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marlenevelazquez

Sunday, Feb 08

for those wondering how to understand these lessons without videos, i've been copying and pasting the lesson onto chatgbt and its brokendown perfectly to take notes. 1️⃣ What is a PAI Question?

PAI = Two speakers.

You must determine:

What they agree on, OR
What they disagree on

It’s basically an extension of MSS (Most Strongly Supported) — but applied to two people instead of one.

2️⃣ Two Types of PAI Questions

🔹 A) Agree (Less Common)

The question asks:

What would BOTH speakers agree with?

Think:

Do MSS for Speaker 1
Do MSS for Speaker 2
The correct answer must be supported by both

Even if they don’t say it directly, if both imply it → that’s agreement.

⚠️ Warning: Agree questions are rare. Read the question stem carefully.

🔹 B) Disagree (More Common)

The question asks:

What is something they disagree about?

Correct answer must:

Be supported by one speaker
Be anti-supported by the other

Think:

MSS for one speaker
Anti-MSS for the other

One lands on the far left of the support spectrum (strongly supported) The other lands on the far right (strongly contradicted)

That’s disagreement.

3️⃣ Explicit vs Implicit Disagreement

🔹 Explicit

Speakers directly state opposite views.

Example:

“Cats make good pets.”
“Cats make bad pets.”

No inference needed.

Clue in question stem:

Just says “agree” or “disagree”
No modifiers like “most strongly suggest”

These are easier.

🔹 Implicit (More Common & Harder)

The disagreement isn’t directly stated. You must infer it.

Clue in question stem:

Uses phrases like:
- “most strongly support”
- “most strongly suggest”

This means: You must analyze implications.

4️⃣ The Spectrum of Support (VERY Important)

Most wrong answers:

Sit in the “merely consistent” zone.
That means the speaker expressed no opinion.
They could agree OR disagree.

Correct answer:

Must be clearly supported (for agree)
OR clearly supported by one and anti-supported by the other (for disagree)

If it’s neutral → it’s wrong.

5️⃣ Treat the Stimulus as a Conversation

This is huge.

Speaker 2 is responding to Speaker 1.

That means:

Interpret Speaker 2 in context.
Sometimes their statements only make sense when connected to Speaker 1.

Don’t read them as two isolated paragraphs.

6️⃣ Strategy: How to Approach

🔹 If the point at issue is obvious:

Go into hunt mode → Look directly for the answer

🔹 If it’s not obvious:

Use Process of Elimination (POE) → Test each answer against BOTH speakers

Ask:

Does Speaker 1 support or oppose this?
Does Speaker 2 support or oppose this?

If either speaker has no clear stance → eliminate.

🧠 Mental Checklist During a PAI Question

Is this Agree or Disagree? (Read stem carefully.)
Explicit or implicit?
What does Speaker 1 clearly support?
What does Speaker 2 clearly support?
Is the answer:
- Supported by both? (Agree)
- Supported by one & contradicted by the other? (Disagree)
Does it require assumptions? If yes → probably wrong.

1

Lessons · Embedded Conditionals

marlenevelazquez

Thursday, Dec 25 2025

how do we know when to use it?

14

Lessons · Skill Builder - Kick it Up to the Domain

marlenevelazquez

Thursday, Dec 25 2025

I solved Q5 the way he did it in the beginning, he said it was accurate. But gave another example to do it, which to me is a bit more complicated. Should I stick to how I make sense of it? Can I keep doing it like that?

2

Lessons · Kick Up Conditional Conclusions

marlenevelazquez

Wednesday, Dec 24 2025

@sophialeehicks166 thats what i got from it aswell

1

Lessons · Negating Conjunction and Disjunction - De Morgan's Laws

marlenevelazquez

Wednesday, Dec 24 2025

@LeCastille the example started off

M > N and O

he did the contrapositive which was /N or /O > M

Remember that because it started off with "and" you switch to "or"

he did that because of the de morgan law

2

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