A tip for LR questions

mzoodle

I am starting to realize that it is not necessary to understand the whole stimulis. Often, just understanding the premise and conclusion is enough to get the right answer.

TheMikey

Although this is true, I would say don't leave the context completely to the side. There are definitely questions where there is referential phrasing to something in the context, so you definitely want to keep it in mind is all. But I agree, there are a bunch of questions where a ton of surrounding info around the premise and conclusion is slightly irrelevant for the right answer.

jurisprudent

This is true for easier questions, and especially in the earlier PTs. Once you move into PT 65+ and especially in the 70s, this method will screw you over. You MUST understand the whole stimulus, and in excruciatingly high detail, in order to get to the correct answers.

In the newer PTs, every single word in the stimulus becomes important because the premise and conclusion indicators do not appear as frequently, so you need to develop an intuitive understanding of what's being supported and what's giving the support. This is the only way to fully understand the author's reasoning.

Trap answer choices will also become more attractive in the newer PTs if you only have a partial understanding of the stimulus. Also, pre-phrasing becomes even more critical because you need to go into the answer choices with a game plan or you end up losing precious time.

Alex

@"yeram.choi" said:
This is true for easier questions, and especially in the earlier PTs. Once you move into PT 65+ and especially in the 70s, this method will screw you over. You MUST understand the whole stimulus, and in excruciatingly high detail, in order to get to the correct answers.

In the newer PTs, every single word in the stimulus becomes important because the premise and conclusion indicators do not appear as frequently, so you need to develop an intuitive understanding of what's being supported and what's giving the support. This is the only way to fully understand the author's reasoning.

Trap answer choices will also become more attractive in the newer PTs if you only have a partial understanding of the stimulus. Also, pre-phrasing becomes even more critical because you need to go into the answer choices with a game plan or you end up losing precious time.

Definitely a lot of truth here...

But, yeah, understanding just the argument core (premises+ conclusion) can get you a bunch of questions right. But like @TheMikey says, "There are definitely questions where there is referential phrasing to something in the context, so you definitely want to keep it in mind..."