Logical Reasoning Stimulus

[Ssouki]

How many times does Powerscore recommend reading the stimilus in a single logical reasoning question? I read that the 1st primary objective is to read the stimulus for the 1st time to examine if it's an argument or a set of facts, then 4th is to closely read and understand what the author said. So does that mean that we have to read every stimulus twice?

Thanks for the anticipated help!

[Alex Bodaken]

Ssouki,

Great question! PowerScore recommends that you start by reading the stimulus closely...Primary Objective #4, which you note, is simply a reminder that when we read *any part* of the question (stimulus, question stem, or answer choices) we must read carefully and know what the author has said. It is not, necessarily, a requirement to go back and re-read the stimulus.

That being said, what you do is going to depend to some degree on the question. On an "easy" question, it may be sufficient to read the stimulus, read the question stem, prephrase an answer, go through the answer choices and confidently select one answer. But of course, some questions on the LSAT are not so easy so for tougher ones you may have to read the stimulus a couple of times to fully understand what the author says. That's the key: without understanding the stimulus, there's no hope of correctly selecting the right answer choice...so if you need to go back and re-read, do it! But it's not necessarily a requirement for every question.

One last thing: some test-prep companies will recommend reading the answer choices before the stimulus so you can have an idea of what to look for. We don't agree - what we find is that students who do that end up reading the answer choices to start ,reading the stimulus and question stem, and then having to re-read the answer choices because it simply isn't possible to remember them that long. So start with the stimulus, work your way down, and use the Primary Objectives to help!

Hope this helps!
Alex

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Ssouki,

Good question! Let me first agree with what Alex said above, and add this guideline of sorts: your reading of the stimulus should be good enough that you can accurately paraphrase what they said (in other words, be able to put it into your own words). If you don't have a strong handle on what they said, re-read the part (or parts) of the stimulus that was not clear. For many stimuli that means a single reading is good enough (although feel free to glance back at the stimulus as needed when attacking the answer choices), but there will also be occasions where you have to stop and analyze a sentence or two more closely to make sure you understood what was said. What Alex said here is right on: "That's the key: without understanding the stimulus, there's no hope of correctly selecting the right answer choice...so if you need to go back and re-read, do it! But it's not necessarily a requirement for every question."

It takes a while to get comfortable with their phrasing and language, but the good news is that the more questions you do, the easier it gets to understand what they are trying to say. You are learning a new language here in many respects, and that takes a bit of work but it will get easier! For now, re and re-read until what they said was clear.

Thanks!

[Ssouki]

That was very helpful! Thank you so much Alex and Dave!