logical reasoning 7 sage

must be true question stem

If all of the statements above are true, which of the following can be properly inferred?

must be true correct answer critieria

100% proven by the information in the stimulus. The correct answer should not require any assumptions in order to be proven by the stimulus.

must be true typical approach

-take statements in stimulus as true

-don’t find conclusions and premises

-try to connect any statements that can be

must be true answer choice tendencies

-don’t pick extreme answers (all, every, always)

-double check strong answers to make sure they’re truly supported

-weak answers (sometimes, possibly, not always) because they’re easier to support

-don’t pick answers that are introducing new concepts in the stimulus

most strongly supported question stem

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

most strongly supported correct answer criteria

Very strongly supported by the information in the stimulus - it might not be 100% proven, but you have good reasons from the stimulus to believe that the answer is true.

most strongly supported typical approach

-take statements in stimulus as true

-don’t find conclusions and premises

-identify if they’re any assumptions made in the argument

-try to connect any statements you can

most strongly supported answer choice tendencies

-don’t pick extreme answers (all, every, always)

-double check strong answers to make sure they’re truly supported

-weak answers (sometimes, possibly, not always) because they’re easier to support

-don’t pick answers that are introducing new concepts in the stimulus

main conclusion question stem

Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion drawn in the argument?

main conclusion correct answer criteria

Restatement or paraphrase of the main conclusion of the argument.

main conclusion typical approach

-find conclusion

-conclusion will often be phrased as a rejection of something else

-if stuck between 2 answers, ask which one supports the other? the one that’s more supported is more likely to be correct

main conclusion answer choice tendencies

-will be a restatement of the main conclusion even if it may not be worded in the exact same way

-wrong answers will take the conclusion too far, describe a premise or assumption, or describe an inference we can make from the stimulus

argument part question stem

Which one of the following most accurately states the role played by the statement ...

argument part correct answer critieria

Accurate description of the role played by the statement we're asked about

argument part typical approach

-find conclusion and premises

-break the argument down and think about the role of the statement you’re asked about

-is it part of the author’s argument? Is it premise, intermediate conclusion, or main conclusion

-if it’s not part of the author’s argument, is it part of someone else’s argument? Is it point of concession, or somethign else?

argument part answer choice tendencies

-don’t chose answers that are extreme or twist the argument actually says

-often wrong answers will just misdescribe the conclusion

-wrong answers will describe other parts of the stimulus that aren’t the statement asked about

-need time to break down answers

method of reasoning question stem

Which of the following most accurately describes a technique of reasoning used in the argument above?

method of reasoning correct answer criteria

Accurate description of the way the argument goes from premise to conclusion.

method of reasoning typical approach

-find conclusions and premises

-find common form of reasoning (not every argument uses a common form of reasoning)

method of reasoning answer choice tendencies

-don’t pick answers that are extreme (wrong answers will go beyond what is actually said)

-be prepared for abstract answers

-match different parts to the correct answer to the stimulus. of you can’t it’s wrong

flaw question stem

The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it

flaw correct answer criteria

Accurate description of why the argument's reasoning is flawed. The answer could be phrased in the following ways:

1. Abstract description of the bad reasoning

2. What the argument overlooks

3. What the argument assumes

flaw typical approach

-find conclusions and premises

-think about why the concluison doesn’t have to be true even of the premises are

-find a common form of flaw

flaw answer choice tendencies

-don’t choose answers that misdescribe the conclusion

-correct answers will be: descriptively accurate and constitute bad reasoning

necessary assumption question stem

Which one of the following is an assumption that the argument above requires?

necessary assumption correct answer criteria

Something that must be true in order for the argument's conclusion to possibly follow from the premises.

necessary assumption typical approach

-identify conclusion and premises

-think about why the concluison doesn’t have to be true even of the premises are

-pay attention to new concepts brought up in the conclusion and not the stimulus (argument must make some kind of assumption about new ideas)

-hard to predict correct answer

-APPLY THE NEGATION TEST IF UNSURE

-if negation makes it impossible for the conclusion to follow logically from the premises, then the answer is necessary and correct

necessary assumption answer choice tendencies

-extreme answer will often go beyond what the argument needs to make sense

-srongly worded answer can be correct, but be careful

-weak answers (some, sometimes, not always) are more likely to be correct than strong answers

-when using the negation test, negating a weak statement (some) always produces a strong statement (none), and strong statements are more likely to damage the conclusion

sufficient assumption question stem

The conclusion of the argument follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

sufficient assumption correct answer criteria

Something that, if added to the premises, would 100% guarantee the truth of the conclusion.

sufficient assumption typical approach

-find conclusions and premises

-think about why the conclusion doesn’t have to be true even of the premises are

-pay attention to new concepts brought up in the conclusion and not the stimulus (argument must make some kind of assumption about new ideas)

-be ready for conditional logic in the premises or conclusion in premises and conclusion

-often involve identifying missing links between different conditional relationships

-if you’re stuck on answers, ask whether that answer, combined with the premises, 100% proves the conclusion

sufficient assumption answer choice tendencies

-beware of weakly worded answers

-be ready to think about contrapositives and look for answers in that form

strengthen question stem

The conclusion of the argument is strongly supported if which one of the following is assumed?

strengthen correct answer criteria

Something that, if true, would make the conclusion more likely to follow from the premises.

strengthen typical approach

-find premises and conclusion

-think about why the conclusion doesn’t have to be true even of the premises are

-pay attention to new concepts brought up in the conclusion and not the stimulus (argument must make some kind of assumption about new ideas)

