Speeding up on LR Inference Questions

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• 8 Likes

  LSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐

  December 2017 edited December 2017 13286 karma

  I think a lot of times, people become too reliant on conditional logic. They see an indicator, or a chain, and map it out and create the counter-positive and they don't really stop and think of the question on a surface level. One way I sped up on MSS and MBT was to just think about what the questions was saying.

  Conditional logic is EXTREMELY important to get an understanding of this test, but once you have that understanding I think the goal is to do it more and more in your head and less writing it out. If you are still writing out long conditional chains, and creating counter-positives, then you are sinking in time. See if you can do a set of these questions all in your head, without mapping it out. If you are not already doing this, then it can help you speed up.

  Also remember some tips for each question type. MSS answers are notoriously vague. They tend to shy away from absolutes and strong language. For instance if it says "MOST" that is a good indication that it is too strong an answer choice for a MSS. Also remember that a MSS answer choice is a conclusion. Sometimes if you find yourself going back and forth between two answers, read the stim with your preferred AC at the end. Does it sound like a good conclusion? Does it fit into the argument without over stepping its boundaries? This is also a good test.

  For MBT questions - a lot of the answer choices just wont make sense. When you read them you'll see that they either 1.) Don't touch the argument or 2.) create some ridiculous outcome. These tend to always be the wrong answer as well. If you can eliminate these fast, then your skills in conditional logic can help you wade through the last two choices that are messing you up.

  And the most important tip. Practice, just keep doing them. Eventually you'll become extremely accustom to what they want in these types of questions. Through practice you will gain the speed. It's like learning an instrument. You start out slow and methodical, but over time and with enough practice, you get fast and it becomes second nature!

  Hope this helps a small amount.

  1.) Read the question on a surface level, as well as apply conditional logic
  2.) Keep in mind the "tricks"
  3.) Practice
• 1 Like

  LsatTony Alum Member

  December 2017 edited December 2017 70 karma

  @LSATcantwin Thanks for these tips! I'll try them out as I practice. I will say that I just mentioned that I'm familiar with conditional logic because I know a lot of advice tends to be "make sure you have a strong foundation in conditional logic" and was looking for tips like yours that went beyond that!
• Sami Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 7Sage Tutor

  December 2017 edited December 2017 10806 karma

  @LsatTony said:
  Hey everyone!

  Has anyone had success speeding up their time on inference questions (MSS/MBT) questions? While I don't miss too many of them, I notice that they tend to be time sinks for me, especially the harder ones (I do have a strong grasp of conditional logic).

  I'm specifically drilling these types now, which I'm sure will help, but was curious if anyone else had insights on getting through these in a more efficient manner.

  Some conditional logic questions are insanely complicated. I remember one on PT 82, it took me about 3 min to get that question correct and in blind review call one thing JY said was this question is better missed than attempted and gotten correct.

  So unless you are just slow on conditional logic in general the trick is not to get faster on these time sink questions but to skip them faster and not do them unless you have gotten all the points you can on easier questions. Going -1 on a section strategically is great! Choosing what to attempt and when to attempt is the right form to have when taking an LR section.

  So my advice is that your first round should just consist of reading stimulus and if it requires you to start drawing/mapping things out you should skip the question. At the end of the section when you have 3-5 questions you have marked for second round, see which ones you can get done with quickly and attempt those questions. If you think this type of question will take 3 min, then do all the questions you can get correct in 2 min or less first. If you have time for this type of question at the end, then you should attempt it. If not, well you went -1 or -2 on this section. Which strategically based on time left was the right call.
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  December 2017 23929 karma

  @LsatTony said:
  Hey everyone!

  Has anyone had success speeding up their time on inference questions (MSS/MBT) questions? While I don't miss too many of them, I notice that they tend to be time sinks for me, especially the harder ones (I do have a strong grasp of conditional logic).

  I'm specifically drilling these types now, which I'm sure will help, but was curious if anyone else had insights on getting through these in a more efficient manner.

  Sometimes we can use what Manhattan Prep calls the "Krav Maga method." This is basically where on hard inference/assumption Qs we can use POE and choose answer choices based on looking for key words. For instance, we can use knowledge of our valid argument forms to know what keywords we should be looking for such as some, most, all, etc. It doesn't always work, but I recall a very tricky question on PT 62 where this method was able to net me a point on an insanely difficult question with tons of conditional logic.