LSAT Flashcards
What logical indicators are in Group 1? (7)
if, when, where, all, the only, every, any
How do you translate logical indicators in Group 1?
the idea immediately following the indicator becomes the sufficient condition (on the left)
On what side of the arrow is the sufficient condition?
left
On what side of the arrow is the necessary condition?
right
The right side of the arrow contains…
the necessary condition
The left side of the arrow contains…
the sufficient condition
When determining the main point, find an answer choice that…
directly paraphrases the author’s conclusion
Make sure the _______ of the answer and the conclusion match, when answering main point questions
subject
When identifying the main point, watch out for these traps:
- sentences that aren’t part of the actual argument (context) and 2. sub-conclusions (which are usually found in the last sentence of the passage)
What are some words used to help transition from context/background to the author’s argument?
However, But, Although, Some people say…
What is a sub-conclusion/major premise?
A sentence that gives support and receives support
What are three ways to help identify premise and conclusion?
- Asking what the author is trying to persuade you of
- Asking why?!
- Looking for premise/conclusion indicators
Because, For, Since are all immediately followed by…
a premise and contain the conclusion in the same sentence
What words indicate that the premise and conclusion are in the same sentence?
because, for, since
What words usually indicate a premise? (7)
given that, seeing that, after all, for the reason that, owing to, as indicated by, on the grounds that
What words usually indicate a conclusion? (15)
consequently, therefore, as a result, so, clearly, accordingly, it follows that, we may conclude, it entails, hence, thus, we may infer that, it must be that, it implies that, that is why
What are the steps to answering a logical reasoning question?
- Identify the question stem
- read the stimulus
- is it an argument?
- if yes, identify premise, conclusion, and context and evaluate argument for any assumptions made
- if no, piece together the info
- anticipate the answer choices
- scan through answers an eliminate any you can
- decide between remaining answer choices
The arrow means…
“implies”
The slash means…
‘not’
The conclusion of an argument is located in the answer choices of the question in what type of questions?
most strongly supported questions
In “most strongly supported” questions, the stimulus contains…
the premise of the argument
In ‘most strongly supported’ questions, you should be able to look at a sentence from the stimulus and say “_______” conclusion/answer choice
therefore
contrapositives are
a logically equivalent statement
how can you determine the contrapositive
flip and negate both elements
what is a negation?
“it is NOT the case that xyz” or “anything that is NOT xyz”
