Strategies for tackling the most difficult LR questions

Julia L

Hey all,

How do you find consistency in how you approach the most difficult LR questions, e.g. the 5 star difficulty questions? I find during a timed test, I may or may not recognize these evil creatures. Sometimes they are obvious, but sometimes the right answer is so subtle, or the wrong answer is so tricky, that it completely flies over my head and I unfortunately felt confident about my reasoning. Does reviewing the questions over and over help?

Some of these most difficult questions seem so unique, in the way they are worded, or the way the argument is constructed. Not as formulaic as the easier questions. I want to find strategies so that they don't keep tripping me up. Thoughts?

Some examples
PT 72-S2-Q16
PT 72-S2-Q23
PT 72-S2-Q25

Heh, PT 72 was no picnic...

Thank you as always!
Julia

c.janson35

In reference to those 3 questions you mentioned, and difficult questions in general, you really have to put in the time up front before moving on to the answer choices to really understand the argument, how it's being made, and why it's not adding up. Focus in on the relationships between the conclusion and the premises and look out for subtle term shifts that may be throwing things off. Also, approach the stimuli with a healthy dose of skepticism, ready to call bs on any slight deviation from logic that you might find. More than anything, don't be passive on the tough questions.

The short answer is to just keep practicing and be aware of the thought processes that caused you to eliminate the right answer and select the wrong answer. There's no trick to tough questions, you just have to approach them with the right mindset and be able to POE the clearly wrong answers.

Good luck!

Julia L

@c.janson35 this is such great advice. be extremely aware, surgical, and don't let your guard down.

StopLawying

Maybe try purchasing the LSAT Challenge Packet on the Cambridge website. Many people on TLS say that they have gotten significantly better at these types of questions after going through all the questions.
It's weird, Cambridge LSAT was supposed to stop selling PDFs after the 15th, but for some reason people have still been able to buy them. Don't know why that's the case. Did LSAT lift the ban or something?

c.janson35

Perfectly said @"Julia L"! Also, I think it's helpful to know when to just move on. I personally have a really short leash for questions that I don't understand. At this point, I know if I have to read a stimulus twice and don't understand in which direction I should be going or how I should be thinking about it, I just move on right away so I don't waste time on it, knowing that I'll (hopefully) have time to return to it at the end.

Julia L

@StopLawying thanks for the suggestion. And re: PDFs, I was wondering that too!

@c.janson35 yes, the LSAT has taught me a lot about letting it go and cutting losses. Opportunity cost!

Pacifico

Unless they jive with you the first time through and you can see the Matrix on the high end curvebreakers, you are going to have to invest a lot more time in them, which means moving on from them quickly and flying through the easy ones. If you can finish an LR section in 30 minutes or less that will give you more than enough time to go back and put in the extra work on such questions. You also cannot overstate how much the fresh look can help you if you skip and return. I often think of it like I do with LG. If I couldn't see the right interpretation the first time, if I leave and come back I will invariably look for a different perspective since my first one was very likely incorrect. To extend the analogy, if I start a grouping game with a chart based on the stimulus but then the rules don't mesh with a chart, then it is much more difficult to overhaul my approach on the spot. Instead, I skip to the next game and come back and then realize it's just a straightforward grouping game where I can define all the slots as containing an element or a slash.

nicole.hopkins

@c.janson35 said:
Focus in on the relationships between the conclusion and the premises and look out for subtle term shifts that may be throwing things off. Also, approach the stimuli with a healthy dose of skepticism, ready to call bs on any slight deviation from logic that you might find. More than anything, don't be passive on the tough questions.

@c.janson35 said:
There's no trick to tough questions, you just have to approach them with the right mindset and be able to POE the clearly wrong answers.

@c.janson35 said:
At this point, I know if I have to read a stimulus twice and don't understand in which direction I should be going or how I should be thinking about it, I just move on right away so I don't waste time on it, knowing that I'll (hopefully) have time to return to it at the end.

@Pacifico said:
You also cannot overstate how much the fresh look can help you if you skip and return.

Just stringing together a mini-hall of fame here. This stuff is pure gold. I feel like @c.janson35 is bringing a fresh perspective/framework to LR in general. I'm excited to come back from break and start implementing it

And @Pacifico 's point cannot be over stated. Know when to walk away ... know when to run. Watch videos of JY doing LR sections. The old circle-n-skip is, IMO, what separates the bosses from the interns, if you know what I mean.

Julia L

thank you much @nicole.hopkins and @Pacifico

nye8870

@nicole.hopkins said:
You also cannot overstate how much the fresh look can help you if you skip and return.

I usually skip all the questions 1 thru 20 with plenty of time to return to them :-/

Matt1234567

I also skip the questions that just dont make sense to me after the second read, and then come back to them after I'm done with the rest of the section. I really like using the process of elimination, getting down to the core of the stimulus and start knocking off answers.