Anyone else having trouble with RC questions asking you to infer?

Comments

• 2 Likes

  pa8 Free Trial Member

  November 2018 7 karma

  Fact Test! That’s what always helps me
• 3 Likes

  Sara_3080 Alum Member

  November 2018 432 karma

  Yeah, big time. I still haven't had a breakthrough with those questions, but here is a discussion post of mine that some peeps contributed awesome advice on: https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/18354/life-changing-rc-tips-help-me-friends
• 3 Likes

  Waffle23 Alum Member

  November 2018 603 karma

  I have trouble with these types too. The one thing that has helped is realizing that there must be hard proof within the passage for the correct answer choice.
  Oftentimes, the correct answer is a sly rephrasing of the section of the passage that the question is referencing. I should always be able to go back and pinpoint the exact line(s) of the passage that would serve as proof for a specific answer choice.
  If I can't find the proof, it can't be the right answer.

  Ex: RC section of PT6, passage 1 is about the Taft-Hartley Act and "right to work" legislation. The gist of the passage is that right to work legislation undermines the power of unions to negotiate better wages, which disproportionately affects minority workers in particular.

  Question 3 asks "it can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which one of the following about craft unions?"

  Within the second paragraph, (lines 49- 54) the author states that craft unions increase the wage differential between White workers and Black workers, b/c Black workers are traditionally excluded from the craft unions. The primary idea the author discusses in paragraph two was how the black workers were more disenfranchised by these labor-union laws.

  The correct answer choice didn't mention anything about the race of the two groups in question, even though that was the primary idea of the section, and instead vaguely referred to the white workers as "craft union members" and black workers as "nonunion workers."

  It took me quite awhile to realize that when answer choice (a) included the phrase "nonunion workers" LSAC was using that broad term to refer to the black workers.

  They used more macroscopic phrasing to refer to a subset of workers.

  I've noticed that LSAC likes to do that a lot on some of the trickier passages (playing with the phrasing and using less identifiable terms to refer to two of the same things)

  Also it goes without saying, just as I look for proof for the correct answer choice, on the flip side I eliminate answers choices that aren't explicitly touched upon in the passage, even if based on real-world knowledge those answer choices seem appealing.

  For author's tone, as I'm reading the passage I circle descriptive words that pinpoint how an author would feel about something, like referring to the technique of an artist as "ingenious" or "crafty" and such. It certainly helps me eliminate answer choices for questions asking about the author's tone.

  Other than that, as I'm reading through the passage, I stop to process it all before moving onto the next sentence and write a few quick works next to that section to sum up the main point within that paragraph before moving onto the next paragraph.

  Sorry for the lengthy response! Hope that was a little useful.
• Shrilaraune Alum Member

  November 2018 169 karma

  @pa8 said:
  Fact Test! That’s what always helps me

  Could you unpack that for me? I'm coming from Powerscore so the Fact Test may mean something different for me. Or if you could link to the lesson it's discussed in that would be amazing! Thanks for responding!
• Shrilaraune Alum Member

  November 2018 169 karma

  @Sarah_9900 said:
  Yeah, big time. I still haven't had a breakthrough with those questions, but here is a discussion post of mine that some peeps contributed awesome advice on: https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/18354/life-changing-rc-tips-help-me-friends

  Thank you so much! I'll look through this!
• Shrilaraune Alum Member

  November 2018 169 karma

  @skhan012018 said:
  I have trouble with these types too. The one thing that has helped is realizing that there must be hard proof within the passage for the correct answer choice.
  Oftentimes, the correct answer is a sly rephrasing of the section of the passage that the question is referencing. I should always be able to go back and pinpoint the exact line(s) of the passage that would serve as proof for a specific answer choice.
  If I can't find the proof, it can't be the right answer.

  Ex: RC section of PT6, passage 1 is about the Taft-Hartley Act and "right to work" legislation. The gist of the passage is that right to work legislation undermines the power of unions to negotiate better wages, which disproportionately affects minority workers in particular.

  Question 3 asks "it can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which one of the following about craft unions?"

  Within the second paragraph, (lines 49- 54) the author states that craft unions increase the wage differential between White workers and Black workers, b/c Black workers are traditionally excluded from the craft unions. The primary idea the author discusses in paragraph two was how the black workers were more disenfranchised by these labor-union laws.

  The correct answer choice didn't mention anything about the race of the two groups in question, even though that was the primary idea of the section, and instead vaguely referred to the white workers as "craft union members" and black workers as "nonunion workers."

  It took me quite awhile to realize that when answer choice (a) included the phrase "nonunion workers" LSAC was using that broad term to refer to the black workers.

  They used more macroscopic phrasing to refer to a subset of workers.

  I've noticed that LSAC likes to do that a lot on some of the trickier passages (playing with the phrasing and using less identifiable terms to refer to two of the same things)

  Also it goes without saying, just as I look for proof for the correct answer choice, on the flip side I eliminate answers choices that aren't explicitly touched upon in the passage, even if based on real-world knowledge those answer choices seem appealing.

  For author's tone, as I'm reading the passage I circle descriptive words that pinpoint how an author would feel about something, like referring to the technique of an artist as "ingenious" or "crafty" and such. It certainly helps me eliminate answer choices for questions asking about the author's tone.

  Other than that, as I'm reading through the passage, I stop to process it all before moving onto the next sentence and write a few quick works next to that section to sum up the main point within that paragraph before moving onto the next paragraph.

