108 posts in the last 30 days

User Avatar

Last comment wednesday, dec 20 2017

How do you guys approach...

..."but not both" sequencing games. I've been practicing these after the Dec LSAT. I thought I had a good handle on them but I took way too long to diagram my possible worlds game 2 (I realized I made a mistake halfway through the question set and had to redo them).

I'm currently doing drills in Powescore's LG workbook.

0

if we are to solve a strengthen, or Sa or PSA type of a question, if we see the word Principle in the Question stem. Are we to assume that that question makes use of conditional Logic necessarily? Also does the SA question always make use of conditional Logic?

0

So I did write the December test but I have already registered to write the Feb one.

RC has been my weakest section and I honestly thought I had it down until I started doing some of the newer PTs.

How would you guys recommend going about this? I was planning on doing one to two passages untimed for the next couple of weeks and then start timing in January. I was fairly decent on doing the earlier RC passages untimed (-3/-5 on a section) . Though, I noticed a drastic change in my score when approaching the 60s and 70s.

What do you guys recommend? What has worked for you?

0

I started to enjoy the RC section when I started to enjoy learning from it. And outside knowledge definitely helps when it comes to RC.

I used to think I know about art, but by reading the art LSAT passages, I learned that I have absolutely no idea about art history! My go-to YouTube channel for science is CrashCourse, but I haven't been able to find a good channel for art history (Khan Academy's lessons seemed too detailed....)

Recently I found Art History - Overview Videos from Phil Hansen (21 videos).

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXVuKomahjzdNOrden8thb8HWbvJZK71w

I've been watching these videos whenever I get bored with studying in the order of Art History Timeline (yes, it's Art History For Dummies website. lol), so I thought I'd share these with you!

Let me know if there are any YouTube videos or websites that help us with art history! :)

4

Take a look at this link:

https://classic.7sage.com/lesson/lr-drills-preptest-70-to-79/

I think this a fantastic tool for really going in-depth on improving specific areas of LR, because it splits up questions according to question type.

However, I need some advice. I need to work on arg.part, pseudo-SA, MBT, and MBF questions, so I plan on printing out the sections for those question types. But I'm not sure how to approach actually using these questions. Is it best to set a 35 min window and try to complete one of these question compilations, one at time? If I just go through the questions without a time constraint I know I will get most of them correct just because I have the luxury of time, however some of the compilations only have 22 questions (instead of a usual LR of 25 or 26), so I don't know if setting the timer would actually make a difference.

Does anyone have any advice on how best to use these questions?

If it helps, I'm a low 160 scorer, and my biggest issue (one that I feel wrecked me on the Dec. exam) is my inability to know when to move on from a question. Given enough time, I'm very confident in my fundamentals leading me to the correct answer. Under timed conditions my ego gets into it. For example I'll read a question, not get it right away, read it again, not get it, and then force myself to slowly work through it, which hurts my ability to pick up other points. To bring it full circle, the question types that I listed above are usually always the ones that I can't seem to just move on from right away, so I figure by practicing them now and being more competent with them I will improve my timing on a PT and definitely on the real deal in Feb.

1
User Avatar

Last comment thursday, dec 14 2017

So I'm not a philosophy major...

Anyone else get an undergrad degree in something other than philosophy? I know this test doesn't require outside knowledge, but I'm sure knowing some aspects of formal logic definitely helps. Any thoughts on this? If anyone sought outside logic sources, what were some good books you've read?

1

I've been caping out at around 4 times to go over a single game because I feel like I begin to actually memorize all inferences, I know that this is the point but sometimes I feel like I'm not really thinking too hard to come to my answer choices even though they end up being correct most of the time. Is this the goal with fool proofing? I don't know whether I'm finally breaking through that threshold of understanding where things just "click" or if my memory skills are just carrying me through because I've seen certain games before. Any advice from others who may feel/felt this way towards fool proofing ?

1

Hello All,

I had a question regarding whether or not to negate "NO" in the translations section and how that works. Below, I have highlighted why I am unsure about this. I have recently started the course so if this is something that is touched on later, I have yet to reach that point.

Group 3 Translations 3 with Answers.

Question 4

"Without brown being present [BP], NO new large store can be attracted to the downtown area[NLSA}"

My answer

/BP--->NLSA

/NLSA--->BP

JY Answer

/BP--->/NLSA

NLSA--->BP

In JY's answer, he negated the sentence that included NO. However, in the previous section, he did not and I was confused as to whether that was a preference or following a rule.

Group 3 Translations 2 with Answers

“Until there is NO shred of doubt that nuclear dumps are safe (100% safe), it makes sense to situate them where they pose the least threat to the public (SLT)”

My Answer

100% safe—>SLT

/SLT—>/100%

JY’s Answer

/100% safe–>SLT

/SLT–>100% safe

For this question, it was explained to me by another Sager that you have to understand the context of when NO is used, which is why this was not negated.

