3.3 - LR Question Types

Next, we're revisiting the question types you'll encounter in Logical Reasoning.

I broke out this lesson to function mostly like flashcards—bite-sized reminders of what each question type addresses and the strategies we use to solve them.

We'll follow up with a standalone lesson about each question type and how to solve it with worked examples.

Main Conclusion

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Find the argument's overall conclusion
• Strategy: Look for the idea that's supported by all the rest, the thing the author's building toward

Must Be True

• Deals with arguments? Rarely
• Task: Determine what else must be the case based on the facts provided
• Strategy: Look closely at relationships and make logical inferences

Most Strongly Supported

• Deals with arguments? Rarely
• Task: Determine what answer choice is most likely based on the facts provided
• Strategy: Find an answer choice with direct support in the passage; beware outside information

Agree / Disagree

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Determine the central point of agreement or disagreement between speakers
• Strategy: Look for the main thing at issue between them, everything from their conclusions to the evidence they use

Reasoning

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Determine how the passage makes its argument
• Strategy: Identify what the argument's doing, not necessarily whether it's good or bad.

Role

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Identify the role played by a specific piece of the argument
• Strategy: Tease apart the argument's conclusion and evidence, assigning roles to each argument part

Principle

• Deals with arguments? Sometimes
• Task: Figure out an underlying justification presented in the passage, occasionally applying it to new contexts
• Strategy: Determine the principle, rephrase it, and apply it by analogy when required

Parallel Reasoning

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Match the passage's argument to an answer choice
• Strategy: Identify the argument parts from the passage and match them up to an answer choice part-for-part

Parallel Principle

• Deals with arguments? Sometimes
• Task: Spot a matching application of the passage's underlying principle or match it to an analogous scenario
• Strategy: Determine the principle and predict analogous scenarios that would use it

Flaw

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Find an answer that identifies the specific reason an argument errs in its reasoning
• Strategy: Find the answer that (1) happens in the passage and (2) properly explains why the argument is invalid

Parallel Flaw

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Match the flawed argument from the passage to a flawed argument in the answer choices
• Strategy: Identify the argument parts from the passage, why the argument goes bad, then find an answer choice that makes the same error the same way.

Necessary Assumption

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Find an assumption the argument's conclusion requires to have any hope of being true
• Strategy: Determine what the argument would have to agree with; use the negation test when necessary

Sufficient Assumption

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Find an answer choice that guarantees the truth of the argument's conclusion
• Strategy: Identify the argument's conclusion, the evidence provided, and the gap separating them; then, fill the entire gap.

Strengthen

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Find an answer choice that provides support to the argument's conclusion
• Strategy: Stay grounded in the conclusion; consider what would make it more likely to be true

Weaken

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Find an answer choice that makes the argument's conclusion less likely to be true
• Strategy: Cast doubt on any part of the argument, from conclusion to premises

Evaluate

• Deals with arguments? Yes
• Task: Find an answer choice that helps determine whether an argument wins or loses
• Strategy: Consider what you don't otherwise know about the argument as well as what would strengthen or weaken its conclusion

Paradox

• Deals with arguments? No
• Task: Explain an apparent discrepancy between facts or results
• Strategy: Consider alternative solutions that resolve the conflict between seemingly incompatible or paradoxical circumstances.

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What'd I miss? What would you change? Leave me a comment to help me improve this course for you and future test-takers.

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That does it for our debrief of LR question types. Next, we're tackling each of these one-by-one, starting with Main Conclusion questions. See you there.