In this week’s post on LSAT basics, I’ll introduce techniques for how to use the base picture to answer the three major question types in logic games. These three question types constitute 95 percent of all logic game questions.
Keep in mind that time management is a huge component of successfully taking the LSAT. The techniques I describe below are therefore focused on efficiency: getting to the correct answer with the least amount of work possible. The key to this is relying on previous work and by executing the process for each question in a specific order.
[Understandthe setup and rules for logic games on the LSAT.]
Complete and Accurate Questions
These questions ask you for a complete legal outcome for the game. Make sure that the question is asking you to create an outcome for the entire game and not just a part of it. If they’re asking you to put together just one part of the outcome, then it is almost always a universal question, which we’ll discuss below.
Sometimes, however, what appears to give you only part of the game’s outcome actually gives you an entire outcome. This appears most commonly with in/out games, where if you are told everyone who is “In,” then you know that everyone else must be “out,” thus giving you a complete outcome.
To answer a complete and accurate question, first identify the simplest rule . Then, t ranslate the rule by asking yourself, “What must my answer choice look like to satisfy this rule?” Finally, r eview all answer choices and eliminate those that violate the rule based on your analysis.
Follow this process for each rule, progressing from the simplest rule to the most complicated. Y ou do not have to evaluate an answer choice again once you’ve eliminated it for violating a previous rule.
A common mistake I have seen our students at Stratus Prep make when approaching these questions is to fully evaluate each answer choice. This ends up being much more time consuming than the rule-by-rule approach we recommend. Most of the time spent in answering these questions is in translating the rule, and by evaluating every answer choice rule by rule, you’re doing that work only once instead of up to five times.
New Info Questions
New info questions provide you with new information, usually in the form of an if-then statement. For example: “If X is in spot four, then which one of the following must be true?” Note that this information is only applicable to the question at hand and when you answer any other questions you should start from your base picture. We will, however, see that we can use the work we do to answer these questions on universal questions, which are discussed below.
To answer a new info question , first redraw your skeleton, including any concrete information from your base picture and from the new information contained in the question. Then, make deductions, i.e., find out what else must be true based on the new information. To do this, ask yourself “What did I just learn about, and what else do I know about it?”
After you’ve made deductions, there will often be an important character that can go into only one of two places. Draw two separate skeletons and explore each of these two possibilities.
Finally, test the answer choices. This is the last resort, and almost all new info questions do not require you to test more than one answer choice.
You will be able to answer many new info questions after having made deductions, before having to resort to splitting or testing. I recommend that if you reach a point where you think no further deductions can be made, or you anticipate that the next step will take lots of time, see if you have enough information to get to the right answer.
Universal Questions
Universal questions, unlike new info questions, give no further information and are true about every legal outcome of the game. They are usually in the form of “must,” “could” or “cannot” questions.
To answer a universal question , follow these three approaches.
1. Evaluate answer choices based on your base picture>: Often you will have already made the deduction required to answer the question in the work you did before you even got to this question.
2. Evaluate answer choices based on prior work: Since you have redrawn and created other scenarios for new info questions, you already have a lot of information about what must, could or cannot be true. Use these outcomes to evaluate your answer choices.
3. Test answer choices: As I mentioned above, this is the last resort. Unfortunately, though, a higher percentage of universal questions require you to test at least two answer choices.
Do you have questions about preparing for the LSAT? Send me an email.
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