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Strategies for 170+ Prep with Allison Gill Sanford

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Note:

Most Authoritarian Rulers passage:

Hey guys after watching Nicole Hopkins' webinar on RC Methods and Jimmy Quicksilver's webinar on RC Question Types and Tips I thought it would be helpful to start sharing our notes/annotations for each passage because each of us reads a different way and we all see different things. I want to be clear that I’m no expert by any means and this is just the way I personally annotate that is a combination of Nicole Hopkins’s “Toolbox” method and JY’s Memory Method. Also note that I’m doing RC a slightly similar way to Pacifico’s Fool Proof method in that I’m doing the passage 2x one after the other and then once again the following day. While time consuming this definitely is allowing me to read more efficiently for structure and see the similarities in each passage which I know will help me in the long run. This is part one which will just include my annotations for the passage (Most Authoritarian Rulers) and I'll post one that has analysis of the questions immediately afterwards.

I hope this helps you guys and I look forward to seeing what you guys see in each passage!

Notation Breakdown:

Who: Important Nouns

• Box it along with the quantifier

What: Term or phrase that’s defined or has relevant information afterwards

• Box with a tail

When: Date or time

• Circle it

Where: In what context

• Put brackets around it

Pivots: Switching between viewpoints

• Marked with >

• Also may help if you distinguish which opinions each are

Questions: Questions someone raised that could be answered in the passage

• Mark with a Q or a ? In the margins

Time Breakdown of reading/annotating before going to the questions

• 4:05

Paragraph 1:

I boxed with tail “Most authoritarian rulers” who undertook democratic reforms (The quantifier “most” was important because an answer choice could have said “all authoritarian rulers and would have been out of the scope of the stimulus”)

Underlined “they” for referential phrasing

I put a pivot after the “but” to show that annotate that the real reason why the author believes that many authoritarian rulers undertake democratic reform is because they see that they can’t hold onto their power unless they do so

Boxed changes and mobilizations because I anticipated that was where the passage was going from here

What is the function of this paragraph:

This paragraph is introducing the author’s main point: “Due to the various changes and mobilizations in civil society it makes it impossible for authoritarian rulers to hold onto their power indefinitely so they undertake democratic reform.”

Where do we think the passage is heading from here?

Well the first paragraph mentions “changes and mobilizations but we don’t exactly know what exactly they’re referring to so that might be an indicator of where we’re heading from here

Paragraph 2:

Immediately Box “Three types of changes” because this lets you know that more than likely the author is going to talk about what the 3 changes are.

• Also note that these “Changes” are the changes and mobilizations in civil society that we annotated earlier

Box with a tail “values and norms in the society alter over time” until the end of that sentence. I wanted to box this with a tail because I wanted to get the first type of change along with showing how it changed civil society.

• Also I put a 1 in the margin so that I could quickly see where the values were when I needed to refer back to the passage

In the next sentence I put a bracket along with “Ex” in the margins so that if it asked about that specific example I could find it

• Also I circled 1970’s and 1980’s so if they had other dates as an answer choice I could quickly eliminate it

I underlined the last sentence in the paragraph because it shows another way that the changing of values and norms in society impact an authoritarian rulers’ power

What is the purpose of this paragraph:

This paragraph gives us the first type of changes in civil society that make it impossible for rulers to hold onto their power

• A change in norms and values

How does the change in norms and values contribute?

• Reduces people’s tolerance and stimulates concentration of power thus stimulating their demands for freedom (11-13)

• As people place more value on political freedom and civil liberties they become more inclined to speak out, protest, and organize for democracy, frequently beginning with the denunciation of human rights abuses (17-22)

Do you have an example of either of these points:

• Latin America in the 1970’s, 1980’s (13-17)

Where are we going from here:

We talked about the first value that contributes to society’s no longer condoning the continuation of authoritarian rule so my anticipation would be that the next paragraph would talk about the second change

Paragraph 3:

Box alignment of economic interests in society can shift: This is the second change the author gives

Box scholar: Let’s us know who is saying this

Box with tail and brackets from privileged people to long-term interests:

• We want to box privileged people so we know who we’re talking about and you want to make sure that you read with and without the internal context of who the privileged people were

• All of this is important information because it gives us a way how the economic interests shifting could impact the regime

Box “such a large-scale shift”: This is just so you can remember what type of shift we’re talking about the shifting of changing norms and values

Bracketed and put “Ex” in the margin for the Philippines example, for the exact same reason we did the Latin America example, if we’re asked about it we can easily find it

What is the purpose of this paragraph:

This paragraph gives us the second change that can contribute to a society no longer condoning the continuation of authoritarian rule

• Economic interests in a society can shift

How do the shifting of economic interests in a society contribute to the author’s main point

• A turning point is created when privileged people in society come to the conclusion that the authoritarian regime is dispensable and that its continuation might damage their long-term interests.

