I find that it can help to try to "translate" complex philosophical wording into relatively simple relationships as you read, with the thought that you can then go back to handle the details in more depth if a question asks you to. So, for example, this last paragraph basically boils down to two points: (1) Akan thinkers resolve this problem of differing strengths of spirit by saying "hey, you can make an effort to make your spirit stronger", and (2) the author is like "hold up, what's the deal w/ 'effort' anyway - how can this work as an explanation if we don't know what 'effort' is, how we get it, etc."
If you can distill point (2) to even something as simple as "the author is dubious about this whole 'effort' thing", then you can sort through the answer choices systematically.
A directly deals with the nature of effort, so it answers the author's concerns.
B just restates what the Akan thinkers say. The whole point of this paragraph is that the author isn't satisfied with that explanation.
C swaps cause and effect - always a bad sign in an answer choice.
D is irrelevant, it just connects the topic of the question with a previous paragraph.
In this case, I think the most helpful skill is honestly being able to look at the architecture of the answer choices to see how the AAMC question writers generate the wrong answers. Once you get familiar with those patterns, you can hone in on A even if you
don't really understand the paragraph beyond just "Akan thinkers appeal to effort, the author is skeptical about the whole 'effort' thing".
Now, there's also a certain skill involved in being able to read through complex paragraphs and boil them down to a simplified summary. This is where practice comes in, and in particular, here's a suggestion I'd make: as you review materials, it can be really helpful to think about what is the
least you have to understand/know to get the question right. This will help you develop the skill of honing in on essential information and not wasting your time on abstract rabbit holes.
This, combined w/ getting familiar w/ repeating patterns of incorrect answer choices should eventually yield a major leap forward in CARS skills
.
Good luck!!
