00:00
Now that you have a basic idea
for what the CARS section entails,
we're going to discuss the
first of three major question
types you can expect to see
on the section of the MCAT.
00:12
These sequentially build
up upon one another,
so I suggest watching
them in order.
00:17
These will also beginning
progressively shorter
because the information used
in the earlier videos can be
reused in the understanding
of the other question types.
00:26
We've established that you're
not going to be familiar
with every single topic that
you see on the CARS section.
00:34
For the first question type, we'll discuss
foundations of comprehension questions,
you just need to know three things
per the official content guide.
00:42
Can you understand how authors
explain their points of view?
Can you interpret illustrated
examples that author use?
And can you work with definitions
from immediate context?
CARS questions begin by
testing you on the function,
the purpose,
the meaning of the passage.
01:04
Questions themselves guide
you through a process
to help you figure
out what that is.
01:10
Every once in a while a question
will even go so far as we've stated
as to directly ask you the
overall purpose of the passage.
01:18
We'll call those for our sake,
direct main idea questions.
01:23
Now, in the ancient
and modern Near East,
buildings are designed to
be naturally ventilated,
without the use of air
conditioning or electricity.
01:34
You don't need to be an architect to
infer the purpose of this building.
01:39
And so it goes
with CARS passages.
01:43
Now, all of these descriptions
about the CARS section
aren't going to help
you out a whole lot
if you're not very mentally
present with a passage.
01:52
After you've read a
passage, ask yourself if you
can infer its overall
purpose and function.
01:58
Just like you might
look at that building
and infer its overall
purpose and function.
02:03
You will be rewarded handsomely.
02:05
Three to four direct main
idea questions can be expected
across a given CARS
administration.
02:11
May not seem like a
lot, but it will add up.
02:16
Direct main idea questions will
have questions stems with phrases
such as thesis, big picture,
overall purpose, or yes, main idea.
02:28
Other questions will ask you to
evaluate an individual component
of the text in the
context of that main idea.
02:35
Let's continue to imagine
the cars passage as
a building that this
case has a gymnasium.
02:41
First, let's just ask
ourselves a question.
02:44
What purpose do the rafters
serve in a gymnasium?
At a superficial glance,
this just creates a higher ceiling.
02:52
But we could think a
little bit deeper, right?
We could think about space for
stands, for spectators to sit,
additional roof space for
ventilation, and so on and so forth.
03:03
The big idea here is that
once you understand the
purpose for which the CARS
passage was constructed,
you can continue to infer meaning from
individual components in the same way.
03:14
Let's then call this type of
question context questions.
03:19
These are questions that branch
off the main idea and asked you
to infer the purpose for
individual components of a text.
03:26
You can be clued into the fact you'll
be getting one of these question types
when the question stem contains
one of the following phrases:
"In the context of the
author's viewpoints,"
"due to the passages
central conclusion,"
or even simply "based on the passage,
how should component X be viewed?"
When answering these question
types, always keep the main idea in mind.
03:50
The answer most questions
on the CARS section in fact,
as we've stated,
you want a solid grasp of the main idea.
03:57
Don't think you can nail
it on the first pass.
03:59
Don't be afraid to answer a
question or two as you figure out
the main idea rather than
labeling it incorrectly.
04:06
Just make sure you refine and update
your mental blueprint for what
the main purpose of the passages as
you progress through a question set.
04:15
We can basically identify the main
idea from either a top down approach
or build it up from its constituent
elements with a bottom up approach.
04:24
Let's start with a
top down approach.
04:28
Since CARS passages are written by
these real live breathing people,
indeed for human readers
with limited attention spans,
we can expect them to have an
overall flow to keep them engaging.
04:42
While the introductory
paragraph tendency to introduce
important ideas that will
be discussed further,
the author rarely reveals his
or her entire hand right away.
04:52
The overall purpose will take
some time to be revealed,
and indeed is often saved
for the final paragraph.
05:00
As such, a common CARS
motif is when the author
introduces an idea in
the first paragraph
that presents a viewpoint,
which is not the author's own.
05:10
Don't be surprised when in the
second or subsequent paragraphs,
the author goes on to contradict
the viewpoint introduced
in the first paragraph.
05:20
Indeed, entire paragraphs
in the middle of the passage
are dedicated to those
counter arguments.
05:27
This just layers in an ebb
and a flow to CARS passages.
05:32
Think of introduction of alternate
viewpoints as a simulated conversation
between the author and those
with whom the author disagrees.
05:42
Now, the bottom up approach to
identifying the main idea is as follows:
We want to look for
certain core aspects
that we expect to be common
in all academic writing.
05:53
Because remember, these passages are
pulled from actual academic journals.
05:58
Now, there's going to be some overlap
with a top down approach here.
06:02
So I'm not going to spend too much time
defining each of these just right now.
06:06
But the key components that construct
academic prose are the following:
thesis, support points,
counter arguments, and digressions.
06:16
Which you might want to
do is write these down,
research a little bit more
about them on your own,
if nothing else,
just for your own academic writing,
and then start to kind of
internalize these formal definitions
as they're going to be expected to show
up across a majority of CARS passages.
06:33
The bottom up approach separates
that carefully sustained
train of thought which defines the
author's own point of view,
away from viewpoints presented
from other individuals,
or even the author's own
digressions on unimportant points.
06:48
Remember, the author is
writing this journal article,
book or magazine
excerpt for a reason.
06:54
You as the test taker must
identify that original purpose
why the source material
came into existence.