• (26-31)

Is there an example of this:

• Transition to democracy in the Philippines

Paragraph 4:

Box “expanding resources, autonomy, and self-confidence of various segments of society and of newly formed organizations both formal and informal”

• This is showing the 3rd and final change that contributes to the author’s main point

Bracket the next 2 sentences and put Ex in the margins

• This gives you visually a clearer point to see two examples of this change

Box this profound development: Referential phrasing to the example above

What is the purpose of this paragraph:

This paragraph gives us the 3rd change that contributes to the shifting from authoritarian society to a democracy

• Expanding resources, autonomy, and self-confidence of various segments of society and of newly formed organizations both formal and informal

Are there any examples of this:

• Students marching in the streets demanding change

• Workers paralyze key industries

• Lawyers refuse to cooperate any longer

• Alternative sources of information pierce and shatter the veil of secrecy

Paragraph 5:

Box “authoritarian rule tends in the long run to generate all 3 types of change

• This helps us understand that we have to deal with all of these problems not just 1 or 2

Box with tail “Ironically” until the end of that sentence: Could be asked about the author’s attitude towards this situation and this gives a glimpse into their tone

Bracket the last sentence of the passage

• Gives lasting thoughts to what the author believes (If you don’t convert to a democratic society then you won’t be able to retain any of your power)

What is the purpose of this paragraph:

This paragraph brings together all of the ideas and hints at the authors tone throughout the passage along with his thoughts moving forward regarding this issue

Overall Analysis:

This passage is pretty straight forward it introduces the issue (Authoritarian rulers are unable hold on to their power indefinitely unless the switch to a democratic society), then uses the following 3 paragraphs to go into detail about each change that contributes to this issue, then the author brings everything together and leaves you with his lasting thought.

Hey guys after watching Nicole Hopkins' webinar on RC Methods and Jimmy Quicksilver's webinar on RC Question Types and Tips I thought it would be helpful to start sharing our notes/annotations for each passage because each of us reads a different way and we all see different things. I want to be clear that I’m no expert by any means and this is just the way I personally annotate that is a combination of Nicole Hopkins’s “Toolbox” method and JY’s Memory Method. Also note that I’m doing RC a slightly similar way to Pacifico’s Fool Proof method in that I’m doing the passage 2x one after the other and then once again the following day. While time consuming this definitely is allowing me to read more efficiently for structure and see the similarities in each passage which I know will help me in the long run. This is part two which includes my breakdown of all of the questions in a similar manner to which I did when I was tutored by Nicole Hopkins and how we broke everything down.

I hope it helps and I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

Questions:

1) What is the Main Point of the passage

MP Question: “Main Point of the passage”

What we’re looking for:

• We’re looking for something to basically re-phrase the entire first paragraph, something that says “authoritarian rulers are forced to undertake democratic reform, if they want to stay in power, due to various changes and mobilizations in society.

Answer Choices:

A) Wrong: Being this far in the curriculum when you see the word “only” you should remember from your logical indicators that it immediately makes whatever follows the necessary condition. So we can rephrase this answer choice to be read as “If authoritarian rulers undertake democratic reform then the national’s economic and social power bases will slow economic growth and disrupt social order until such reforms are instituted.” For this answer choice to be right there would have to be evidence in the passage of undertaking democratic reform to be a sufficient condition and the only thing that we could infer if authoritarian rulers undertook democratic reform would be that they would be able to hold onto some of their power. This answer choice plays the trap of reversing the sufficient and necessary conditions, if it were reversed then one could argue that if economic and social based slow economic growth and disrupt social order then we will undertake democratic reform.

Why You would accidentally choose this:

• This answer choice holds a lot of the same words that are used in the passage and if you didn’t see the logical indicator or interpreted it the wrong way then this answer choice could seem attractive. However don’t fall for this, know your logical indicators and read the answer choice carefully and you won’t fall into trouble.

B) Wrong: When reading this answer choice it sounds really good to start, because the author does state that these Authoritarian regimes do ensure their own destruction. However, it isn’t for the reason that is listed here, they don’t talk about opposition groups to build support among the wealthy to lead the support away. The reason is in lines (51-57), the more success and stability the authoritarian regime has, the more time it gives for citizens to reflect on the circumstances in which they live which brings about these changes.

Why You would accidentally choose this:

• You could fall for the trap if you assumed that the opposition group referred back to the “privileged people” talked about in the 3rd paragraph. From there you could make a connection that this was talking about the second change that contributed to making it impossible for authoritarian rulers to hold onto their power. However, that still doesn’t actually answer the question that we’re after and even though this seems logical we have to actually answer the question that is asked

C) Wrong: This is similar to “B” in that it sounds really good to start off however it misses the mark when it says “success at generating economic growth and stability will be short lived”. This completely factually inaccurate the only thing that is short lived is the authoritarian regime but none of the reasons given were because the economic growth and stability were going to be short lived. In lines (51-57) you can see that actually the more success the regime has the short lived it will be because it gives citizens more time to reflect on their current situation

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• You would think this is right if you didn’t pick up the distinction that when the answer choice refers to “short lived” it isn’t talking about the regime it’s talking about the economic growth and stability. If you didn’t pick up on that then you could piece together that economic polices did alienate the economic power base, based off of the information in paragraphs 3 and 4. However, you have to read carefully so you don’t fall for the traps that the test makers set for you

D) Wrong: This answer choice is wrong because it says untenable (otherwise known as unattainable) and that is factually inaccurate. The point of the passage is that authoritarian regimes are not SUSTAINABLE however they are attainable. There are lots of traps here in this answer choice. First you need to see that the answer choice talks about authoritarian principles whereas the passage talks about the regimes specifically so that should immediately raise your suspicion. Then we already pointed out that authoritarian regimes are actually attainable and the main point is that they are not sustainable. Then finally if you somehow made it that far there is nothing in the passage that says that the reason why they’re not sustainable is because they require a degree of social and economic stability that only a democratic institution can create. As we’ve seen in lines (51-57) an authoritarian regime can have success and that ultimately leads to its demise.

Why would accidentally choose this:

• If you immediately read sustainable instead of untenable and then circled and moved on. Time is definitely not on your side but make sure you read all of the answer choices and read the rest of the information because many answer choices will have pieces that are true but only one will be true in all aspects.

E) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for. Let’s break down this answer choice. “Authoritarian rulers who instituted democratic reforms” lets us know that we’re talking about the same subject matter. Then “are compelled to do so because authoritarian rule tends to bring about various changes in society” refers to the 3 changes that were talked about throughout the passage. Finally, “that eventually necessitate corresponding political changes” refers to undergoing democratic reform.

Why you would accidentally NOT choose this:

• This answer choice isn’t a “sexy” answer choice. It leaves something to be desired because you have to connect the dots on the “various changes in society” referring to the changes talked about in the passage, along with “necessitating corresponding political changes” referring to undergoing democratic reform. This is how a lot of the correct answer choices are going to be written in RC, so don’t not choose an answer choice just because it doesn’t immediately come out and say exactly what you want, you’re going to have to work for it on some of the questions.

2) The author’s attitude toward authoritarian regimes is most accurately described as which of the following:

“Author attitude question”

What we’re looking for:

• The answer choices could go a multitude of ways; we could either say something along the lines as sympathetic because their success brings their own demise (51-57) or something along the lines of confident that authoritarian regimes will undergo democratic reform (56-60).

Answer Choices:

A) Wrong: This is really never talked about in the passage but it doesn’t seem correct when compared to our anticipated answer choices. The author seems to have 2 polar opposite attitudes regarding authoritarian regimes and “uncertain” doesn’t qualify as one of them.

Why would you accidentally choose this:

• If you weren’t looking for the author’s attitude then you could justify this answer choice by bringing in outside information because the author does seem to be neutral towards whether this is progress or not but you have to actually answer the question that is given, and this answer choice doesn’t do that.

B) Wrong: This hints at what we where going after because it does have the elements that authoritarian rulers do bring about their own demise. However, the author doesn’t address the motives of the rulers, he doesn’t explicitly say something like “Based on the past authoritarian regimes success, rulers should reconsider their views”

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you just saw “tendency to bring about their own demise” then this answer choice would be extremely attractive. You have to read all of the answer choice and not just parts because parts could be right but if the entirety of the answer choice isn’t right then the answer choice isn’t right.

C) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for and it matches out anticipated answer choice. We know that the author is confident that democratic forms of government will replace authoritarian regimes because he says so in the last sentence of the passage. “The more astute authoritarian rulers recognize that their only hope of maintaining some power in the future is with democratic political changes”

Why you would accidentally NOT choose this answer choice:

• If you fell for the trap of answer choice “B” then you wouldn’t have read this answer choice and you could get the question wrong. Also if you didn’t pick up what the last sentence of the passage was saying then you also would miss this answer choice. Read all of the answer choices and read carefully when reading the passage.

D) Wrong: Nowhere in the passage does the author say that authoritarian rule constitutes an “unjust form of government”, and if it’s not in the passage then it can’t be a correct answer choice.

Why you would accidentally choose this answer choice:

• This is one of the oldest tricks in the book for test makers, they want to play with your emotions and make put you in the position to draw off of your outside knowledge and insert your opinion on this information. Based off of the passage it very well could be that you believe that authoritarian rules are an unjust form of government but nothing in the passage states that THE AUTHOR believes that.

E) Wrong: This is extremely factually inaccurate, the author seems to believe that there is no way that authoritarian rulers can retain power without instituting democratic reform. That is the basis of his argument and the main point of the passage.

Why you would accidentally choose this answer choice:

• If you didn’t read this answer choice carefully and read that authoritarian rulers WONT discover ways to retain their power without instituting democratic reforms then you could logically work your way to choose this answer choice. The problem is even if the answer choice were written in that manner I still don’t believe that the author has any “concern” towards the authoritarian rulers I believe he is simply stating an argument but leaves out his personal feelings towards the predicament the authoritarian rulers are in

3) Which of the following titles most completely summarizes the content of the passage?

Title Question: Very similar to MP or a structure question

• Look at how the passage is written and choose the best title that matches the flow of the passage

A) Wrong: The first part of this answer choice is right however the author doesn’t make a dissent against authoritarian regimes. He never uses a paragraph to say that their principles are bad or that they’re crazy because the more success they have the more they dig their own grave, nothing.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• This would combine a couple traps that you would have when taking the test. Either you didn’t read all of the answer choice because you were trying to save time so you didn’t read, “dissent against” or you did read, “dissent against” and brought in personal information and chose the answer choice. Don’t do either, and don’t fall for the trap.

B) Wrong: Nothing in the passage talks about human rights being abused or anything like that, this one should be an immediate deletion. Also when it says case study I interpret that as an example that is fleshed out throughout multiple paragraphs, the author used multiple different examples but he didn’t have one single overarching example that everything fit under.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• Again if you brought in outside information that you personally felt towards the authoritarian regimes then you could realistically get to this answer choice but it still doesn’t make it right. Also if you saw authoritarian regimes and just circled it and moved on then you also could choose this, don’t fall for the traps!

C) Wrong: This is a TRAP ANSWER CHOICE because it has all of the right elements. However you have to think about what this is actually saying, this title would be right if the passage was referring to exactly how the democratic reforms were going to be laid out. There would be specific examples of what reforms would be done, maybe examples of democratic reforms in the past. Our passage however is simply saying that democratic reforms are going to happen and why, not exactly what the reforms are going to be.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you fell for the trap of thinking that this was exactly what we were looking for because it had all of the right elements then you’d choose this answer choice. Read all of the answer choice and then ask yourself were their specific strategies/solutions that the passage laid out regarding democratic reform?

D) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for. “Why authoritarian regimes compromise” refers to the 3 changes/causes that makes it occur. While “examination of social forces” refers to each paragraph going into detail about each of the changes that are actually causing the reform to occur.

Why you would accidentally NOT choose this:

• If you fell for the trap answer choice “C” then you wouldn’t have gotten this, also if you didn’t feel like this was “strong enough” so you were looking for another answer that was “better” then you might have overlooked this. The answer choices you choose don’t have to jump out right away they just have to be the right answer choice.

E) Wrong: This isn’t the main part of the paragraph because it doesn’t talk about economic instability as the main reason why, as we’ve established throughout the prior questions the more stable the economy and the better the regime is doing, the more likely the regime will fall.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you were running out of time and said that I know the author believes that most of these countries are going to undergo democratic reform, so that makes this subject matter correct. And there were some talks of economics in the passage so this is right. Just because the elements are there doesn’t mean that they’re talked about in the right way. Don’t fall for traps like this because it’s just a mashed potato answer choice.

4) Which of the following most accurately describes the organization of the passage?

Structure Question: “Describes the organization”

What we’re looking for:

• We want an answer choice that states the author states an issue (authoritarian rulers can’t maintain their power unless democratic reform occurs), and then lists the causes of that issue while providing examples, (values and norms shift, economic interests shift, expanding resources, autonomy and self confidence), and then the author reaffirms his position at the end.

Answer Choices:

A) Wrong: Everything in the beginning of this answer choice is right but when it gets to “relative importance” that’s when it’s done. Also afterwards the answer states, “possibility of alternate causes is considered and rejected” which also doesn’t occur.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you didn’t read carefully and just breezed through this. These types of questions, the answer choices are usually extremely similar to one another and so one minor detail is how they differentiate from each other. Read carefully and read the entire answer choice.

B) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for. A political phenomenon (authoritarian rulers can’t maintain their power unless democratic reform occurs) is linked to a general set of causes (values and norms shift, economic interests shift, expanding resources, autonomy and self confidence), an explanation of each is given, then the causal relationship is elaborated and confirmed (author reaffirms his position at the end).

Why you would accidentally NOT choose this:

• If you didn’t label the passage for structure then when you get to the answer choices they all will sound similar. So you could miss this because you marked it as a maybe and then fell for another answer choice when you were looking at all of the answer choices. Take the time beforehand to do good annotations and the questions will be a lot easier

C) Wrong: Everything in the beginning of this answer choice is right but when it gets to “one possible cause is preferred over the others” it’s wrong. The first sentence of the last paragraph (line 50) says that all 3 changes are created and nowhere else in the passage does it say one is preferred over the other

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you didn’t read carefully and just breezed through this. These types of questions, the answer choices are usually extremely similar to one another and so one minor detail is how they differentiate from each other. Read carefully and read the entire answer choice.

D) Wrong: Everything in the beginning of this answer choice is right but when it gets to “3 similar phenomena” it’s wrong. Nowhere in the passage does it present similar phenomena nor does it discuss the similarities between the 2. Because of this the answer choice is wrong.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you didn’t read carefully and just breezed through this. These types of questions, the answer choices are usually extremely similar to one another and so one minor detail is how they differentiate from each other. Read carefully and read the entire answer choice

E) Wrong: Everything in the beginning of this answer choice is right but when it gets to “3 similar phenomena” it’s wrong. Nowhere in the passage does it present similar phenomena nor does it discuss the differences between the 2. This answer choice is saying almost the same thing that “D” is saying but instead of talking about the similarities it says differences. Nowhere in here was there any other comparison so both of these answer choices are wrong.

Question 5:

It can be most reasonably inferred from the passage that

MBT Question: Inferred

What we’re looking for: Something that can be proven from the passage, there are many different directions this could go so it’s difficult to pre-phrase but the passage MUST be able to prove out the answer choice we choose

Answer Choices:

A) Wrong: We don’t know this the only thing the author claims is that authoritarian rulers are pressured to institute democratic reforms. This is outside the scope and therefore we can’t make any statements about it.

Why you might accidentally choose this:

• If you didn’t understand that the answer choice is referring to a specific situation that the passage doesn’t include. If you read it as “many authoritarian rulers will eventually institute democratic reforms” then yes that would be right, but with the qualifier “even if not pressured to do so” that renders this outside of the scope.

B) Wrong: We don’t know when citizen dissatisfaction is highest, so we can’t conclude anything about this either.

Why you might accidentally choose this:

• If you bring in outside information to answer this question then it could be reasonable to assume that citizen dissatisfaction is highest when it would be first imposed. However, this isn’t our world that we’re talking about, we’re concerned about this fake world so we can’t bring in outside information.

C) Wrong: This is similar to “B” in that we can’t conclude anything about when the support is highest for authoritarian regimes. The only thing we know is that the more success the regime has the more likely the regime is to fail, i.e. popular support is lowest when conditions are high.

Why you might accidentally choose this:

• If you mistake logical opposites with real world opposites. If you try to take the contrapositive of what we know from above you would get “popular support is not lowest when conditions are not high”. Note that this is not saying that popular support is highest when conditions are low. Not low could mean high, medium, average or any other part of the spectrum while not high could mean average, semi-low, or zero it’s just everything that isn’t high. Don’t fall for this TRAP ANSWER CHOICE

D) Correct: This is what we’re looking for because that’s the basis of our author’s argument. The last 2 sentences of the passage hint at this (51-60). It talks about people having more time to reflect on the circumstances in which they live and it causes the regime to end up failing because people realize that they want democratic reforms. So if the society doesn’t want the authoritarian regime then they have the power to change and therefore cause the ruler’s to have to change to maintain their power.