Question 5

“Unless something is done about the alcohol problem at this university (DSA), I’ll have to transfer to a university where there are NO fraternities (TU)”

My Answer

/DSA—>/TU

TU—>DSA

JY’s Answer

/DSA—>TU

/TU—>DSA

For myself, if it was read as "I'll have to transfer to a university where there are fraternities (TU)," I can understand why it is not negated. But with the NO included, intuitively I assume it should be negated since you are stating the opposite. Semantics of course are crucial but is there any rule of thumb that can help with discerning when to negate or not?

Thank you in Advance

0
User Avatar

Last comment wednesday, dec 13 2017

PT1.S4.Q08 - The Baysville Chamber

What type of Question is this?

I chose (B) as an answer but the correct answer is (C).

I anticipated correctly but chose the wrong answer. Why is (B) Basis wrong? Their basis of intention is both different.

0

Linear games click in my mind whereas grouping games put me in the middle of no where. I always feel like I finally understand the basics of grouping games after completing the blind review of the drills, but my hopes are destructed when I face another new grouping game. Any tips other than "PRACTICE MORE!"?

Thank you!

0
User Avatar

Last comment wednesday, dec 13 2017

(In/Out game) OR questions!

TWO QUESTIONS TO ASK! Thank you in advance!

  • Let's say I want to find all "OR pairs" within /N->/O->J->/K->P. Is the following list a complete "OR pairs":
  • /N->P

    /O->P

    /K->P

    /N->J

    /O->J

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

  • If we are given /N->/O->J in IN/OUT game,is it okay to represent this as N/O/J in one slot of IN group? or do we have to choose between N/J and O/J?
  • 0

    Hello. I am on the free trial portion of the 7Sage course. I am on "Introduction to Sequencing Games 1." I have a few questions.

    First, here are the rules:

    O is after N but before P.

    S is after O.

    K is before M and N.

    Z is before M.

    J is before K.

    I was wondering if for sequencing games if we should write out ALL possible sequences on the test and when practicing. Should we also write out all the relationships in the sequence game? Here are the sequences that I have so far:

    JZKMNOPS

    JZKNMOSP

    JKZMNOSP

    JKZNMOSP

    JKZNMOPS

    KZJMNOPS

    KZJMNOSP

    ZJKMNOSP

    ZJKMNOPS

    How many more sequences are there??

    Also, do Z and K have a relationship? If Z and K do not have a relationship, then why do J and P have a relationship?

    Why do P and S not have a relationship? I am not fully understanding this based on the explanation in the lesson. (I am not fully understanding the backwards rule.)

    Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place; I just need some help.

    0

    Hey everyone!

    Has anyone had success speeding up their time on inference questions (MSS/MBT) questions? While I don't miss too many of them, I notice that they tend to be time sinks for me, especially the harder ones (I do have a strong grasp of conditional logic).

    I'm specifically drilling these types now, which I'm sure will help, but was curious if anyone else had insights on getting through these in a more efficient manner.

    1

    Hi everyone (sorry for the second post in one day),

    Just starting my PT grind, and I've noticed I usually fail to get to the last 2-3 questions in LR. I also feel myself spending too much time on the first ~10 questions on LR, which is concerning because everyone tells me these are the "freebies."

    So is there a rule for the general amt of time I should be spending on these questions? I want to say I heard someone say 10 min for the first 10 but I'm not sure if I'm making this up.

    I'm thinking about taking old PTs and drilling the first 10-15 LR q and forcing myself to get them all right under a certain amount of time so I have more time for the more difficult q at the end of the section.

    Thanks!

    0

    This MBT question really threw me for a loop because of the bi-conditional. In this particular question I think it is the "unique, whenever" that indicates that it is a bi-conditional. I am aware of these 4 indicators from the core curriculum:

  • (either) or, but not both
  • -if and/but only if

    -...but otherwise

    -....except

    But since this question didn't utilize any of these,-- I am now wondering if there are any other bi-conditional indicators not listed here? Also, does anyone know of other logical reasoning questions that use bi-conditionals?

    Thanks so much!

    https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-82-section-4-question-23/

    0

    https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-19-section-4-question-11/

    (B) None of the films released in country Z in 1992 were based on books other than novels.

    My hunch tells me the answer is B, and I am pretty sure it is the answer, but I need some clarity. Because it didn't really match my prephrase that "if 1992 films, then no more than 25% based on books from 1991. I see how B could be a missing premise, but I don't see it as a sufficient assumption, as it able to make the argument valid.

    0
    User Avatar

    Last comment monday, dec 11 2017

    How about you?

    I am entirely uncertain on how I did for Dec test. This is my first time taking the test. I studied intensely for months.

    LR (25) - RC - LR (25) - LR (26) - LG

    1st LR - took longer than normal to get through. Guessed on about 4 answers. Panicked a bit which did not help.

