I got this one right, but got weirdly hung up on the distinction between "[persuading] people that they need consumer goods when they merely desire them..." vs "persuades people that they need things that they merely want." In the context of this argument there seems to be little difference between "needs things they merely want" and "need consumer goods when they merely desire them," but I can see in other questions the term "thing" being too general compared to the specific item, "consumer goods," being discussed.
With 26 seconds under I marked A as the correct answer, and for confidence used process of elimination for the other questions, and my reasoning for the eliminations mostly followed J.Y's explanations. I likely could've saved more time by being more confident in my answer, but I'm quite satisfied with the timing I had already.
I was just barely over time on this one, only because I took the time to read through all the answers. I figured A was correct after reading it but wanted to make sure I didn't miss something. I should've just gone with my gut.
"Again, let’s say that everything in the stimulus is true. Can it be inferred that the critics of consumerism sometimes use fuzzy distinctions to support their claims?"
Does the one time occurrence in the stimulus really justify inferring that critics "sometimes" use fuzzy distinctions? I fell like "sometimes" means at least more than once.
I got it correct in both my original answer and the BR, but while I was 75 percent sure I was hesitant and thinking it could be E. Then I watched the video for an explanation of why E could not be the answer to make sure I have it 100 percent clear and I'm now more confused. From the video it sounded like if the word often was not there, it would be correct. But I didn't think it was wrong because of the often I thought it was wrong because I read it as support for the conclusion. So what I'm confused about is would that be the correct answer if often wasn't there or not?
Got all of these right so far. Experimented with speeding up my timing on this question and chose the correct answer without even fully processing the answer choice. Idk if that's good or bad but I'm starting to see how these questions become really cookie cutter.
I feel like b was a trap answer for me. I assumed the rest of the context was all the conclusion, but that's not what the argument was saying. The argument is saying, so these critiques you're making? That's too fuzzy bro. The only one that does that is (A). (B) is just a repeat of what critics say. That is just context without the real conclusion, it's half of the real picture. When we take that with the idea of it being too fuzzy, that's the conclusion.
Looking for help in correcting under-confidence errors. I am consistently about to choose the wrong answer and then I overestimate how much the LSAT is tricking me and end up tricking myself. What tips (in addition to more practice) do you have to weed this out?
@laurasog I remind myself there is only one right answer and the other four are wrong. I recommend to not do process of elimination yet until you identify the context, premise, and conclusion.
My approach:
1) First sentence is context about what is about to be the argument
2) The second sentence is the conclusion because the 'however' is the shift to the Editorial opinion/argument. The rest is a premise.
3) Now prephrase the potential correct answer, which we know the answer must mention about fuzzy distinction between two things: wants and needs
Answer choices:
(c) and (d) can be eliminated already since it doesn't mention the fuzzy distinction of two things
(b) incorrect because the Editorial did not mention anything about right or wrong just that there is a distinction
(e) incorrect because the Editorial is not talking about the frequency that the conclusion is doing.
Therefore A, is correct because of the paraphrasing.
LSAT also places the correct answer strategically as A to make us second guess the right answer. That is why is you have a strong foundation of prephrasing the correct answer you won't fall for these traps. In addition, if your between to answers pick the one you are leaning towards and ask 'why should I believe that?' the premise in the stimulus should prove it.
@RichardSanta-Cruz Yo, are you from Santa Cruz btw? I'm from Santa Clara. I find the use of female pronouns distracting cuz it's weird and forced. Americans traditionally don't speak like this. It's subtly pushing a feminist agenda when I just want to study for a test.
@TheSovereign Yes and I've noticed this too! Especially when it's a question with a "critic" in the stimulus.. the instructor often uses "she". I've also seen this happen with stimulus that has a business person or executive, and the instructor defaults to "he" even if the gender isn't mentioned. I think its bias from the instructor who is inserting pronouns without any additional context from the stimulus.
I wouldn't say that I find it distracting, but rather a bit annoying and somewhat ignorant on the part of 7Sage. I'd be interested to see if other people have noticed trends like this.
My first choice was A, then doubted myself as I did not think the correct answer would be the word for word conclusion and ended up choosing D instead.