-be ready for arguments where the author tries to provide a hypothesis for some phenomenon (if you see this structure, think about alternate hypotheses)

-hard to predict exactly what the correct answer will involve

strengthen answer choice tendencies

-correct answer doesn’t need to 100% prove the conclusion

-choose this answer that most strengthens the argument (requires the fewest, most reasonable assumptions)

-if the argument involves correlation to cause or explanations for a phenomenon, be ready for a correct answer that’s about eliminating an alternate explanation (this isn’t always the correct answer, but it’s common in this argument)

pseudo-sufficient assumption rule question stem

Which one of the following principles, if valid, would most help to justify the argument?

pseudo sufficient assumption rule correct answer criteria

Something that, if true, would make the conclusion more likely to follow from the premises.

pseudo-sufficient assumption rule typical approach

-find conclusions and premises

-find a premise —> conclusion bridge

pseudo-sufficient assumption rule answer choice tendencies

-correct answer doesn’t need to 100% prove the conclusion
-just needs to prove the principle that would make the conclusion more likely

-answer is often presented in contrapositive form

weaken question stem

Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument?

weaken correct answer criteria

Something that, if true, would make the conclusion less likely to follow from the premises.

weaken typical approach

-find conclusion and premises

-think about why the conclusion doesn’t have to be true even of the premises are

-pay attention to new concepts brought up in the conclusion and not the stimulus (argument must make some kind of assumption about new ideas)

-be ready for arguments where the author tries to provide a hypothesis for some phenomenon (if you see this structure, think about alternate hypotheses)

-hard to predict exactly what the correct answer will involve

weaken answer choice tendencies

-correct answer doesn’t need to falsify the conclusion

-even if it makes the conclusion slightly less likely to follow the premises, it could still be correct

-choose the answer that appears to weaken the most and requires the fewest, most reasonable assumption

-if the argument involves correlation to cause or explanations for a phenomenon, be ready for a correct answer that’s about eliminating an alternate explanation (this isn’t always the correct answer, but it’s common in this argument)

evaluate question stem

The answer to which one of the following questions most helps in evaluating the argument?

evaluate correct answer criteria

A question that, depending on how it's answered, would either strengthen or weaken the argument.

evaluate typical approach

follow the same approach for strengthen/weaken questions

evaluate answer choice tendencies

-answers are usually phrased in the form of a question

-think about what would happen to the argument if you answered the question in the most extreme way in either direction

resolve/reconcile/explain question stem

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy in the information above?

resolve/reconcile/explain correct answer criteria

Something that, if true, would help explain the apparently conflicting facts in the stimulus.

resolve/reconcile/explain typical approach

-stimulus involves an apparent contradiction or conflict

-try to identify why don’t these 2 things go together

resolve/reconcile/explain answer choice tendencies

-the correct answer just needs to help provide a potential explanation that resolves the discrepancy

-okay to require a small, reasonable assumption

-wrong answers will either be irrelevant or make the discrepancy more difficult to explain

parallel question stem

The reasoning in the argument above is most similar to the reasoning in which one of the following arguments?

parallel correct answer criteria

An argument that most closely matches the key elements of reasoning in the argument in the stimulus.

parallel typical approach

-find conclusions and premises

-try to summarize premises and conclusions to match the correct answer

conditional logic is common in these questions

-pay attention to the strength of the language in the conclusion

parallel answer choice tendencies

-if you’re stuck on an answer, make sure whether the strength of the conclusion match what we’re looking for

-make sure to evaluate the answers sentence by sentence

-don’t need to read the whole answer to see that their are parts that don’t match

parallel flaw typical question stem

The flawed reasoning in which one of the following is most closely parallel to the flawed reasoning in the argument above?

parallel flaw correct answer criteria

An argument that most closely matches the flawed reasoning in the argument in the stimulus.

parallel flaw typical approach

-find conclusions and premises

-find why the argument is flawed

-try to summarize the key elements of the premises and conclusion that you’re looking to match the correct answer to

-be ready for conditional logic

-pay attention to the strength of language

parallel flaw answer choice tendencies

-correct answer choice is supposed to have the same flaw (if the argument is valid’s it’s not correct)

-if you’re stuck, make sure to check whether the strength of the conclusion matches what we’re looking

-eliminating based on the strength of conclusion is a good general rule of thumb

pseudo-sufficient assumption application

Which one of the following judgments most closely conforms to the principle above?

pseudo sufficient assumption application correct answer criteria

An argument or situation that matches one of the principles in the stimulus.

pseudo sufficient assumption application

-understand the principle in the stimulus

-often will have conditional logic

-be ready to break down the principle into “if” and “then”

-may need to think about the contrapositive of the principle

pseudo sufficient assumption answer choice tendencies

-wrong answers will involve a reversal of the conditional logic

-if you’re stuck, make sure to identify the conclusion and premises, and then see whether each part of the argument fits the principle

-conclusion should match up to the “then” part and the premises should match up to the “if” part

point at issue disagree

These statements commit Robin and Kendall to disagreeing over whether

point at issue disagree correct answer criteria

A statement that one speaker would say "Yes" to and the other speaker would say "No" to.

point at issue disagree typical approach

-break down the first and second person’s statement

-think about whether they disagree about a conclusion, premise, assumption, or something else

point at issue disagree answer choice tendencies

-does each person have an opinion on the answer? if you don’t know, then it’s wrong

-the correct answer for which each speaker has an opinion and those opinions conflict