Unlocking the UKCAT Verbal Reasoning

Many will be taking the UKCAT test in the next few months. One of the chapters of the UKCAT test is the UKCAT verbal reasoning. In the next article you will find some useful information about the UKCAT verbal reasoning chapter.
The Verbal Reasoning section of the UKCAT consists of 11 passages, called items, containing roughly between 100-200 words each. Each passage is followed by 4 statements, and for each statement, the examinee must decide if, according to the text, the statement is True, False, or Can't Tell. The passages come from the fields of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. No professional knowledge of any kind is needed to answer the questions.

The Verbal Reasoning section tests primarily the skills required for critical thinking and for high-level reading comprehension.
What follows is a guide to the three answer possibilities—True, False, or Can't Tell—and a description of the strategies used by the UKCAT in formulating their True statements, their False statements, and the statements for which you Can't Tell if they are true or false from the information in the passage.

Once one understands how the statements are formulated, one can answer them correctly with relative ease. You will possess the key to unlock the secrets behind the Verbal Reasoning section of the UKCAT.
TRUE
Statements for which the answer is True must always say precisely what is said in the passage but in a different way. This method makes use of synonyms.

• The statement asks the reader to add dates or make a simple mathematical calculation, substituting a sum for the various figures given in the passage.
• The statement presents in a sentence only a small part or a detail of a long sentence in the passage.
• The statement requires that an inference be drawn from the information given in the passage.
• The statement uses a word or words that are synonyms of words used in the passage, for example:

Passage
Solar technology is used to heat water for household use, particularly for bathing and laundering, as well as to generate power and to heat buildings.
Statement
Solar technology can be used to create electricity.
Explanation
Here the phrase to generate power is replaced by the synonymous phrase to create electricity.

• The statement paraphrases a sentence, using different language but retaining the exact same meaning. A high level of reading comprehension skill is required to verify this, for example:
Passage
…moist caves. These are vital for frogs, particularly in areas that are not plentiful in water.
Statement
Without grottoes and other shady places of recluse, amphibians in relatively arid regions would struggle to survive.
Explanations
The challenges here are a) the word these in the passage, which refers to moist caves, is replaced by a synonym: grottoes and other shady places of recluse; b) the synonym would struggle to survive is used for vital; c) the synonym amphibians is used instead of frogs; and d) arid regions is used instead of areas that are not plentiful in water. To understand that the statement says exactly the same thing as the passage in spite of the many different words it uses, requires a good grasp of vocabulary and a high level of comprehension.

FALSE
Statements for which the answer is False must always say something that directly contradicts what is said in the passage, for example:

• The statement uses a word or phrase that are opposite in meaning to the word or phrase used in the passage.
• The statement changes the information presented in the passage by using a quantifier like only.

• The statement uses a word or phrases that are opposite in meaning to the word or phrases used in the passage, for example:

Passage
In the last decade, the amount of illicit trading between nations has exploded.
Statement
The number of countries engaging in legal trade has increased dramatically.
Explanation
The word illicit in the passage is changed to its opposite legal in the statement.

• The statement presents a misreading of the passage, for example:

Passage
Agricultural produce is defined as organic if it uses no pesticides whatsoever at any stage of the process from planting till delivery at market.
Statement
In order to receive the label 'organic,' the vegetables must have been grown without the use of controversial chemicals.
Explanation
The passage says it uses no pesticides whatsoever, while the statement refers to controversial chemicals. This is clearly a misreading of the passage.

CAN'T TELL
This is the most confusing. Statements for which the answer is Can't Tell, must always say something whose true or false value cannot be determined from the information given in the passage. Simply, the passage does not say what the statement says.

• The statement draws an inference the passage does not make.
• The statement uses the same language as the passage to say something that is different but not contradictory to what the passage says.
• The statement changes some quantifying words from the passage.
• The statement appears to paraphrase a complex sentence from the passage but it does not say the same thing.
• The statement presents two events in the form of cause and effect that the passage presents as unrelated.
• The statement says something which the passage does not say, for example:
Passage
For the ancient Egyptians, Coptic was the native language.
Statement
The ancient Egyptians spoke many languages.
Explanation
Apparently, the statement tries to trick the reader into assuming that if Coptic is mentioned as the native language, the ancient Egyptians may have spoken additional languages. The passage, however, does not say this anywhere.

• The statement combines key words or phrases taken from two contiguous sentences in the passage, to say something that the passage does not say, for example:
Passage
This campaign is about giving parents the tools they need to keep their families healthy and fit, and getting more nutritious food—more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and less sugar, fat, and salt—into our nation's schools. It's about helping grocery stores serve communities that don't have access to fresh foods.
Statement
The program tries to bring more fresh produce, and whole grains, and less sugar, fat, and salt into community grocery stores.
Explanation
Clearly, the statement says something the passage does not say by combining key phrases from two different sentences.

To recap, for a statement to be rendered True, it must say exactly what the passage says. For a statement to be rendered False, it must directly contradict what the passage says. For a statement to be rendered Can't Tell, it must say something which the passage does not say. That is, on the basis of the information given in the passage, one cannot tell if the statement is true or false. All answers are determined solely on the basis of the information given in the passage and not on the basis of personal knowledge or opinion. via