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March 25, 2016

“Most Strongly Supports” vs. “Most Strongly Supported” in Logical Reasoning Questions

"Most Strongly Supports" vs. "Most Strongly Supported" in Logical Reasoning Questions

Let’s look at two LSAT logical reasoning question stems that sound awfully alike, but are anything but:

“Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports the argument above?”

vs.

“Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?”

In the first instance, your job is to assume that each answer choice represents a true statement, and then determine which one is most helpful to validating the conclusion of the argument. This is a classic Strengthen question.

In the second example, your job is to determine which answer choice is most strongly supported by the information in the stimulus. This is basically an inference (or, as we call them, a “Must Be True”) question.

One caveat, however, should be noted when it comes to the particular phrasing of the Must Be True question. In a few instances, we have noticed that the phrase “most strongly supported” exacts a somewhat lower standard of scrutiny than the classic “which one of the following can be properly inferred…” stem. In other words, it is possible that the correct answer to that question is very strongly suggested or implied by the stimulus, but is not 100% provable by it.

Implications

This is particularly true in stimuli that describe correlations or coincidences that strongly imply a particular causal explanation. See, e.g. December 2007, Section 3, Question 10; September 2007, Section 1, Question 15; December 2000, Section 3, Question 13. In all three instances, the correct answer choice presents a reasonable explanation for the correlation described in the stimulus. As we know from our discussion of causal reasoning, however, such explanations are rarely provable 100%. They are, however, most strongly supported by the information contained in the stimulus.

Lessons Learned

There are two lessons to learn from this: First—read carefully and don’t generalize! The active vs. passive voice in the wording of the question stem makes a huge difference when it comes to the nature of the correct answer (Strengthen vs. Must Be True). Second, knowing the difference between the two is not enough. While being familiar with our method of approach to each question type is obviously essential, to get that top-1% score you need to go beyond that. Inject some flexibility into your application, and sometimes just go with your gut instinct.

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Posted by PowerScore Test Prep / Logical Reasoning, LSAT Prep / Logical Reasoning, LSAT Prep Leave a Comment

  • muriel tan
    August 29, 2016 at 7:21pm

    Hi Nikki – I just finished the Powerscore 2016 edition RC book and just wanted to confirm that your advice above in the 3rd paragraph: ” In a few instances, we have noticed that the phrase “most strongly supported” exacts a somewhat lower standard of scrutiny than the classic “which one of the following can be properly inferred…” stem. In other words, it is possible that the correct answer to that question is very strongly suggested or implied by the stimulus, but is not 100% provable by it.” – – That ONLY applies to Logical Reasoning questions, correct??? I have that so ingrained in me for LR questions that I am having tendency of late to carry it over when asked the same in the Reading Comprehension section. Just to reiterate, as far as you guys are concerned, for the RC section, “Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the passage” is a Must Be True, global reference question, correct??

    I ask this because of a question I encountered from PT 70, the Prions science passage. Fortunately, it was the only question i got wrong in that passage even tho I generally hyperventilate during science passages. The question was #4. “Which of the following is MSS by the passage?” I initially ruled out (D) very swiftly and almost picked the correct answer (C), but then went back and justified (D) by this part of the passage from line 52, near its ending: “Furthermore it is now believed that a similar process of protein malformation may be involved in other….. neuro conditions such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons…”

    Is (D) wrong because it goes too far in degree/ is too absolute? Too certain in its declaration that Alzehimers and Parkinsons “ARE” caused by a similar thing?

    Thanks in advance for your time. I was going to ask this in the forums, but I didn’t quite know how to reference your blog post without confusing people. Thanks again.

  • Nicolay Siclunov
    September 06, 2016 at 6:09pm

    This is a wonderful question, the response to which can be found here.

    Thanks!

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