Like any exam with lots of questions worth small values - first off figure minutes/mark then run up a schedule of time to leave each question and go onto the next. If you end up saving some time and, at the end you can, go back and finish off any questions you hadn't completed.
There is no point getting one question (worth, say, 5%) totally correct if that comes at a cost of not attempting any others.
Reminds me of my first go at SCPL exams in the 60s .. read up the books in the ANO, never heard of past papers' being available ... rolled up to the exam .. and noted that none of the questions had anything to do with the recommended text books.
Guess I might have scored a mark or two for spelling my name correctly but that was about the extent of it. Next time around, I had a look at past papers as well to get a handle on what they REALLY wanted.
The use of complicated, waffly questions is common and, I suggest, quite valid. It is analogous to all the silly little distractions we get during flight planning in the real world. The need is to cut through the garbage and highlight the important stuff.
Suggest you have a think about doing just that with a highlighter. Read the question very critically and highlight the things which are important. Often that crystallises just what the guts of the question is.