Why you might accidentally NOT chose this:

• This is another answer in which it doesn’t jump out at you because it’s very subtle and if you didn’t read and annotate correctly you wouldn’t have picked up on what it was saying. Read carefully and comprehend not understand what you’re reading and you’ll be fine.

E) Wrong: There is nothing in the passage that talk about human rights abuses being the only objectionable aspect of authoritarian regimes. You can’t add anything to the passage you simply have to use what the passage gave you to push out an answer. This isn’t supported by the passage and therefore it is wrong.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer choice:

• Anytime you get to answer choice E you need to be very careful. Testmakers understand the psychology of test takers and how when they’ve gotten to E they’ve already invested time into the question so don’t think that just because there are some elements of things that you remember that you need to choose that answer choice. Invest your time early on and you won’t waste it later on when you get to answer choice time sinks.

Question 6:

Given the information in the passage, authoritarian rulers who institute democratic reforms decide to do so on the basis of which one of the following principles?

What we’re looking for:

• We want an answer choice that says that rulers are going to do whatever they can to maintain as much power for the longest amount of time.

A) Wrong: The article talks about them wanting to maintain their power and nowhere does it mention that they should make an exception “if the health of the nation requires it”.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer choice:

• This is a “feel good answer”, it’s what we wish the world were like and if you bring that information/mentality to the test you’re going to get burned. Don’t bring in any outside information because you’ll be exploited.

B) Wrong: Nowhere in the passage does it mention rulers really caring about the amount of personal freedom their citizens have. If it’s not in the passage then it’s not a principle that is supported.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer choice:

• This is a “feel good answer”, similar to “A” it’s what we wish the world were like and if you bring that information/mentality to the test you’re going to get burned. Don’t bring in any outside information because you’ll be exploited.

C) Wrong: Nowhere in the passage does it mention the rulers wanting to neither transition to democracy nor does it mention that want to transition quickly or efficiently. They are only doing it to keep as much power for themselves as possible.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer:

• This is a “feel good answer”, similar to “A” and “B” it’s what we wish the world were like and if you bring that information/mentality to the test you’re going to get burned. Don’t bring in any outside information because you’ll be exploited.

D) The ruler’s in this passage aren’t concerned about the long-term health of the nation’s economy only maintaining their power for as long as possible. And even if they were concerned about ensuring the long-term health of the nation’s economy the passage doesn’t leave out the possibility of this regime having economic success. The irony is that in lines (50-60) it elaborates that the more success the authoritarian regime has, the more likely it will fall.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer:

• This is a “feel good answer”, similar to “A”, “B”, and “C”I t’s what we wish the world were like and if you bring that information/mentality to the test you’re going to get burned. Don’t bring in any outside information because you’ll be exploited.

E) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for; we wanted an answer choice that allows for the rulers to maintain their power for as long as possible. That is why they’re conceding to undergo democratic reform because at least they maintain as much power as long as possible.

Why you might accidentally NOT choose this answer choice:

• Like we’ve said anytime you get to answer choice “E” you should be fully aware of any traps but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t the right answer. If you fell for one of the “feel good answers above” and didn’t read any other answer choices to try and save time then you would have missed this. Make sure you read all of the answer choices and you’ll be fine.

Why can we infer that the Antibiotics group cannot have all 3 treatments in from Rule #1?

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-24-section-4-game-4

BR Group!!!! PT 50!

Talk to your heart’s content at Group BR

Saturday, Feb 27th at 8PM ET: PT50

Click here to join this conversation: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/219480381

June BR Group Schedule: http://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/6171/june-test-takers-group-br-schedule-updated

Please click the link and comment if you plan on participating.

You can also dial in to the BR call by using your phone.

United States +1 (571) 317-3112

Access Code: 219-480-381

Note:

Proctors: Two at the front of the room.

Facilities: In the basement of the University Community Center. There's around 5-6 rooms in total, all full.

What kind of room: in basement, but bright and spacious. Air conditioning can be a bit cool so layer up.

How many in the room: around 20

Desks: around 15

Left-handed accommodation: not sure

Noise levels: Low in the room. But also depends on the people taking the test with you.

Parking: Paid parking available in the back of the community center.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: 30 min. Test administered on time.

Irregularities or mishaps: None, except for proctor whispering to coordinate test procedure. Also, proctor was unfamiliar with procedure (she thought we couldn't go back to a prior page in the same section) so future test takers, please be familiar with the procedure.

Other comments: Lots of people (70+), so can be crowded during registration. If you're a student from uwo, very likely to bump into people you know, if you care about that.

Would you take the test here again? Yes.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: December 2015

Proctors: Four proctors, two women and two men. The woman actually reading the exam instructions was a terrible reader - she was tripping over every other word, which was terribly distracting. I'm just glad I had used the 7sage proctor and was already familiar with the spiel, otherwise it would have been unnecessary stress.

Facilities: Took place in one of the newest buildings on campus, CCIS. Gorgeous building, great rooms and big tables.

What kind of room: Large theatre-style lecture hall (all four rooms)

How many in the room: ~75-100

Desks: Bench-style desks with pull-out chairs. Lots of room to work.

Left-handed accommodation: N/A, bench-style desks.

Noise levels: low.