When we do the drill originally (before the Blind Review), should we be focusing more on time or getting it correct? Averaging about 2 min right now per question, but consistently getting them correct.
i'd aim for time, then make sure you are certain of the answer after blind review. train yourself to get off an answer quickly, then dissect the question
Thus far, Main Conclusion questions seem to the most straightforward for me. Using the foundations lessons (indicators, parsing our arguments), I've been able to consistently get right answers. I'm paying close attention to why answers are wrong however, so that when I do come across questions that have 2 answers I feel are potentially correct, I can break them down such that the incorrect one makes itself known. So even tho I'm getting these practice questions correct, im still going through the lesson and explanation.
@tswalker83 I agree, I've been doing good with Main Conclusion even when I am nervous about my answer I stick to it because I know I analyzed it correctly. We making progress :)
I have been getting them all right so far, I chose A but was tempted by B, they both seemed great to me but went with my gut. After watching the video I saw that you quickly eliminated B as its not the authors claim but rather the critics... any tips on how I can avoid me from getting stuck on this? I guess just use whatever the author is saying rather then other people?
The lecturer mentioned in a previous video that if you are not 100% confident with your choice, then you are merely guessing, and that does no good on practice exams/questions. The point is to master the concept, so that when you take the LSAT you are as confident as you can be to identify the correct answer.
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89 comments
I got this one right, but got weirdly hung up on the distinction between "[persuading] people that they need consumer goods when they merely desire them..." vs "persuades people that they need things that they merely want." In the context of this argument there seems to be little difference between "needs things they merely want" and "need consumer goods when they merely desire them," but I can see in other questions the term "thing" being too general compared to the specific item, "consumer goods," being discussed.
With 26 seconds under I marked A as the correct answer, and for confidence used process of elimination for the other questions, and my reasoning for the eliminations mostly followed J.Y's explanations. I likely could've saved more time by being more confident in my answer, but I'm quite satisfied with the timing I had already.
correct and -19s lfggg
Got it right but wanted to pick B...
-0.06 on timing for the first time and got it right!
Got it with 20 seconds to spare. There's hope after all.
Still freaking 37 seconds over, but I got it, and I was 100% confident in the answer choice. Yay!
I was just barely over time on this one, only because I took the time to read through all the answers. I figured A was correct after reading it but wanted to make sure I didn't miss something. I should've just gone with my gut.
"Again, let’s say that everything in the stimulus is true. Can it be inferred that the critics of consumerism sometimes use fuzzy distinctions to support their claims?"
Does the one time occurrence in the stimulus really justify inferring that critics "sometimes" use fuzzy distinctions? I fell like "sometimes" means at least more than once.
I got it correct in both my original answer and the BR, but while I was 75 percent sure I was hesitant and thinking it could be E. Then I watched the video for an explanation of why E could not be the answer to make sure I have it 100 percent clear and I'm now more confused. From the video it sounded like if the word often was not there, it would be correct. But I didn't think it was wrong because of the often I thought it was wrong because I read it as support for the conclusion. So what I'm confused about is would that be the correct answer if often wasn't there or not?
anyone else recognize the stim from a godawful reading comprehension passage?
LETS GO!!!! ON A ROLL
Got all of these right so far. Experimented with speeding up my timing on this question and chose the correct answer without even fully processing the answer choice. Idk if that's good or bad but I'm starting to see how these questions become really cookie cutter.
@CaldonJones Nah I feel you - I'm def doing the same. Just making sure I know why each of the answers are wrong. Like you said, so good so far.
I feel like b was a trap answer for me. I assumed the rest of the context was all the conclusion, but that's not what the argument was saying. The argument is saying, so these critiques you're making? That's too fuzzy bro. The only one that does that is (A). (B) is just a repeat of what critics say. That is just context without the real conclusion, it's half of the real picture. When we take that with the idea of it being too fuzzy, that's the conclusion.
Looking for help in correcting under-confidence errors. I am consistently about to choose the wrong answer and then I overestimate how much the LSAT is tricking me and end up tricking myself. What tips (in addition to more practice) do you have to weed this out?
@laurasog I remind myself there is only one right answer and the other four are wrong. I recommend to not do process of elimination yet until you identify the context, premise, and conclusion.
