Weaken/Except

[jupiterlaw]

Hi!

After reviewing the weaken/except section I am wondering if LSAC ever uses double-negatives to trick people. For example, would you ever see the following question stem on an LSAT Logical Reasoning Section:

"Each of the following, if true, does not weaken the argument above EXCEPT"

I would imagine this would be a good trick to assess if people are reading carefully because you might immediately see EXCEPT in all capitals and accidentally gloss over "does not", missing that the question stem is a standard weaken question since "does not" and "EXCEPT" would cancel each other out in this case.

For efficiency and speed purposes, I am wondering if LSAT test takers should be on the lookout for this or if this is something that has never and would not be used on the LSAT?

[jupiterlaw]

"Each of the following, if true, does not weaken the argument above EXCEPT"

- should read, "...do not..."

[srusty]

"Each of the following, if true, does not weaken the argument above EXCEPT"

- should read, "...do not..."

Hi Jupiter,

Great question! This is definitely not a common phrasing of the "weaken" question. Typically, like you said, our Weaken question stems will ask us which of the following answer choices weaken, or which answer choice doesn't weaken, using the "EXCEPT." Although we can't predict what LSAT writers will do in the future (unfortunately ) it is not a common question stem. However, close reading question stems is good practice in general!

Hope this helps!

[jupiterlaw]

Hi,

That's what I figured, thanks!