To Assume or Not to Assume?

jessc.simmons

There are two reasons I get hard LR questions wrong. One, I don't connect a statement in the stimulus with a different phrasing in the correct answer choice. Two, I make an incorrect connection, leading to the wrong answer. Does anyone else have this problem? How do I improve?

maco4538

Hi there, harder LR has a lot to do with cutting out the "noise." In any LR question, no matter the difficulty, if you can articulate the assumption/inference then you can easily spot the right answer. Now, the LSAC has found ways to make this harder by having word vomit in the stimulus. But if you can suppress the junk and only focus on the main conclusion and the major premise then you will isolate the assumption and if you can do that then you are unstoppable. People tend to panic and not take the time needed to "find" the assumption. I advise you to slow down, spot the assumption and then, and only then, should you move on to the answer choices. If don't know the assumption, then you didn't actually understand the argument. If you didn't understand the argument, then you have a small chance of getting the right answer. For phrasing, remember the fundamental difference between "all", "some", and "most"; always vs probably, specific vs absolute, can vs must.