My approach:
1) First sentence is context about what is about to be the argument
2) The second sentence is the conclusion because the 'however' is the shift to the Editorial opinion/argument. The rest is a premise.
3) Now prephrase the potential correct answer, which we know the answer must mention about fuzzy distinction between two things: wants and needs
Answer choices:
(c) and (d) can be eliminated already since it doesn't mention the fuzzy distinction of two things
(b) incorrect because the Editorial did not mention anything about right or wrong just that there is a distinction
(e) incorrect because the Editorial is not talking about the frequency that the conclusion is doing.
Therefore A, is correct because of the paraphrasing.
LSAT also places the correct answer strategically as A to make us second guess the right answer. That is why is you have a strong foundation of prephrasing the correct answer you won't fall for these traps. In addition, if your between to answers pick the one you are leaning towards and ask 'why should I believe that?' the premise in the stimulus should prove it.
Did we ever find out why the Blind Review isn't accounted for? I first marked E, BR'd, selected A and it's still marked Incorrect.
@stephb8 because BR is for you to take as much time as you want. The regular answer is what you selected under the time constraints.
Anyone else find the instructor's random use of female pronouns distracting?
@TheSovereign I have noticed it, but why would that be distracting?
@RichardSanta-Cruz Yo, are you from Santa Cruz btw? I'm from Santa Clara. I find the use of female pronouns distracting cuz it's weird and forced. Americans traditionally don't speak like this. It's subtly pushing a feminist agenda when I just want to study for a test.
@TheSovereign sounds like a you problem :/
@TheSovereign It seems like you are the only one here to force an agenda
@TheSovereign Yes and I've noticed this too! Especially when it's a question with a "critic" in the stimulus.. the instructor often uses "she". I've also seen this happen with stimulus that has a business person or executive, and the instructor defaults to "he" even if the gender isn't mentioned. I think its bias from the instructor who is inserting pronouns without any additional context from the stimulus.
I wouldn't say that I find it distracting, but rather a bit annoying and somewhat ignorant on the part of 7Sage. I'd be interested to see if other people have noticed trends like this.
@SabrinaB127 This is nonsense, he's clearly just randomly swapping pronouns around.
I knew A was right but, I still read through all the answer choices to be sure. I almost chose B but, I went with my intuition and read again.
It doesn't give me the option to blind review these after. Anyone know why?
got it right initially and wrong on the blind review omg
almost didnt choose A because i thought it was too direct and easy.. but nothing else fit.
@zf_7 i get you. i feel like for some questions, even in other question types, the most direct and easy ones are usually wrong
My first choice was A, then doubted myself as I did not think the correct answer would be the word for word conclusion and ended up choosing D instead.
When we do the drill originally (before the Blind Review), should we be focusing more on time or getting it correct? Averaging about 2 min right now per question, but consistently getting them correct.
i'd aim for time, then make sure you are certain of the answer after blind review. train yourself to get off an answer quickly, then dissect the question
#feedback Is anyone else's bold in their notes not working?
Thus far, Main Conclusion questions seem to the most straightforward for me. Using the foundations lessons (indicators, parsing our arguments), I've been able to consistently get right answers. I'm paying close attention to why answers are wrong however, so that when I do come across questions that have 2 answers I feel are potentially correct, I can break them down such that the incorrect one makes itself known. So even tho I'm getting these practice questions correct, im still going through the lesson and explanation.
@tswalker83 I agree, I've been doing good with Main Conclusion even when I am nervous about my answer I stick to it because I know I analyzed it correctly. We making progress :)
I have been getting them all right so far, I chose A but was tempted by B, they both seemed great to me but went with my gut. After watching the video I saw that you quickly eliminated B as its not the authors claim but rather the critics... any tips on how I can avoid me from getting stuck on this? I guess just use whatever the author is saying rather then other people?
The lecturer mentioned in a previous video that if you are not 100% confident with your choice, then you are merely guessing, and that does no good on practice exams/questions. The point is to master the concept, so that when you take the LSAT you are as confident as you can be to identify the correct answer.
Applauding you for recognizing and expressing your thought process.
Yes: Use whatever the author is saying rather than other party's statement.