Concept Reference Questions

[lawschoolhopefulzt]

Hello:

I am really trying to improve with Reading Comprehension. I listened to episode 41 of the podcast to try to improve Reading Comprehension skills, and I have watched all the lessons on RC a few times. I ran through the skill tests mentioned in the podcast a few times, and after some practice, I was able to fix certain issues and improve on my speed and diagramming. However, I am continually struggling with Concept Reference questions, and I'm not sure how to fix it. How can I practice to improve on this particular skill?

Thank you so much in advance.

[KelseyWoods]

Hi lawschoolhopefulzt!

It would be helpful to know a bit more about how you approach Concept Reference questions and what specifically seems to give you trouble with them.

Generally speaking, for Concept Reference questions you need to have a strong sense of the structure of your passage so that you know exactly where to go back to in the passage to find the answer to the question. You should go back to the passage to find the answer because, even if you've got a great memory, the LSAT makers are really great at writing very tempting incorrect answers. Go back and find the evidence that proves your answer choice is correct and careful for answer choices that are familiar but have changed up the wording such that they are not directly supported by the information in the passage.

So where do you think you're getting tripped up with the Concept Reference questions? Do you have a strong enough sense of the structure of your passages (including what type of information is in each paragraph and what is the purpose of each paragraph in the passage as a whole)? Do you consistently go back to the passage to prephrase and find direct support for answer choices? Are you tough on the wording of the answer choices to make sure they are statements you can actually prove with the statements in the passage?

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[lawschoolhopefulzt]

Hi lawschoolhopefulzt!

It would be helpful to know a bit more about how you approach Concept Reference questions and what specifically seems to give you trouble with them.

Generally speaking, for Concept Reference questions you need to have a strong sense of the structure of your passage so that you know exactly where to go back to in the passage to find the answer to the question. You should go back to the passage to find the answer because, even if you've got a great memory, the LSAT makers are really great at writing very tempting incorrect answers. Go back and find the evidence that proves your answer choice is correct and careful for answer choices that are familiar but have changed up the wording such that they are not directly supported by the information in the passage.

So where do you think you're getting tripped up with the Concept Reference questions? Do you have a strong enough sense of the structure of your passages (including what type of information is in each paragraph and what is the purpose of each paragraph in the passage as a whole)? Do you consistently go back to the passage to prephrase and find direct support for answer choices? Are you tough on the wording of the answer choices to make sure they are statements you can actually prove with the statements in the passage?

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

This is helpful! I tried some RC passages to try to understand where I was getting tripped up, and I realized in my Blind Reviews that I had been going back to look at the passage for the specific reference questions but not concept reference questions. I was relying on memory and my outline alone. I've been going back with this method and in the past day and a half I've gone from -9/10 to -4. I'll keep practicing! Thank you so much.