PT 29, S1, Q20 Forum

[New_Spice180]

Hey you guys,

So I ran into this question and I am totally confused even with the explanations given by Manhattan it doesn't make sense. By process of elimination I see how you could have gotten the right answer but how this bridges the gap for the assumption is another thing.

I guess my problem with this question is: How does having the same constant dollar amount help this argument?

An explanation of this question would be amazing!

Thanks.

[Blueprint Mithun]

Hey you guys,

So I ran into this question and I am totally confused even with the explanations given by Manhattan it doesn't make sense. By process of elimination I see how you could have gotten the right answer but how this bridges the gap for the assumption is another thing.

I guess my problem with this question is: How does having the same constant dollar amount help this argument?

An explanation of this question would be amazing!

Thanks.

The conclusion says "on average, people pay less today in constant dollars for a ... ticket than they did a year ago." We also know that last year, the split between full fare and discount tickets was 50/50, whereas this year, it is 10/90. So the proportion of discount tickets sold was much higher this year.

Since this is a Sufficient question, we're focusing on proving the conclusion: what would guarantee that people paid less on average for a ticket this year? What's missing that would allow us to conclude that for certain?

Think about this: they never tell us how much the discount actually is, either from this year or last year. How much cheaper are the discounted tickets relative to the full-fare ones? And more importantly, has this discount stayed constant since last year?

The argument could be making a numbers/proportion fallacy. If the discount was 20% last year, but only 5% this year, then the increased proportion of discount tickets sold might not be enough to guarantee that people paid less on average.

Answer choice B eliminates this possibility by saying that the discounted tickets cost about the same. Since we know from the stimulus that the full-fare tickets also cost about the same, we can be assured in the conclusion.

[New_Spice180]

Thanks a bunch! I recently started re drilling the Cambridge Assumption packet, and slowly but surely I'm starting to see improvement in my understand of these questions. Would you advise timing during drilling or save that for full sections? I feel like i still need to develop the "muscle memory" for identifying the elements of a stimulus, but maybe I could try pushing my speed a bit as well...

Additionally, there are a few Assumption questions do not make it clear whether or the test taker must look for an necessary or sufficient assumption. Are we supposed to simply assume that the assumption the question requires is necessary?


Thanks.

[Mikey]

Thanks a bunch! I recently started re drilling the Cambridge Assumption packet, and slowly but surely I'm starting to see improvement in my understand of these questions. Would you advise timing during drilling or save that for full sections? I feel like i still need to develop the "muscle memory" for identifying the elements of a stimulus, but maybe I could try pushing my speed a bit as well...

Additionally, there are a few Assumption questions do not make it clear whether or the test taker must look for an necessary or sufficient assumption. Are we supposed to simply assume that the assumption the question requires is necessary?


Thanks.

Personally, I did a lot of untimed drilling and then once I got familiar/comfortable with the question type, I would then start doing timed drilling. You should do the same, because there's no point in doing things timed and rushing them if you don't understand it.

For necessary assumption questions, the question stem will typically include something like "Which one of the following is an assumption on which the author's argument depends?". If you see the words "relies, requires, depends" when dealing with an assumption question, it's a necessary assumption question. Sometimes there will be one that says something like "The author assumes which of the following?", this is still a necessary assumption question.

For sufficient assumption questions, the question stem will mention assumptions, but will NOT mention "depends, relies, etc.". A question stem will look more like "The argument's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?". S.A question stems can also say something like "Which one of the following, if assumed, would allow the conclusion above to be properly drawn?".

[New_Spice180]

Thanks a bunch! I recently started re drilling the Cambridge Assumption packet, and slowly but surely I'm starting to see improvement in my understand of these questions. Would you advise timing during drilling or save that for full sections? I feel like i still need to develop the "muscle memory" for identifying the elements of a stimulus, but maybe I could try pushing my speed a bit as well...

Additionally, there are a few Assumption questions do not make it clear whether or the test taker must look for an necessary or sufficient assumption. Are we supposed to simply assume that the assumption the question requires is necessary?


Thanks.

Personally, I did a lot of untimed drilling and then once I got familiar/comfortable with the question type, I would then start doing timed drilling. You should do the same, because there's no point in doing things timed and rushing them if you don't understand it.

For necessary assumption questions, the question stem will typically include something like "Which one of the following is an assumption on which the author's argument depends?". If you see the words "relies, requires, depends" when dealing with an assumption question, it's a necessary assumption question. Sometimes there will be one that says something like "The author assumes which of the following?", this is still a necessary assumption question.

For sufficient assumption questions, the question stem will mention assumptions, but will NOT mention "depends, relies, etc.". A question stem will look more like "The argument's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?". S.A question stems can also say something like "Which one of the following, if assumed, would allow the conclusion above to be properly drawn?".

I appreciate that clarification! I just feel like there's pressure from LSAT gurus like 7sage to "never do untimed practice." But, yeah, I'm just drilling away till I'm confident in my ability to approach these questions then on with the next step, timed sections >.>

[Mikey]

Thanks a bunch! I recently started re drilling the Cambridge Assumption packet, and slowly but surely I'm starting to see improvement in my understand of these questions. Would you advise timing during drilling or save that for full sections? I feel like i still need to develop the "muscle memory" for identifying the elements of a stimulus, but maybe I could try pushing my speed a bit as well...

Additionally, there are a few Assumption questions do not make it clear whether or the test taker must look for an necessary or sufficient assumption. Are we supposed to simply assume that the assumption the question requires is necessary?


Thanks.

Personally, I did a lot of untimed drilling and then once I got familiar/comfortable with the question type, I would then start doing timed drilling. You should do the same, because there's no point in doing things timed and rushing them if you don't understand it.

For necessary assumption questions, the question stem will typically include something like "Which one of the following is an assumption on which the author's argument depends?". If you see the words "relies, requires, depends" when dealing with an assumption question, it's a necessary assumption question. Sometimes there will be one that says something like "The author assumes which of the following?", this is still a necessary assumption question.

For sufficient assumption questions, the question stem will mention assumptions, but will NOT mention "depends, relies, etc.". A question stem will look more like "The argument's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?". S.A question stems can also say something like "Which one of the following, if assumed, would allow the conclusion above to be properly drawn?".

I appreciate that clarification! I just feel like there's pressure from LSAT gurus like 7sage to "never do untimed practice." But, yeah, I'm just drilling away till I'm confident in my ability to approach these questions then on with the next step, timed sections >.>

No problem! Also, yeah a lot of people are against doing untimed prep, but honestly if you don't know what you're doing, how can someone expect to do it fast? As long as you don't continue doing untimed prep once you reach the point of knowing your stuff, then you should be fine. Just get to the point where you believe you can destroy a question type and then do them timed.