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Logical Reasoning Questions

This is the second of a series of articles on LSAT Logical Reasoning questions. The series contains the following articles:

LSAT Logical Reasoning: An Introduction
Logical Reasoning Questions
Logical Reasoning Arguments
Logical Reasoning Answers
Logical Reasoning Elimination

Logical Reasoning Questions

The first step in the TestSherpa method for Logical Reasoning is reading the questions. Logical reasoning question stems are tucked away between the stimulus and the answer choices, so it’s easy to miss. In fact, your instinct is probably to read the stimulus (argument) first, and then read the logical reasoning question. But there are several reasons you should read the question stem first, before reading the stimulus.

If you know what the logical reasoning question is asking for, you can save some time by looking for the answer as you read the stimulus. If the question asks you to identify the conclusion, you know you can just scan for the main idea and then jump to the answer choices. If the question asks you to identify an assumption, you look for the gaps in the logic as you read the argument. If you don’t read the logical reasoning question stem first, you’ll probably end up reading the argument again anyway, once you figure out what the question is asking.

Why not save that time and read the question stem in the first place? You could miss out on 25% of the test by wasting time rereading the stimulus.

Some logical reasoning questions should be skipped right of the bat. This is true of the ALL/EXCEPT variety, which read something like:

All of the following are assumptions contained in the author’s argument, EXCEPT.

This question is asking you to find four right answers, and then pick the wrong one. It sounds like it will take four times as long to answer. You can save time by just reading the question and realizing you should skip this question. That’s not to say you won’t come back to it if you have time. But remember, your minutes on the LSAT test are like dollars. You have 35 dollars to spend on questions in each logical reasoning section. Why spend four dollars for this tough question when there are a few bargain questions somewhere else you could pick up for one dollar?

As you practice, you’ll begin to identify which logical reasoning question types are your weakest areas. By reading the question stem first, you’ll know which ones are worth skipping without wasting time reading the long stimulus. Reading a question takes less the half the time it takes to read an argument.

Logical Reasoning Question Inside Tip

This is the best part: the logical reasoning question stem always gives you clues to understanding the argument. Consider the question:

Which of the following supports the author’s argument that American GNP is tied to government spending?

This question summarizes the argument and gives you the author’s conclusion before you even begin reading the stimulus. Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to read the argument now that you have a hint as to what it is about? I’ll bet that the argument is a long boring one based on economic theory; knowing the conclusion before you read it will help you conquer what could’ve been a real tough argument.

Even the logical reasoning question stems that aren’t so explicit give you clues. If a question asks you to weaken an argument, you know that you’re not dealing with an airtight argument. There are holes or gaps in it. If the question asks you where the argument is leading, you know that the final conclusion is not stated. Let the question stem do some of the work for you.

We’ll switch from logical reasoning questions to logical reasoning arguments in the next article in this series on LSAT logical reasoning.

 Next: Logical Reasoning Arguments