LSAT Logical Reasoning

The TestSherpa process is a proven method for tackling LSAT Logical Reasoning questions. Our students have been getting high LSAT Logical Reasoning scores for years using this method. At first, it may seem tedious to force yourself to follow this process. But the process is the key to high scores, so stick with it until it becomes second nature.

This is the first 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

LSAT Logical Reasoning

Let’s start with the basic anatomy of a Logical Reasoning question. Each question has three parts:

1. argument
2. question stem (what they’re asking you to do with the argument)
3. answer choices (A-E).

Here is a sample argument from the LSAT Logical Reasoning section:

Last year, Sandy spent about $100 on engine treatments and her gas mileage increased by 5 percent. This year she plans on spending at least $200 on engine treatments and expects her gas mileage to rise by a full 10 percent.

Here is a typical question for that argument in the LSAT Logical Reasoning section:

Which of the following, if true, would undermine Sandy’s expectations?

Here are some typical answer choices for that argument in the LSAT Logical Reasoning section:

(A) Sandy’s car is already operating at peak fuel efficiency
(B) Sandy’s car is German, but the engine treatment is for American cars
(C) Sandy would see the best increase in mileage if she serviced her engine
(D) Sandy’s mileage depends on many factors, including air temperature and the length of the trip
(E) Many cars can double their gas mileage with enough engine treatment

LSAT Logical Reasoning: The TestSherpa Process

The basic four-step TestSherpa process for attacking LSAT Logical Reasoning questions is:

1. Read the question stem. By reading the question stem first, you can save time by thinking about possible right answers as you read the stimulus.
2. Read and paraphrase the stimulus. It is important to build a good paraphrase of the argument so that you understand it in your own words and don’t have to keep rereading it.
3. Prephrase the answer. This may seem difficult at first, but prephrasing your answer is the key to avoiding the tempting wrong answers the LSAT will present you with. Prephrasing the answer means that you will try to come up with your own answer before reading the answer choices given to you on the LSAT Logical Reasoning section.
4. Eliminate wrong answers. If you’re lucky, the right answer will match your prephrased answer. Otherwise, you must eliminate the wrong answers and choose from what’s left.

In the next article the LSAT Logical Reasoning series we will take a look at how to deal with LSAT Logical Reasoning Questions.