Restatements

Method

1. 1

   Paraphrase the original yourself

   Before the options, say it in your own words: who acts, what happens, and how the parts relate.

2. 2

   Name the logical relation

   Cause and effect? Contrast? Condition? Comparison? The right answer keeps the same relation.

3. 3

   Watch degree and certainty

   may, most, almost, only, and never change the meaning. An option that says always where the original says usually is wrong.

4. 4

   Compare piece by piece

   One detail that differs is enough to rule an option out.

Common traps

• The original's own words

  An option that reuses the original's wording is often the trap that quietly shifts the meaning.

• Swapped roles

  "Never defeated" is not "never defeated anyone".

• Added claims

  An option that adds something the original does not say is wrong, even if it is true in real life.

Worked examples

1. Example 1

   The tennis player had never been defeated.

   • (1)The tennis player had never won a game.
   • (2)The tennis player had won all his games.correct answer
   • (3)No one had ever lost to the tennis player.
   • (4)The tennis player had never defeated anyone.

   How we get there

   1. 1

      Original: the player had never been defeated — he never lost.

   2. 2

      (1) and (4) reverse the meaning.

   3. 3

      (3) "No one had ever lost to him" means he never won — the roles are swapped.

   4. 4

      (2) "had won all his games" says the same thing. Answer (2).

2. Example 2

   If the night had not been so quiet, the team of observers would not have heard the raccoons approaching.

   • (1)Even though the night was quiet, the team of observers did not hear the approaching raccoons.
   • (2)Only because the night was so quiet was the team of observers able to hear the approaching raccoons.correct answer
   • (3)The raccoons approached quietly in the night so that the team of observers would not hear them.
   • (4)Despite the quietness of the night, the raccoons did not hear the team of observers approaching.

   How we get there

   1. 1

      The original is a counterfactual: had the night not been quiet, the team would not have heard the raccoons.

   2. 2

      So in fact the night was quiet, and that is why they heard them.

   3. 3

      (1) and (4) contradict this; (3) changes who was quiet and why.

   4. 4

      Answer (2).