Strongest Argument questions – part 1

In a Strongest Argument question, there are almost always 2 Yes and 2 No answers.

In the vast majority of official questions, answers A and B start Yes, whilst answers C and D start No.

Occasionally, this might be reversed, with A and B as the No answers, followed by C and D as the Yes answers.

Less commonly, you could encounter a Strongest Argument question with 3 Yes and 1 No answers, or with 1 Yes and 3 No answers. However, this variation is even rarer in the official questions released more recently.

The key task in Strongest Argument questions is to compare logic in each answer choice against the original question and look for the answer that directly supports or attacks the original question.

Wrong answers will commit logical errors, so you will usually have to check and eliminate each wrong answer as you work towards finding the valid argument.

On Test Day, you should plan to answer Strongest Argument questions in 30 seconds.

If a question is shorter or simpler, do your best to answer it in 15 seconds or less.

This approach will take practice, but it will ensure you can bank time for the five-part questions in the DM section that are worth two marks each.

The Medify Top Tips will help you power through every Strongest Argument question in your UCAT revision and on Test Day:

1. Read the original question first, before you look at the answers. This way, you can identify the terms of the question and keep them top of mind.

2. Reject answers that do not match the terms of the original question. With practice, you can learn to do this quickly – some answers will shift the terms in significant ways, so you can dismiss them as soon as you spot their mistake.

3. Compare remaining answers to the original question, one at a time. This is a chance to look for subtler errors that you might not notice with a quick glance. Be ready to ruthlessly eliminate any answer that fails to match the logical terms of the question.

4. Assess new information carefully, as this does not necessarily make an answer incorrect. As always, consider its impact on the terms of the original question. New info could help to support or attack the original question on its own terms, so it will often be part of a correct answer.

Start each Strongest Argument question by reading the original question quickly but carefully – in 5 to 10 seconds – to understand the logical terms as well as the general context.

Most of the original questions will be framed as a proposal or suggestion, so you must have a sense of what is being proposed or suggested before you look at the answers.

Some Strongest Argument questions will be conceptually and structurally simple, with approximately 12 words or fewer. These are generally quick to read before you look at the answers.

Other times, the original question may be lengthy and grammatically complex, potentially 20 words or more. These longer questions will often include a reason or goal – usually introduced by words such as ‘in order to’ or a verb in infinitive form (starting with ‘to’). A shorter question could also have a reason or goal – be on the lookout for them.

The strongest argument must respond in some way to that reason or goal. Wrong answers will either simply not address the reason or goal, or they will shift the terms or attempt to address it in a strange or inadequate way that does not work, either logically or in a real-world context, or potentially both.

Check each answer in turn so you can compare the answer to the original question. Consider whether the answer responds directly to the logical terms of the original question.

If the original question includes a reason or goal, the correct answer must address the reason or goal – whether supporting it (in a ‘Yes’ answer) or attacking it (in a ‘No’ answer) – in an exact and immediate way.

If you have to make up an elaborate story to link the answer choice to the terms of the original question, the answer is almost certainly wrong. Eliminate it and move on to the next answer.

Do not assume an answer is correct simply because it starts with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

With four answers, each answer choice letter should be correct roughly a quarter of the time; thus, it is equally likely the correct answer could start with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. In this aspect, Strongest Argument questions are similar to Probability questions.

Focus on the main part of each answer and compare its terms to the original question. Double check as well that a ‘Yes’ answer supports the original question, or that a ‘No’ answer opposes it. This ensures that the answer is logically consistent within itself and also with the original question.

With practice, you will find that you do not need to fully read each answer in a Strongest Argument question.

Once you train your eyes to look for the original terms, you will be able to dismiss wrong answers at a quick glance if they exclude the original terms, shift the meaning or introduce illogical problems in relation to the original terms.

You may find that a Strongest Argument has three wrong answers that each shift the terms of the original question. As a result, only one answer – the correct one – is a strong argument. Sometimes, this will feel very obvious – be ready to click the correct answer and move on. Some questions are simply a quick win.

Other times, you will need to check each answer closely against the original question after eliminating any answers that shift the terms.

Take a few seconds for each remaining answer and consider if it is a direct, exact response to the logic of the original question, or if there is something strange or problematic about it.

Sometimes, you will be able to explain to yourself why the subtler answers in a Strongest Argument question are wrong.

Otherwise, you may need to go with your gut and pick the answer that is generally okay whilst the others have some weirdness or potential problem that make them seem less likely to be correct.

This is a sensibility that you can develop with practice. It’s not quite exactly going on vibes, but rather letting yourself train your brain so it can detect the answers that seem suspicious, even if you do not have the time to fully work out what exactly is wrong.

Any answer choice can include outside information that is not mentioned and cannot be inferred from the original question.

Remember, Strongest Argument questions are not inference questions like those you will see in Verbal Reasoning and elsewhere in Decision Making.

This means that the strongest argument may introduce evidence from outside sources in order to support or attack the terms of the original question.

As a result, you cannot predict the correct answer simply by reading the original question.

As you revise, take some time to practise your skills at assessing new information in Strongest Argument answer choices.

Remember, the correct answer can bring in new info so long as it is used to support or attack the original question on its own terms.

You will see many wrong answers that might feel logically loose or unsupported in their use of new info, but the correct answer can use new info to make a direct hit on the original question.

New info itself does not eliminate an answer – it is all about how the new info is used to address the original question’s terms.

Don’t fall into the trap of comparing answers to each other. This is a common mistake in multiple-choice questions – you should always compare one answer to the question, then repeat for any other answers, one at a time.

If you directly compare two answers, you run the risk of trying to justify a wrong answer as ‘better’ than another wrong answer. This task could be quite mentally challenging, since it is very possible both answers are wrong for different reasons.

There’s a higher risk of this error in Strongest Argument questions. Force yourself to always only check against the original question, assessing each answer individually on its own merits.

Remember you are allowed to use outside knowledge in Strongest Argument questions, up to a point.

You can use the basic meanings of words, phrases and ideas – so you should be able to tell whether a term in an answer is logically consistent with a term in the stimulus, even if the wording is different. You are looking for the same idea in the same scope.

You can also use a simple understanding of the ideas in the question or answers to determine if an answer has a direct impact on the original question or not. To a certain extent, these questions assume a general familiarity with how schools and laws work, among other everyday contexts.