LSAT Logical Reasoning Weaken Questions

[anikareza]

Hi Dave and Jon,

I've been studying for the LSAT for quite some time and am STILL struggling with weaken questions. I'm not sure why -- I understand the concept of weaken questions (isolate and attack the conclusion), but for some reason I still manage to miss a fair amount of them on prep tests. I have the LR Bible and have read through the weaken question section as well. I can usually rule out 2-3 absolute wrong answers but struggle with picking between the last 2-3. Do you have any general advice on what to do? I know this is very vague!

Let me know, thanks!

[Brook Miscoski]

Anika,

First, I would make sure that you are correctly isolating the conclusion--make sure you haven't mis-identified it. Second, I would read the three contenders closely and for relevance and effect. If you are correctly identifying the conclusion and are correctly eliminating 2 choices, you most likely need to tighten up on your expectations for scope and effect in your final pass. You should go over questions you missed and look for the aspects of wrong answer choices (out of your 3 contenders) that challenge their relevance and scope. In doing that, you will probably find that you need to go to the passage and be more demanding with your understanding of the conclusion you are attacking (you may be identifying it correctly but not interpreting it precisely).