X-ray of a Typical Logical Reasoning Question
Below is a typical Logical Reasoning question. Don’t worry about working
through it just yet—we’ll do that later. For now, just take a quick look so we can
establish some terminology.
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Incompetence causes workers to perform inferior work. In
addition, some incompetent people do not recognize their own
incompetence, which causes them to reject the feedback and
assistance that would enable them to improve the quality of
their work. |
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The situation described above conforms most
closely to which one of the following propositions? |
| (A) |
A behavior that causes negative repercussions may sometimes
bring about positive outcomes that outweigh the negative
repercussions of the behavior. |
| (B) |
A consequence of a phenomenon may in some cases be
compounded by a secondary effect of that same phenomenon. |
| (C) |
The rejection of valuable recommendations may prove to be
the difference between a negative outcome and the best possible
outcome. |
| (D) |
When a character trait of a particular worker results in
the performance of inferior work, that worker should be assigned
less demanding responsibilities. |
| (E) |
An inferior project based on a faulty premise will be made
worse by any attempt to incorporate a conflicting premise into
the project. |
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The “passage” is the short paragraph in the beginning. The “question stem” is
the question you’ll need to answer regarding the passage—in this case, the text
beneath the passage beginning “The situation described above . . . ” The “choices”
are the five statements labeled (A) through (E) from which you’ll select your
answer.
Most passages contain some kind of argument—that is, a conclusion backed up by
evidence. The conclusion is the point the author is trying to establish, and the
evidence is anything the author provides to back up that point. The conclusion
answers the question “What does the author say?” while the evidence
answers the question “Why does the author say that?” For example,
consider the following statement:
My breakfast was terrible.
On its own, this statement has no context, so we can’t rightfully call it
evidence or conclusion—it’s simply a declarative statement. However, let’s say we
add the following sentence to it:
My breakfast was terrible. The eggs were overcooked, the
cereal was stale, and the coffee was weak.
Now we have a proper argument. The facts in the second sentence answer the
question “Why was your breakfast terrible?” which means that the
breakfast being terrible is the conclusion and that bad eggs, bad cereal, and bad
coffee are the evidence for that conclusion.
Of course, the arguments in LSAT Logical Reasoning questions are generally
more complicated, but the format is essentially the same: a conclusion backed up by
evidence. The questions test your ability to assess the validity of these arguments,
recognize their strengths and weaknesses, mimic their logic, and grasp their
structures.
Some passages do not contain arguments but rather a set of facts from which
you are to derive inferences—that is, make deductions. You’ll learn all about that
later in the chapter.
So now you know what a typical question looks like, but what are you supposed
to do with one? The directions to the section spell that out. The directions will
always be the same, so don’t waste valuable time reading them on test day. Read
through them carefully now so you’ll never have to read them again.
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Directions: The questions in this
section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or
passages. For some questions, more than one of the choices can
conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the
best answer; that is, the response that
most accurately and completely answers the question. You should not
make assumptions that are by commonsense standards implausible,
superfluous, or incompatible with the passage. After you have chosen
the best answer, blacken the corresponding space on your answer
sheet.
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One interesting thing to notice about these directions is that the test makers
admit there may be more than one choice that could “conceivably” answer the
question. However, only one choice is considered the most “accurate” and “complete.”
The techniques you learn in this chapter will help you to distinguish between the
credited answer and what many consider to be the “next best” choice. Also note that
although the questions are geared toward the application of strict logic, a bit of
common sense comes into play as well. If you’ve got some street smarts, use ’em.
