PT76.S2.Q21 - although the first humans came

karenkaren

Hello,

As we all know, matching the formal elements in answer choices to the stimulus is a good way to find the correct answer on Parallel type questions. However, on this question, only the flaw matches and but the formal elements don't, in particular the certainty of the conclusion. In the stimulus, the conclusion states "probably did not" and the correct answer states "we will be unable."

I am curious if anyone else has come across questions like this and how often they come up.

Thanks!

https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-76-section-2-question-21/

Sami

Hey Karen,

I have noticed it sometimes does not. So It's still a good call to see which ones to attempt based on the formal elements and ninety-nine percent of the times that works. But sometimes, it either turns out that none of the answer choices had that formal element you were looking for or the ones that did just did not match the argument structure you need to parallel. In both cases, we have got to start being more open and not eliminate answer choices just because they do not have that element.

Parallel arguments can sometimes be really hard because we are finding an argument by similarity and although the argument structure still has to match the LSAT writers can really chose how similar to make it. Just like you wouldn't choose an answer purely based on if it has the formal elements, I wouldn't eliminate an answer choice just because it does not. I think a better strategy is to use those formal elements to see which answer choices to read first.

PT 78.1.23 - although its not exactly like the one in 76, if you just try to find an answer choice based on words from stimulus like "only", "can", or "very little" it wouldn't work.