1. Carefully read the primary passage before considering the follow-on questions

I find it useful to begin by slowly and carefully reading the whole passage, then subsequently tackling each related statement. This is for three key reasons:

• Firstly, having read the whole passage, you will know which part to skip to in order to answer each statement. Whilst this means you might not have answered the first question until a couple of minutes have passed, you should be able to answer the other questions relating to the same passage more quickly. 
• Secondly, some passages may start with a snippet that suggests the answer to a particular question or statement is “true”, only to then later include a conflicting snippet that indicates the actual answer is “false” or “cannot say”.  Essentially, if you read the questions first, then skim the passage until you think you have found the answer, you could easily make a mistake.
• Thirdly, reading the passage slowly and carefully can help you to avoid overlooking double negatives or misreading confusing phrases, which are easy mistakes to make when quickly skim reading a passage.

2. Remember to totally disregard your own general knowledge and opinions

Verbal reasoning tests generally require you to ignore any external knowledge you may have. Under such circumstances, you are being tested solely on your ability to interpret text, not on your general knowledge, so the questions must be answered based solely on the information contained in the primary passages of text. 

To help remember this, you could try tacking on the phrase “according to the passage…” to each of the short follow-on statements before deciding which answer to pick.

3. Don’t get caught out by generalisations

Sometimes a primary passage of text might state that “some” people think or do something, whereas one of the follow-on statements might claim that “all” people think or do that thing. In such circumstances, the correct answer would likely be “Cannot Say”, because you can’t conclude that “all” people do something if the passage only confirms that “some” do. In other words, don’t make generalisations based on statements made about select groups of people.

For example, if the primary passage discusses how some lawyers quit their jobs because they are unhappy, and the follow-on statement reads “all lawyers quit their jobs because they are unhappy”, the answer would be ‘Cannot Say’ (or 'False', if there is something in the primary passage that confirms at least one lawyer has quit their job for an alternative reason).

You should therefore always consider whether words such as “few”, “some”, “all”, “many”, “most”, “none”, “sometimes”, “always” and “never” are used, as these words can indicate whether you are able to draw conclusions based on generalisations.

4. Don’t make assumptions

Don’t make assumptions based on your own logic; remember to focus only on what you are explicitly told in the main passage.

For example, if a primary passage states that a certain proportion of lawyers quit their jobs because they are unhappy, and a follow-on statement claims that the lawyers who quit their jobs were unhappy because of long working hours, the correct answer would be ‘Cannot Say’.

Whilst in reality the lawyers’ unhappiness may well derive from working long hours, you cannot conclude that the statement is true, because the primary passage of text doesn’t explicitly confirm this. There may have been other reasons behind their unhappiness, for example the nature of the work they were receiving, a lack of intellectual fulfilment, or the culture of their teams.

Sometimes, trying to think of alternative circumstances or scenarios in this way can help you to determine whether a follow-on statement is making a generalisation that isn’t supported by the main passage of text.

Remember however that if the main passage of text tells you that lawyers are only ever unhappy because of long working hours, then you would need to disregard any other plausible scenarios and take it as objectively true that lawyers are only ever unhappy because of long working hours.

5. Don’t assume a cause-and-effect relationship

Don’t assume that a cause-and-effect relationship exists between two separate statements made in a primary passage of text. Such statements may not be directly related, unless you are explicitly told otherwise. 

For example, a primary passage may state that some lawyers are unhappy and separately state that some lawyers quit their jobs, without actually connecting these two statements (e.g. by explicitly stating that the unhappiness is the reason behind the resignations). In such circumstances, if the follow-on statement proclaims that "some lawyers quit their jobs because they are unhappy", the answer would be ‘Cannot Say’, even though your own logic might dictate that the statement in reality is probably true. This is why candidates often incorrectly select ‘True’ over ‘Cannot Say’ in such circumstances.

6. Create a flow chart summarising the logic within each passage

Consider sketching out a flow chart to help you properly identify, break down and understand the logic presented within each statement contained in a primary passage of text. This can help you to avoid being tricked by, for example, double negatives, generalisations and implicit assumptions.

7. Don't look for an answer pattern 

Finally, don’t fall into the mindset that, because one particular answer has come up a few times in a row, the next answer must surely be something else. For all you know, you got one of the previous answers wrong! Practising these tests can help you to improve your ability to pace yourself and work at speed, whilst familiarising yourself with the format. 

8. Practise

Practising these tests can help you to improve your ability to pace yourself and work at speed, whilst familiarising you with the format.