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LSAT Logical Reasoning Clues

Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Stimulus (accepted) --/-> answer choices (affected or determined) cannot be true.






2. Used to introduce other premises that support the conclusion but are sometimes non-essential to the conclusion furthermore - moreover - besides - in addition - whats more - after all.

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3. Assumes that only 2 courses of action are available when there may be others. n






4. An event or circumstance whose occurrence indicates that a necessary condition must also occur.






5. 1. Stimulus will contain an argument. Must isolate and identify and assess the premises and the conclusion. 2. Focus on the conclusion. Almost all correct Weaken answers impact the conclusion. 3. The info in the stimulus is suspect. There are often r






6. Involves judgements made about groups and parts of a group. an error or composition occurs when the author attributes a characteristic of part of the group to the group as a whole or to each member of the group Error of division - author attributes c






7. If all 5 answer choices appear to be 'losers' - return to the stimulus and re-evaluate the argument.






8. At least on of the two - possibly both.

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9. Because - since - for - for example - for the reason that - in that - given that - as indicated by - due to - owing to - this can be seen from - we know this by.






10. To raise a viewpoint at the beginning of the stimulus and then disagree with it immediately thereafter. The stimulus often begins with: Some people claim... Some people propose... Many people believe... Some argue that... Some critics claim... Some s






11. If the stimulus contains an argument - identify the conclusion. If the stimulus contains a fact set - examine each fact.






12. Occurs when an author improperly equates a percentage with a definate quantity or vice versa. n






13. If the stimulus contains an argument - determine whether the argument is strong or weak.






14. 1. You can use only the info in the stimulus to prove the correct answer choice 2. Any answer choice that describes an element or a situation that does not occur in the stimulus is incorrect Method of Reasoning questions use a variety of formats - bu






15. Caused by because of responsible for reason for leads to induced by promoted by determined by produced by product of played a role in was a factor in is an effect of.






16. Negates both conditions - creating a statement that does not have to be true. Given: A+ --> Study Mistaken Negation: Not A+ --> Not Study






17. To logically negate a conditional statement - negate the necessary condition. Example: neither...nor becomes either...or.






18. Takes a small number of intstances and treats those instances as if they support a broad - sweeping conclusion. Often appears as an incorrect answer.n






19. Separate the answer choices into 'contenders' and 'loser'. After completing this process - review the contenders and decide which answer correct.






20. If - when - whenever - every - all - any - people who - in order to.






21. Determine whether the stimulus contains an argument or if it is only a set of factual statements. MUST recognize whether a conclusion is present.






22. Stimulus (affected or determined) ---> answer choices (accepted) AKA: Help Family assumption - justify the conclusion - strengthen/support - resolve the paradox.






23. 1. You must accept the stimulus info- even if it contains an error in reasoning-and use it to prove one of the answer choices must be true. 2. Any info in an answer choice that does not appear either directly in the stimulus or as a combination of it






24. The makers of the LSAT do not think that there are multiple causes for the same effect. When an LSAT speaker concludes that one occurance caused another - that speaker also assumes that the stated cause is the only possible cause of the effect and th






25. The author assumes as true What is supposed to be proved. exp: 'this essay is the best because it is better than all the others'n






26. Immediately look for the repeat or contrapositive in the answer choices. Avoid mistaken reversals and mistaken negations.






27. 1. Opposite answers. These answers do the exact opposite of What is needed. 2. Shell game answers. Occurs when an idea or concept is raised in the stimulus and then a very similar idea appears in the answer choices - but the idea is changed just enou






28. 1. Identify the conclusion - this is what you are trying to strengthen 2. Personalize the argument 3. Look for weaknesses in the argument 4. Arguments that contain analogies or use surveys rely upon the validity of those analogies and surveys. Answer






29. Usually have one male and one female. The female uses sound reasoning and the male uses flawed reasoning or makes a mistake. This is not always true - but more often than not.n






30. Occurs when an author attempts to attack an opponent's position by ignoring the actual statements made by the opposing speaker and instead distorts and refashions the argument - making it weaker in the process. Often prephrased by 'what you're saying






31. A statement or judgement that follows from one or more reasons. Ask: What is the author driving at? What does the author want me to believe? What point follows from the others?






32. Always read each of the five answer choices. If an answer choice appears somewhat attractive - interesting or even confusing - keep it as a contender and move to the next answer.






33. A fact - proposition or statement from which a conclusion is made. Ask: What reasons has the author used to persuade me? Why should I believe this argument? What evidence exists?






34. 1. The stem uses the word strengthen or a synonym (support - helps - most justifies) 2. The stem indicates that you should accept the answer choices are true.






35. Always ask: Do the given facts support the conclusion? Do the premises strongly suggest that the conclusion would be true? Does the conclusion feel like an inevitable result of the premises? Or Does the conclusion go beyond the scope of the info in t






36. Occurs when an author makes conflicting statements. n






37. A. Eliminates an alternate cause for the stated effect B. Shows that when the cause occurs - the effect occurs - assumption answers affirm the cause/effect relationship C. Show that when the cause does not occur - the effect doe not occur D. Eliminat






38. 1. If conditional statements are linked together in the argument - the correct answer choice for an assumption question will typically supply a missing link in the chain or the contrapositive to that link. 2. If you see a conditional conclusion and t






39. 1. The stem uses the word assumption - presupposition or some variation 2. The stem NEVER uses the word 'if' or any other sufficient condition indicator. The stem will likely contain a necessary condition indicator such as required or unless. The cor






40. They often feature 2 conclusions (main and sub.) - when the main conclusion is typically place in the first or second sentence and the last sentence contains the sub. conclusion. The sub. conclusion is set off by conclusion indicators while the main






41. 1. The info in the stimulus is suspect. There are often reasoning errors present and depending on the question - you will help shore up the argument in some way. 2. The answer choices are accepted as given - even if they include 'new' info. Your task






42. Introduce something that actually contains an idea that is counter to the argument. By raising opposition - the author can minimize the damage that would be done by the objection if it were raised elsewhere. but yet - however - on the other hand - ad






43. Take the statements under consideration and place them in an arrangement that forces once to be the conclusion and the other(s) to be the premise (s). Use premise and conclusion indicators to achieve this end. Once the pieces are arranged - determine






44. Authors misuses info to such a degree that they fail to provide any info to support their conclusion or they provide info that is irrelevant to their conclusion. n






45. Argument Part - If you do see the main conclusion at the end of a Method-AP problem - be prepared to answer a question about a part of the arguement other than the conclusion.n






46. They h ave failed to fully and accurately identify the conclusion of the argument. If a conclusion is present - you MUST identify it prior to proceeding on to the question stem.






47. 1. ethical versus factual situations - when the stimulus addresses something ethical - a factual answer would be incorrect and vice versa 2. dual agreement or dual disagreement - often incorrect answer choices will supply statements that both speaker






48. If an answer choice describes an event that did not occur in the stimulus - then that answer is incorrect. Watch for answers that are partially true - that is answers that contain a description of something that happened in the argument but that also






49. Refer to the likelihood of occurence or the obligation present - as in 'The mayor should resign.' 'the law will never pass.' Examples: (do not need to memorize) must - will - always - not always - probably - likely - would - never - rarely - could -






50. Premises + answer choice = conclusion When approaching answers - separate them into winners and losers - then apply the justify formula.