- Fri Jun 23, 2017 4:35 pm
#36277
In short, yes! With practice, you will get better at knowing what type of question you are being asked. Are you told to accept everything in the stimulus as true? Does it mention undermining or weakening? Ask about a flaw? Does it use the word "if", as in "if true" or "if assumed"? Does it talk about resolving or explaining something? The use of language, while it varies and the authors are always looking for new ways to dazzle and confuse us, is your key to determining what they want you to do with, or to, the stimulus.
If it helps you any, you should know that not only are you not alone, but that sometimes the authors have found ways to ask questions that have even us LSAT-gurus arguing about what type of question we are looking at! Several of us recently engaged in a spirited (and ultimately valuable and exciting) discussion about whether a certain question stem was asking about an assumption of the argument of a justification of the conclusion. On a recent test, there was one stem that I am still scratching my head over that seemed sort of like a hybrid between a strengthen and a must be true!
Ultimately, you want to let go of trying to label the question stem, especially when that label is going to get in your way. Ask not what the question type is, but what the question requires you to do. Focus on the goal of the question, rather than its name, and you'll be better off in the long run. This is the same advice I give about Flaw in the Reasoning questions - it's not about being able to label it as a Straw Man or a Lack of Evidence Flaw or an Exceptional Case, but about learning what those things really mean and how to know them and describe them when you see them, without worrying about slapping a label on them. Labels are a shortcut to understanding, but they are no substitute for actual understanding.
Practice, practice, practice! You'll get better at knowing what to do, whether or not you get better at labeling the types (although that will happen, too). Good luck!
Adam M. Tyson
PowerScore LSAT, GRE, ACT and SAT Instructor
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https://twitter.com/LSATadam