Week 2: Strengthen (LR) Flashcards
Strengthen Question
asking you to choose the answer choice that best supports the stimulus.
the answer choice that best suggest the likelihood of the stimulus.
How to Spot a Strengthen Question:
“most _____________”
“**most **_____________”
“most_____________”
Notice how each of these options uses the word “most” in the stimulus –> we’re looking for the answer choice with the greatest impact possible on the stimulus.
strengthens; supports; justifies
How to Solve Strengthen Questions
You solve all questions in the Assumption family (Nec. Assumption, Suff. Assumption, Flaw, Strengthen, Weaken) the same way:
- Find Conclusion
- Find Evidence
- Evaluate
- evaluate the space between the arg.
- btw, the arg. in everyone of the question types from the assumption family is invalid, always.
- grant that the evidence is true, but ask ‘do I really have to accept this conclusion?’
- Anticipate
- Answer Choices
Reasoning Structures
Comparison: 72% (foremost)
Causal: 33% (next most frequent)
Conditional: 22% (barely see it)
Comparison
how to do comparison prompts usually operate in strengthen questions?
sometimes, the comparison will be between the same thing at different points in time, and other times it will be between two different things at the same point in time.
Oftentimes the flaw with comparisons in strengthen questions is that the author says we should choose one of the two alternatives while only talking about the _____________ of one of the alternatives and not explaining the ________ about the other alternative.
benefit; pros
Causal
how to strengthen a causal conclusion?
Do the opposite of what you would do in a weaken question.
Eliminate Alternate Causes
Cause with Effect
No Cause, No Effect
(More Cause, More Effect)
Eliminate Reverse Cause
Trap Answer Patterns
Scope
- Out of Scope
Logic
- Weaken
- Irrelevant Relationship
- Premise Support
Degree
- Too Weak
