You know what Anshuman, this GMAT Critical Reasoning is RIGGED! GMAT is cheating us’, exclaimed a student who couldn’t digest the fact that the correct answer to a CR question was an option he’d not even considered. I, however, wasn’t shocked at his reaction because students often find themselves in a similar situation after they miss the logic of the argument.
So what is it about Critical Reasoning that students find hard to grasp? It’s just plain logic after all, isn’t it? Yes, it is plain logic, but plain logic is not necessarily obvious or apparent. Having just a sense of what an argument says and being crystal clear about the structure and purpose of the argument are two different things. Knowing the roles individual statements play within an argument requires astute analysis and attention to detail, skills that NEED to be developed and strengthened over time.
The inserted clip captures the moment when Shoaib Akhtar clean-bowled a reasonably set VVS Laxman with a full-toss back in 2004. Laxman’s expression says it all; He’s shocked to the point of feeling cheated. Laxman simply misread the trajectory of the ball and just assumed that the ball wouldn’t swing (No cheating :P). So don’t let CR clean-bowl you, and remember that Argument Analysis is the KEY to doing well on CR.
