NA totally wrecks me

Comments

• blah170blah Alum Inactive ⭐

  July 2016 3545 karma

  How do you approach answering necessary assumption questions?
• 1 Like

  MrSamIam Inactive ⭐

  July 2016 edited July 2016 2086 karma

  Review the NA portion of the curriculum, do a few of the problem sets (or redo if you've done them all), then drill entire LR sections.
  What helps me on NA questions is saying the following right before starting, "What is the author assuming in order to draw their conclusion?" or "What must absolutely be true if I want to help the author prove his/her conclusion to be true?"
• allison.gill.sanford Alum Inactive Sage

  July 2016 1128 karma

  If you're having issues, you probably have an imprecise understanding of what the task of the question type is - as @MrSamIam said, review the CC for NA and then if you are still having trouble, let us know.
• 3 Likes

  CJF_2180 Alum Member

  July 2016 106 karma

  I was struggling with this too. What I've found to be helpful is to isolate the assumption that the passage makes and then ask, what absolutely must be be true in order for this argument to work. Then as I go through the answer choices I ask myself does this absolutely have to be true. What happens if it isn't true. Does it wreck the argument?
• LSATKingsman Alum Member

  July 2016 edited July 2016 1024 karma

  MBT test = life
  
  JY would prolly yell at me for saying this but here goes. This may be the one question type where you can run through the answer choices without knowing what to directly look for. Just run the MBT test for every answer.
• 2 Likes

  draj0623 Alum Member

  July 2016 916 karma

  There is also a recorded webinar for this question type. I haven't reviewed this one yet but I have found value in reviewing webinars for question types I struggle with. I hope this helps!
  
  https://7sage.com/webinar/necessary-assumptions/
  
  
• leejaylee Alum Member

  July 2016 edited July 2016 218 karma

  I think of Necessary Assumption as "subtle and weak missing premises". You are trying to locate an answer choice which makes the argument completely valid (no loose strings).
  What I mean by "subtle and weak" is: Let's compare NA to Sufficient Assumption (SA). SA are usually very strong missing premises and are clear in stating that a supporting premise is missing. However, remember that the SA does not have to be true (it is not a MUST be TRUE) answer choice. It very STRONGLY helps us make the argument.
  
  Remember what J.Y. says in his syllabus: NA is the answer choice that is required, needed, absolutely must be true. If not, it will wreck the argument in question.
  
  SA is the answer choice that is probably wanted to make the argument very solid and strong.
  
  To conclude:
  SA => Strong missing premise to strengthen the argument greatly (conclusion will be satisfied in some way).
  NA => Weak missing premise to make the argument valid (without this, the conclusion cannot be satisfied at ALL).
  
  This SA vs NA helps a lot on level 4 and 5 difficulty questions when both of them are in the answer choices.
  
• 1 Like

  Sami Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 7Sage Tutor

  July 2016 10806 karma

  For me, it really helps to spend time upfront on the stimulus. I usually try to see the method of reasoning used in the stimulus by comparing the premise with the conclusion and trying to see how the author has structured his argument. for example, is the method of reasoning cause and effect, or an argument by analogy? And once you have this, you can basically go into answer choices knowing what form the right answer might take. For example, if the argument was made by analogy in which two things were similar, so you want an answer choices that basically says that they are not different in an essential manner (blocking an alternative difference) or something like that.
  For me, If I don't have an understanding of the Method used by the author, I usually skip it, because I am probably going to get it wrong by chosing one of the sucker answer choices. I might as well spend time on another question, and come back to it again when I have time in the end. Sometimes reading it the second time helps me see what method or reasoning was used to arrive at the conclusion.
• Sami Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 7Sage Tutor

  July 2016 10806 karma

  oh and also once you are down to your two answers, or even if you have eliminated all of them, I make it a habit to use the negation technique to make sure that I have the correct answer. This has helped me sometimes realize I have the wrong answer.
• kokobazooka Member

  July 2016 127 karma

  @draj0623 Thanks for the reference to the webinars!! I didn't even know they existed!! Watching all..
  
• blah170blah Alum Inactive ⭐

  July 2016 3545 karma

  I use @McBeck418's method and double-check my answer using the negation test.