Viewpoint confusion
Sounds like: You understand the ideas but attach a claim to the wrong speaker, critic, author, or school of thought.
TEST NEXT
Keep the speaker attached to the claim. Treat words like however, critics argue, proponents respond, and the author contends as viewpoint reset points.
Review question: Whose claim did I think this was, and whose claim was it actually?
Stem misread
Sounds like: You understood the passage but answered a slightly different question, especially with NOT, EXCEPT, LEAST, MOST, strengthen, weaken, or function stems.
TEST NEXT
Restate the task in plain language before you seriously compare the choices.
Review question: What exactly did the stem ask me to do?
Extremity creep
Sounds like: Your wrong answer is often just a little stronger, broader, or more certain than the passage.
TEST NEXT
Compare the certainty and scope of the answer with the certainty and scope the passage actually earned.
Review question: Which word made my answer stronger than the passage?
Outside-knowledge drift
Sounds like: Something you already know, believe, or associate with the topic starts doing work the passage never gave it permission to do.
TEST NEXT
Ask where each important fact in your reasoning came from: the passage, the stem, or you.
Review question: What did I import that the passage never actually said?
Attention lapse
Sounds like: Your eyes keep moving after comprehension stops, or you finish a paragraph and realize you absorbed almost nothing.
TEST NEXT
Return only to the last sentence or idea you definitely understood. Repair the break locally instead of automatically restarting the passage.
Review question: Where was the last point I can actually explain?
Anxiety switching
Sounds like: You choose a supported answer, keep staring, become less comfortable, and change it without finding anything new.
TEST NEXT
Switch only for new evidence, a stem misread, a viewpoint mix-up, or a real logic error—not because certainty faded.
Review question: What new information justified my switch?
Reread loop
Sounds like: A difficult question turns into repeated trips back to the same lines even though each reread gives you the same information.
TEST NEXT
First return: locate the evidence. Second return: compare that evidence with the remaining choices. If nothing new appears, choose, flag if needed, and move.
Review question: What was this reread supposed to buy me?
Final-two decisions
Sounds like: You regularly get down to two plausible answers and can build a case for both until the weaker one wins.
TEST NEXT
Stop evaluating the final two independently. Compare them directly: fewer unsupported assumptions, exact stem scope, correct viewpoint, matching certainty, and more direct passage support.
Review question: Which flaw makes one answer worse than the other?