Last 10 active topics

Question Type:
Inference (Must Be True)

Stimulus Breakdown:
1) Sold by Regis --most--> Bought by Blom
2) Regis sales last year > Regis sales any other year
3) Bought by Blom --most--> Not sold by Regis

Answer Anticipation:
I started writing these out as conditionals, expecting to need to combine the quantified statements. However, I can't combine these two statements (1 and 3), and the second statement is comparative, so I need to ...

Question Type:
Principle Example (Inference/Most Strongly Supported)

Stimulus Breakdown:
Principle: If incompetence doesn't risk human health/safety, then a job shouldn't be subject to a licensing requirement.

Answer Anticipation:
The correct answer will point out a profession where incompetence isn't dangerous and conclude that it shouldn't be licensed. I'm also expecting incorrect answers that conclude a profession should be licensed - there's nothing sufficient in the principle to justify that!

Correct answer:
(B) ...

Question Type:
Explain the Result (explain)

Stimulus Breakdown:
Fact 1: Acid rain on a forest makes the calcium in the soil decline, negatively impacting spure/fir/sugar maple trees.
Fact 2: Sugar maples seem much more negatively affected than are spruces or firs.

Answer Anticipation:
GIVEN THAT: "Spruce, fir, and sugar maple trees all need calcium to survive"
HOW CAN IT BE THAT: acid rain's calcium depletion seems to hurt sugar maples more than the ...

Question Type:
Procedure

Stimulus Breakdown:
P: The time period in which we found the earliest evidence of music is probably the time period where music was developed.

G: This time period used a particularly hardy material to construct instruments.

Answer Anticipation:
When you have two speakers in a Procedure question, it's important to start by seeing if they dis/agree on the premises and conclusion. G doesn't disagree with P's premise, just his conclusion. ...

Question Type:
Weaken

Stimulus Breakdown:
Thompson is the only candidate who opposes higher taxes. Many believe the best candidate is the one who opposes higher taxes. Therefore, Thompson is the best candidate.

Answer Anticipation:
Hold on there, LSAT. Just because many people believe something doesn't make it true. There are plenty of things many people believe that are demonstrably false.

This is a classic Perception vs. Reality flaw. Whenever I see language about ...

Question Type:
ID the Agreement

Stimulus Breakdown:
L: Violent movies make people violent, so kids shouldn't be allowed to watch them.

S: Dramatic violent movies are cathartic, so adults should be allowed to watch them.

Answer Anticipation:
L and S's conclusion don't overlap, so we should focus our attention on the premises. They both bring up an effect of watching violence, so the correct answer will probably deal with that.

Correct answer:
...

Question Type:
Necessary Assumption

Stimulus Breakdown:
Trout like cold water. In dt lakes, the cold water is at the bottom in summer and the top in winter. The turnovers happen in fall and in late winter. So if an angler is fishing in late winter, they should focus on the shallows/near the surface.

Answer Anticipation:
The conclusion recommends focusing on water near the top, which we know is cold after the fall turnover ...

Question Type:
Flaw

Stimulus Breakdown:
Premise: The admin's numbers are based on flight reports from pilots on all flights, and the opponents' are based on a partial review of air traffic control tapes.
Conclusion: The admin's numbers are more reliable.

Answer Anticipation:
There's no real argument here - just a mention of what the numbers are based on, and a claim that one set is more reliable. We could delve into why the admin ...

Question Type:
ID the Disagreement

Stimulus Breakdown:
S: Most people think the new computers were more expensive than they were. Therefore, we didn't spend too much.

M: The price was fair, but the school could have bought something less powerful.

Answer Anticipation:
Both agree that they got what they paid for. The disagreement is over whether they spent more than they should have.

Correct answer:
(C)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) ...

Question Type:
Match the Reasoning

Stimulus Breakdown:
Life on P23 → Water
No Water
Therefore, no life

Answer Anticipation:
This is a simple, contrapositive-based argument. It's valid. I'm looking for an answer that sets up a conditional, negates the necessary condition, and concludes the negation of the sufficient.

Correct answer:
(C)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Second premise mismatch. This answer has a second conditional premise, so it's a mismatch.
...