Parking: ~$5 for the full testing time, or less depending on where you parked. Public transport available.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: 45 minutes, proctors were slow to check people in.

Irregularities or mishaps: None!

Other comments:

Would you take the test here again? Yes - but I don't have to :)

Date[s] of Exam[s]: December 5 2015

Proctors: Militaristic. No nonsense. There was a lead proctor, and four others. Instructions were clear, time keeping was on point, and generally they did a great job.

Facilities: Very clean, well maintained.

What kind of room: Stadium seating, large lecture hall type of room.

How many in the room: Over 50.

Desks: A single long desk that accommodated 5 or more students per row. Chairs were anchored to the desks. Were not the most comfortable.

Left-handed accommodation: Not needed due to nature of desks not being for each individual student.

Noise levels: Extremely quiet.

Parking: Excellent and easy. Huge parking lot right outside of the building where the exam is administered. Parking is free

Time elapsed from arrival to test: 90 Minutes approximately, did not really keep track of this.

Irregularities or mishaps: Someone came dangerously close to being asked to leave the exam for working after time expired.

Other comments: No brainer if you are in Suffolk County, I heard horror stories from people at Hofstra (huge campus with a ton of buildings), so probably a better choice for Nassau residents as well.

Would you take the test here again? Yes

Date[s] of Exam[s]: June, 2015

Proctors: 3 proctors each time

Facilities: There are multiple classrooms that one can get placed in. I was placed in a

What kind of room: The first time I took the test here in June 2014, the classroom was adjacent to a busy intersection, and there was construction nearby. The second time, in February 2015, I was placed in a large auditorium style classroom tucked away from the busy intersection.

How many in the room: approximately 30 (each time)

Desks: approximately 50 (each time)

Left-handed accommodation: Yes

Noise levels: First test: occasional noises (e.g. sirens, construction, honking); Second test: minimal

Parking: There is pay-to-park nearby, though it might be easier to take a taxi or public transportation

Time elapsed from arrival to test: 4 hours

Irregularities or mishaps: First test: a little distracting because of the noice; Second test: everything went smoothly

Other comments: As long as you are placed in a good classroom, everything should be fine for this test location

Would you take the test here again? Yes

Date[s] of Exam[s]: June 2014, and February 2015

Proctors: Proctors were overall very nice. In fact I remember that on my test day there was construction happening across the street. Honestly I didn't really hear it but the proctors told us before the test specifically that they were aware of it and had even sent students across the street to ask if they could delay their work until after the test or at least keep the volume to a minimum. I thought this was incredibly nice of them and showed that they really did care about creating a quiet testing environment

Facilities: Restrooms were pretty small I remember. There's a few of them scattered throughout the various levels of the building but each has only maybe one or two stalls inside so if you have to use the restroom before the test or during a break it might take a bit as I recall there being a bit of a line. Other than that the building was nice and cool (some people needed jackets, I was fine and preferred the a/c and cool classrooms) and the classrooms were really nice as well

What kind of room: Size of a 20-25 person classroom. Mine was on the third floor in a very quiet building

How many in the room: About 10-15 students per room

Desks: Huge desks! A full table for each person!

Left-handed accommodation: N/A, you get a huge desk

Noise levels: Very quiet throughout. The building is nice and quiet and nobody seemed to be around for miles on campus on the day of the test

Parking: Parking was pretty easy, much if it is nearby the building itself. Signage was put up so not hard to find. There didn't seem to be very much parking as I recall as far as number of spaces but I got there early so it wasn't an issue.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: Arrived at around 7:45am and we went into the room by about 8:15-8:30 if I recall correctly and I want to say that the test started around 9am. Really rough times since this was so long ago now but I remember waiting in the building for probably at least 30 minutes before getting into the room

Irregularities or mishaps: None

Other comments: Pretty good location to take a test. I'm from a much larger university within an hour of redlands and didn't want to take it at my school because I've been in the ridiculously large lecture halls with their small desks and knew that wasn't going to be fun. Super glad I went to Redlands

Would you take the test here again? Definitely. From the quiet rooms and campus, the super nice proctors, and the huge desks honestly I doubt you could ask for a more perfect testing center

Date[s] of Exam[s]: October 2015

Proctors: Decent, actually kind of funny, very relaxed. Made a couple of jokes throughout that eased the tension a bit 9/10.

Facilities: Older building, temperature was perfect, probably right at 65 degrees 9/10

What kind of room: Class Room

How many in the room: About 40

Desks: TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!! Tiny desks, LG was a nightmare 0/10

Left-handed accommodation: A couple of spare desks

Noise levels: Great building for an older university 9/10

Parking: Free parking on Saturdays, ample room 9/10

Time elapsed from arrival to test: About 30 minutes

Irregularities or mishaps: Stupid obvious questions from other test takers

Other comments:

Would you take the test here again?

Absolutely not. Based solely on the size of the desk. I actually felt as if it was a terrible disadvantage and not only slowed me down on LG logistically but also added an extra stress that I needed to accommodate for. other than this, no other complaints.

12/5/15 (The day of reckoning)

Proctors: I believe there were four total. The main guy who called time each section called it 30 seconds early in one section.

Facilities: Nothing special. Howard's campus is old and not very nice or updated, but the bathrooms are fine. *See heater comment below*

What kind of room: Large auditorium

How many in the room: Maybe 100-130? There were other rooms people went to, though I'm not sure if they were also auditoriums or small lecture halls/rooms.

Desks: Seats are narrow with tiny (and I mean TINY) flip desks, about 8" across but triangular, so I had to take the exam on my lap because they were so small and one could not support or balance the booklet and pencils/eraser/etc.

