LR Question Forum

[tmc07d]

These seems like a pretty straightforward question but Ive been told many times in regards to choosing between a couple contenders in LR to "if an answer choice seems out of place to you, check to see how the stimulus deals with it." What is the best way of applying that concept? What part of the answer choice would you compare the stimulus to (conclusion, entire stimulus, certain words etc.)? Thanks for your help.

[glucose101]

This is way too general to give a beneficial answer.

[gavinstevens]

These seems like a pretty straightforward question but Ive been told many times in regards to choosing between a couple contenders in LR to "if an answer choice seems out of place to you, check to see how the stimulus deals with it." What is the best way of applying that concept? What part of the answer choice would you compare the stimulus to (conclusion, entire stimulus, certain words etc.)? Thanks for your help.

I think the advice you were given was meant to direct you towards comparing contenders to the stimulus, and not exclusively between one another. Manhattan recommends this approach for RC and LR. It is tempting at that stage of the problem solving process to get bogged down weighing one choice against the other and ignore the information that makes one choice wrong or right in the stimulus.

As for what part of the stimulus, that is too general a question.

[Manhattan LSAT Noah]

Part of the issue is to make sure you've boiled down the stimulus to its core: the premise and the conclusion. For half the LR section, the assumption family, the answer must address the gap between them (either validating, invalidating, naming, etc.). So, practice classifying wrong answers to assumption family questions by whether they deal only with the premise, the conclusion, or neither.

I hope that helps.

[KapTeacherBobby]

These seems like a pretty straightforward question but Ive been told many times in regards to choosing between a couple contenders in LR to "if an answer choice seems out of place to you, check to see how the stimulus deals with it." What is the best way of applying that concept? What part of the answer choice would you compare the stimulus to (conclusion, entire stimulus, certain words etc.)? Thanks for your help.

If you're in an assumption family question (assumption, strengthen/weaken, flaw), then the right answer has to relate to the scope of the argument.

Espcially in assumption questions, look for an idea in the conclusion that is NOT in the evidence. If there is a new idea in the conclusion that wasn't in the proof, then the author must be assuming something about it. Then, ask: what idea is in the evidence that is not in the conclusion. If there is an idea in the evidence that is not in the conclusion, then the author is using some idea foreign to the conclusion in an attempt to establish the conclusion.\

Then link up the two mismatched ideas to find the assumption. This is the classic Kaplan strategy to finding assumptions.

In a very abstract assumption question, select the choice that comes closest to restating the stimulus: the answer that shares as many ideas with the stimulus as possible without bringing in new ones.

Important caveat: If an answer choice ONLY restates evidence or conclusion, then it is wrong as an assumption is UNSTATED.