Multi-Source Reasoning: how do you manage the tabs without re-reading?

✓ Accepted answer

Read-on-demand beats reading everything upfront for most test takers. Here's the two-pass method: Pass 1 — structural skim (60 seconds total across all tabs): go through each tab and read only the tab name, column/row headers, any title or intro sentence, and the units on data tables. Do not read data cells. The goal is a mental map: 'Tab 1 = revenue by region by year, Tab 2 = email thread between executives, Tab 3 = summary statistics.' Pass 2 — question-driven reading: read each question, identify which tab(s) it references, then pull only the relevant section. This is faster than holding all three tabs in working memory simultaneously. Two exceptions: 1. All three questions reference the same tab exclusively → read it once at full depth before attempting questions. 2. A question requires cross-referencing two tabs → your structural skim notes tell you which two; go to both in sequence. Common MSR trap: an answer that uses data from the wrong tab. The structural skim makes this visible — if Tab 2 is a qualitative email thread and the question is quantitative, the answer lives in Tab 3. Timing benchmark: 8–10 minutes total per MSR set for 3 questions is typical. If you exceed 12 minutes, move on — MSR sets rarely become clearer with more time once you're stuck.