    RC - weakest section. Guesses on Chinese prompt. Thought Social Darwinism prompt was confusing

    2nd LR - blew through that section. No problem

    3rd LR - did not think it was too tough. Took a bit longer than 2nd LR.

    LG - what the actual eff was that last game? The second game took me 15 minutes. I answered the first game in 5 minutes - moved really quickly, didn't check. I am so uncertain. Normally I max at -2 on games. I have NO idea on this section.

    I feel manic about this LSAT. On one hand, everything could have been fine. Yeah, I guessed on about 8 questions, but those are the areas I tested weakly on in PT. On the other hand, everything went horrible. I messed up every section and hope for a 154 in my wildest dreams.

    HELP! Does anyone else feel like this?

    0

    This is a paragraph I got from the tips on the logic games section under the syllabus section of "Resources for Taking LSAT"

    "If you encounter a question that you cannot solve quickly, skip. Come back on round 2 if you have time. Clearly, something faulty is happening in your reasoning and it's blinding you to the right answer. You want give yourself some time and space away from that reasoning. Let it "go to bed" so to speak. Come back on round 2 with a fresh perspective."

    The part I'm confused about is the last bit that I bolded. Lets say you're on game 1 of a LG section and you get to question #3 and you can't get it. In this scenario you would skip the question but does the "skip" referred to above mean that, you skip #3 and go do #4 and #5 and then go on to the next game, (coming back after going through all the other games, similar to a LR type of skip) OR does the "skip and come back on round 2" mean that you skip #3 go do #4 and #5 then come back to #3 before moving to Game 2?

    If someone could clear this up for me that would be great. I wrote the Dec. LSAT and I'm confident I tanked the games because of panic, not because of a lack of understanding. So I'm reviewing for Feb and I just want make sure that my overall testing technique is much more improved (as in getting the lowest hanging coconut on all the sections). I feel that if my technique for taking the test is better, the knowledge I have of in/out games, sequencing games, all the different LR type questions, etc. will be implemented better on test day, and make me feel as confident as I did doing PT's in a library lol.

    Thank you in advance

    0

    https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-80-section-1-question-24/

    For some context, I missed 5 in this section (including this one) and 4 in the other LR section which is typical for me. I BR'd my other misses and skips in this section and was able to get them all correct. This question, I haven't been able to conclusively state why all AC are either right or wrong. I think I'm messing up my diagramming... so if you see glaring errors below, please tell me where I'm screwing up!

    I just guessed (A) during the test as I was out of time. In BR I diagrammed as follows:

    L > NUem

    NU m> WHem

    _

    L m> WH

    which is flawed argument form

    A > B m> C

    _

    A m>C

    I skimmed over the AC for quick eliminations and I eliminated C because it contains "never" in the conclusion.

    Then I began diagramming the remaining AC:

    (A) My question here is do I diagram "probably" in the conclusion as "most"?

    CMSMour

    CMSM m> REH

    _

    CMSMour m> REH (probably diagrammed as most>)

    I eliminated (A) because it follows a valid argument form:

    Ax

    A m> B

    _

    Ax m> B

    (B) I diagrammed "generally" as most...

    REH m> EG

    REHour > /EG

    _

    REHour > EG

    I eliminated (B) because while it doesn't follow the same invalid form as the stimulus

    (D)

    Cour > MSM > EG

    _

    C > MSM m> EG

    I think this looks like:

    Ax > B > C

    _

    A > B m> C

    A m>C

    therefore matching the question's flawed reasoning.

    (E) I'm having trouble diagramming the first sentence so I reconstructed "Most cities that are regional economic hubs contain major shopping malls." to "Most cities that contain major shopping malls are regional economic hubs." Does this change the nature of the sentence?

    C > MSM m> REH

    Cour > MSM

    _

    Cour m> REH

    OR am I just complicating this and its as easy as:

    REHcity m> MSM

    OURcity > MSM

    _

    OURcity m> REHcity

    which follows:

    A m> B

    Cx > B

    _

    Cx m> B

    E just confuses me... and I can't figure out why.

    I haven't watched the explanation, nor have i looked to see what the correct answer is because I'm really trying to work this out! Thanks in advance!

    1
    User Avatar

    Last comment saturday, dec 09 2017

    Advice for isolating RC

    Like many, I hate RC. It's my worst section. I was wondering if any of you have any advice on how to isolate and focus on RC studying between weekly preptests? For LG, I fool proof past games and for LR, I just review old questions and target problem areas/question types. These two methods seem to be working well for me as I've made considerable progress.

    However, besides using the memory method, I have no idea how to begin isolating RC practice. Feigning interest in the passage topic somewhat helps a little bit but it's not enough for me to really speed up my reading and increasing my accuracy when it comes to tackling the questions. Currently I'm more so worried about accuracy and confidence during RC practice rather than speed.

    Any pieces of advice are welcome! Xx

    1

    Confirm action

    Are you sure?