  Sorry for the lengthy response! Hope that was a little useful.

  I LOVE long responses! Thank you so much for this! I'd heard the advice that hard evidence always needs to be in the passage, but having an example of what that looks like for this sort of question is so helpful you have no idea. Thank you! If you have any other long responses in you, send them my way! Seriously!
• 1 Like

  Waffle23 Alum Member

  November 2018 603 karma

  @Shrilaraune Glad to know it helped! If I find any other tips that end up working for me, I’ll be sure to let you know!
• 1 Like

  MindyKale Alum Member

  January 2019 350 karma

  @Shrilaraune said:
  When I started my LSAT journey, RC was the section I was least concerned about. I finished all the passages, and would get maybe -5. It was something I could see improving with time. Then I did a prep program (Powerscore tutoring for anyone who's curious) and now, I'm only getting to 3 passages. More troubling is the fact that I seem to be having trouble with questions that ask me to infer or guess how the author would feel about something. How do I overcome that? Anyone else have trouble with these sorts of questions? What helped? Any tactics/and or strategies would be really appreciated!

  I think a potential problem with the powerscore viewstamp method is that it asks you to do a lot of work upfront that may not be tested on that passage. Like maybe there isn't a purpose question and you are trying to find the purpose of the passage. Maybe there isn't tone and you are trying to find tone. So, that maybe a reason why you are missing out on time.
  I agree with skhan01 that there needs to be hard evidence, but what helps narrow down these answer choices is knowing where things are mentioned in the passage so you could quickly refer to it. Also, knowing what is completely off base and things the author totally doesn't discuss about go for a quick elimination. However,an approach where you compare each answer choice with what could be in the passage is extremely time taking and not advisable. Very lengthy and time consuming. This is the key of 7sage approach which asks you to do Low res summaries so you have a quick index of the passage in case you need to refer back to understand what the author is inferring.
  In my prep, I've come to understand that doing RC under time also requires some confidence wherein I must be ready to move on when I don't understand a particular phrasing (there is a good chance that one tiny phrase won't be tested, you could come back to it when you are tested on it, maybe the answer choices will be so whacky you can eliminate them easily.) or when I have only 60% confidence that the answer is right but if given a minute I could clarify it by reading through the passage.
• 1 Like

  Rule No 8 Alum Member

  January 2019 141 karma

  I have noticed a pattern in some correct answer choices. They are the opposite of what was stated. For example, (and this is an easy made up example to clarify what I am saying) if the author of the passage says they are taller than x, the right infer question would say x is shorter than the author.

  There is an example of this in the RC core curriculum about Okapis (PT 30, Sec. 3, Pass. 1).
• Shrilaraune Alum Member

  January 2019 169 karma

  @MindyKale said:

  @Shrilaraune said:
  When I started my LSAT journey, RC was the section I was least concerned about. I finished all the passages, and would get maybe -5. It was something I could see improving with time. Then I did a prep program (Powerscore tutoring for anyone who's curious) and now, I'm only getting to 3 passages. More troubling is the fact that I seem to be having trouble with questions that ask me to infer or guess how the author would feel about something. How do I overcome that? Anyone else have trouble with these sorts of questions? What helped? Any tactics/and or strategies would be really appreciated!

  I think a potential problem with the powerscore viewstamp method is that it asks you to do a lot of work upfront that may not be tested on that passage. Like maybe there isn't a purpose question and you are trying to find the purpose of the passage. Maybe there isn't tone and you are trying to find tone. So, that maybe a reason why you are missing out on time.
  I agree with skhan01 that there needs to be hard evidence, but what helps narrow down these answer choices is knowing where things are mentioned in the passage so you could quickly refer to it. Also, knowing what is completely off base and things the author totally doesn't discuss about go for a quick elimination. However,an approach where you compare each answer choice with what could be in the passage is extremely time taking and not advisable. Very lengthy and time consuming. This is the key of 7sage approach which asks you to do Low res summaries so you have a quick index of the passage in case you need to refer back to understand what the author is inferring.
  In my prep, I've come to understand that doing RC under time also requires some confidence wherein I must be ready to move on when I don't understand a particular phrasing (there is a good chance that one tiny phrase won't be tested, you could come back to it when you are tested on it, maybe the answer choices will be so whacky you can eliminate them easily.) or when I have only 60% confidence that the answer is right but if given a minute I could clarify it by reading through the passage.

  Thank you so much! Yeah, After reading most of the LSAT trainer, I came to a similar conclusion. And reading the trainer gave me a better perspective of the 7 sage method (which had been taking me too much time as well). Now I'm using a combination of the two to great effect! I'm still struggling on those infer questions, but at least I'm finishing the section (or just about)!

  I think having confidence while reading is actually a really good point, and may be something that's holding me back. I'll try to emulate that on my next read and see how it goes!
• Shrilaraune Alum Member

  January 2019 169 karma

  @"Rule No 8" said:
  I have noticed a pattern in some correct answer choices. They are the opposite of what was stated. For example, (and this is an easy made up example to clarify what I am saying) if the author of the passage says they are taller than x, the right infer question would say x is shorter than the author.

  There is an example of this in the RC core curriculum about Okapis (PT 30, Sec. 3, Pass. 1).

  Ooooh, this is an interesting insight! I'll keep an eye out and report back!