UCAT: How to ace verbal reasoning
Hey,
I hope you're well. This week I am going to give you some tips on how to improve your score on (arguably) the most difficult section of the UCAT: VERBAL REASONING.
Don't read the whole passage- use keywords instead!
Given the time pressures of this section, the aim of improving your performance in the Verbal Reasoning section is mainly based on reducing the amount you have to read.
How does the keyword technique work?
Read just the first two lines of the text, and then the question.
Next you pick a keyword from that question and then scan through the passage looking for that keyword. The more specific the word is, the less likely is to be repeated, meaning the sentences that contain it will be relevant to the question at hand.
Once you find it you then read the sentence with it in, and the sentence before and after. Hopefully this will give you enough information to answer the question without having to read the whole passage.
I still see students reading the passage completely before answering the questions. It doesn't give them enough time to triage harder questions and they run out of time sadly!
Seeing as we're on the topic of triaging...
Don't miss out on The True, False, Can’t Tell questions.
These are normally the quickest to answer compared to the statement questions. However, sometimes these types of questions can be at the end of the test, so don’t miss them out by taking too long on earlier questions.
However, don't skip through all the questions to look for TFC questions as it will mess up your timing!
Identify Extreme Language
Look at the wording in the question and use this to help you predict the correct answer.
Let’s say I told you that ‘ reading X book WILL get you into medical school’. You might question the statement. Now change this to ‘reading X book MAY get you into medical school’. You’re more likely to agree with the statement, right?
This is an example of extreme and mild language. It’s very important to be able to spot and distinguish between extreme claims (in which the text is asserting that something is unconditionally true) and softer claims (where the text is asserting something but recognizing that the claim has limits).
You can even guess based on this technique if you’re short of time. This is particularly useful with the ‘True, False, Can’t Tell’ questions.
When it comes to Verbal Reasoning, 'True', 'False', and 'Can't tell' have very specific meanings:
True = Directly supported by the passage or a clear implication to the same effect.
False = Directly contradicted by the passage, or a clear implication to the same effect.
Can't tell = Not enough information to conclude either way.
You may want to guess some author questions.
Author questions can be long-winded, and require lots of reading. If you are going to guess any, these are probably the ones to guess!
As a doctor, it is very important to be able to prioritise tasks and triage. The VR subtest is trying to test your ability to do this but with questions. It's very difficult for anyone to complete this section within the given time limit.
I hope you have a lovely weekend and if you have any questions, feel free to DM me on insta @thepersianmedic
or leave a comment!
-Sara