Left-handed accommodation: N/A

Noise levels: Average

Parking: Highly recommend taking public transit or a cab as parking is limited and mostly zoned.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: An hour and a half or so, maybe a bit more.

Irregularities or mishaps: Howard U did not turn on the heaters until we arrived in the testing room, even though it was icy outside and the forecast had long said it would be cold. Since it was such a huge room, it took a very long time to warm up, and I couldn't feel my hands or feet for the first half of the exam. It was terrible.

Other comments:

Would you take the test here again? NEVER again. Even if the location is convenient, it's not worth the inconvenience of the testing site itself. It definitely had an impact on my test performance.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: December 2015

Proctors: Two proctors. Relaxed but very helpful and kept things moving smoothly.

Facilities: Felt like a high school. Clean, maintained.

What kind of room: Small classroom

How many in the room: 10

Desks:Each person was sat alone at a two person table

Left-handed accommodation: Available

Noise levels: Low

Parking: Available and fairly easy to find.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: 20 minutes

Irregularities or mishaps: None

Other comments: NA

Would you take the test here again? Yes

Date[s] of Exam[s]: June 8, 2015

Proctors: 2 proctors. Very good, only one minor complaint. See noise levels.

Facilities: Community college campus in suburbs

What kind of room: Classroom

How many in the room: 15

Desks: Not great -- the kind where the seats are connected to the desk. Not wobbly, decent desk size. Had to put the answer sheet behind the packet.

Left-handed accommodation: None.

Noise levels: Very low. The proctors whispered to each other at the very end of the test, which was annoying -- but I was the closest student to them. I doubt that anybody else in the classroom heard. Otherwise, they were very great.

Parking: Plenty of dedicated parking on campus, only a few minutes walking from the building where the test was given.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: 5 hours. I was towards the end of the line to be placed into a classroom, there were others that finished over an hour before our classroom did. I was starving by the end of it.

Irregularities or mishaps: None.

Other comments: None.

Would you take the test here again? Yes.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: October 2015

Proctors: Efficient, but not overly strict.

Facilities: Very clean, well maintained. Bathroom was little grimy.

What kind of room: Large lecture hall.

How many in the room: Around 40.

Desks: Long desks spanning the length of the row. Ample space between students.

Left-handed accommodation: Not needed due to nature of desks not being for each individual student.

Noise levels: Extremely quiet.

Parking: I already had on-campus parking, not sure on the availability for someone driving in from out of town.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: 30 minutes

Irregularities or mishaps: None

Other comments: None

Would you take the test here again? Yes

Date[s] of Exam[s]: December, 2015

Proctors:

Morning test start, so make sure you arrive at David Turpin building at the very latest 8:30am. The check-in will be right in the main floor when you enter in the building.

Facilities:

David Turpin Building - Large Class Room - Holds a couple hundred students

What kind of room:

The seating rows are like stadium seating sloping down towards the chalkboard

How many in the room:

I would approximate the attendance to be close to 150 students

Desks:

Large tables with swivel chairs that are very uncomfortable and do not allow for much adjustment because they are fastened to the tables.

Left-handed accommodation:

Yes

Noise levels:

Noise levels are very good. Very few distractions.

Parking:

Parking is also very good with a huge stadium parking lot right across the road from the test taking building. Because the tests are done on Saturday there is usually plenty of space and I only had to pay $2.50 for the whole day.

Time elapsed from arrival to test:

Arrival time 8:30 - Finish time 1:40pm October 2015 write date (it was very unorganized for this write date)

Arrival times 8:30 - Finish time 12:40pm February 2016 write date

Irregularities or mishaps:

In October 2015 there was a section that no 5 minute warning was announced which was frustrating for many test takers that day. The staff at the February write were much more organized and more pleasant to deal with.

Other comments:

Would you take the test here again?

Yes, definitely. Although it would be nice to have more comfortable chairs for the 4 hour experience.

Date[s] of Exam[s]:

Oct. 2015 and Feb. 2016

Proctors: I found the proctors to be very professional. They made the instructions clear and they were quiet during testing time. They all seemed to be calm, and that helped me to feel calm as well.

Facilities: the facilities were great. I wrote in a newer building (CCIS building). The room I was in was close to many bathrooms, which were very clearly marked.

What kind of room: I was in a big theatre-style lecture hall. It had good lighting and was very spacious.

How many in the room: approximately 100 people.

Desks: the room had 3 sections of long tables on the left, right and middle of the room with many rows. I lucked out and had nobody down my entire table and I was front row in the middle section. Even with people sharing rows of tables, there was plenty of room.

Left-handed accommodation: the long tables would not be an issue for right- or left-handed people.

Noise levels: low. Proctors and test writers were very quiet.

Parking: there are two large parking lots on either side of this building with relatively inexpensive hourly rates.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: my test started on time. Proctors were fast when checking people in and reading instructions.

Irregularities or mishaps: none

Other comments: n/a

Would you take the test here again? yes! I had no test center hiccups, which helped with my nerves.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: June 2015

Proctors: Three per room. All were quiet and respectful. They announced 5 minute warnings and followed directions to a T.

Facilities: Well lit, clock in room, comfortable temperature.

What kind of room: ~50 person classroom

How many in the room: about 30

Desks: Small desks, only hold one sheet of paper. Each person had two desks--one for their booklet and one for extra pencils, ID, tissues, etc.

