” and there are 2 more quotations expressing the idea. Let’s see the choices. A – it seems to fit. B – the author is not claiming that. C – no one is saying that. D – no one is discussing technical language here. E – no one is claiming that. Great, then A is the correct choice. </li>
<li>Underline 47-48. I read on from where I left with the intention to find out what is the purpose of the remarks included. This sentence exalts Wright : “One of Wright’s most eloquent admirers called him… is just as high and faraway”. The biographer’s remark undermines the exaltation, pulling it down. Let’s look at the choices. A – the admirer’s depiction was indeed very imaginative, eliminate. B – seems to fit. C – it wasn’t a reiteration, eliminate. D – no one is talking about an invention here, eliminate. E – “scientific hero” – wrong, the biographer’s remark calls Wright unheroic. I can confidently choose B. Go back to the question 19.</li>
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