Noise levels: Quiet, aside from people dropping test booklets off of the small desks (happened about 10 times throughout)

Parking: Parking garage on campus; street parking is difficult

Time elapsed from arrival to test: about 40 minutes

Irregularities or mishaps: None

Would you take the test here again? Yes, but I would still have preferred to find a DC center with full-sized desks.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: Oct 2015

Proctors: Quiet and helpful. Allowed about 10 people in a row to go to the bathroom at the end of the writing section.

Facilities: Comfortable, fairly new building, well heated (during winter).

What kind of room: ~40 person classroom

How many in the room: ~35

Desks: Small, fold up lecture-style desks. They held the booklet, but not the answer sheet

Left-handed accommodation: Unsure

Noise levels: Quiet throughout

Parking: Parking garage is next door to the building. I believe it was $15 for the entire test center. You can pay using the Parkmobile app.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: 30 minutes

Irregularities or mishaps: None

Other comments:

Would you take the test here again? Yes, but would have preferred a DC area center with full desks.

Date[s] of Exam[s]: Dec. 2015

Proctors: There were 3 in my room and they seemed a little unsure of the rules. They took it seriously, though.

Facilities: Clean, nice, desks were a little small (when I took the test at another facility there were tables with 2 people per), but all in all its a nice college campus.

What kind of room: Typical college classroom. Lots of chair/desk combos, but the classroom was also quite large. Maybe sat 40 people?

How many in the room: I'd say around 40

Desks: uncomfortable (hard) and just a little too small chair/desk combo

Left-handed accommodation: don't know

Noise levels: the environment itself was quiet, but one girl had a coughing fit, a guy up and left in the middle and made a considerable amount of noise. You'll get that anywhere though.

Parking: Plenty of it! It's a college campus, and there are a couple of parking lots attached to the building.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: Between sign in (which was done inside the classroom, unlike my last experience where you signed in and then were walked back to a classroom) and test start it took about 20 minutes.

Irregularities or mishaps: A couple noisy things, but mostly pleasant.

Other comments: It's a nice campus, and I think I prefer the classroom setting due to familiarity.

Would you take the test here again? Yes

Date[s] of Exam[s]: Feb 2016

Proctors: 1

Facilities: Nothing noticeable bad. Building was bigger, but was able to find the restrooms pretty easily.

What kind of room: Took the exam in one of two small lecture-style auditoriums.

How many in the room: 25-30

Desks: Auditorium seating with swivel-up desks.

Left-handed accommodation: Possibly.

Noise levels: In general the building and class room was parking.

Parking: Though parking could have been an issue given the area, I had no trouble parking on campus relatively close to the building.Did not have to pay to park. I got there pretty early to find a spot, and saw several.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: Took about 25 minutes for everyone to line up and get assigned a room.

Irregularities or mishaps: None. Everything went smoothly.

Other comments: Things were very calm and went smoothly.

Would you take the test here again? I would probably prefer a place with bigger desks. I had to store my stuff on the ground or the seat next to me. Would have been nicer to be able to spread more.

Date[s] of Exam[s]:February 2015.

Proctors:

I don't even know where to start. The proctors were completely inexperienced and as that wasn't enough of a nightmare they were extremely rude to test takers. To be point of humiliating students in front of everyone in the class, making them feel horrible for walking in with labels on their water bottles (just really overusing their authority). They seemed very confused about every step from the time students were entering the room until the time the test was about to begin.

Facilities:

The facilities are alright. The test building is easy to find.

What kind of room:

Just a typical community college class room. Very small setting compare to other I have attended.

How many in the room:

Most 20 students each room. There were several rooms at this testing center.

Desks:

You have to share the desk with another student. There is enough distance between sits, but can be quite distracting with you are a person that gets easily distracted.

Left-handed accommodation:

The desk works for both left and right handed people the same way.

Noise levels:

Very silent, especially since the room is so small.

Parking:

Parking is okay, there is enough spaces for everyone.

Time elapsed from arrival to test:

One hour, seems like it is not that long, but the proctors make it so stressful that it seem like YEARS!

Irregularities or mishaps:

This test center is a NIGHTMARE. Like previously mention the proctors make the experience so stressful that you begin the test already feeling horrible about the experience. Unfortunately, the way people act towards me at the test center really impacts my overall experience, so this really ruined it for me. The proctors really abuse of their power, by making a big deal out of every little detail and they were calling out different things in front of the whole classroom making test takers feel really uncomfortable. I felt so humiliated that I went home and didn't finish my exam there, I tried to complain to the LSAC, but nothing was done about it. So, my advice, do NOT sign up for this test center.

Other comments:

Would you take the test here again?

NEVER AGAIN! I would rather drive 20 minutes to go take the test in Northwestern University (I had a great experience there).

Date[s] of Exam[s]:

December 5th, 2015

Proctors: There were 2, and they were very fast and quiet throughout testing.

Facilities: Very nice and clean

What kind of room: Small classroom, not a lecture room

How many in the room: About 20

Desks: Very nice, all separate desks with a push in chair

Left-handed accommodation: yes, but it wasn't needed, all desks were separate

Noise levels: Quiet other than many people got up for a bathroom break and came back just in the first 3 sections, and you could hear the other classrooms reading their instructions

Parking: Very good, no real trouble finding a spot

Time elapsed from arrival to test: Test did not start until about 10, a lot of people to assign to classrooms

Irregularities or mishaps: None

Other comments: Pretty good testing experience, proctors were quiet, nice, professional, and considerate

Would you take the test here again? Absolutely

Date[s] of Exam[s]: October 2011