Flaw and Assumption Questions

[lsatfighter]

I just have 2 general questions.

Firstly, I know that an appeal to improper authority is considered a flaw in reasoning, but is an appeal to a proper authority ever considered a flaw in reasoning?

Secondly, I'm normally good at Assumption questions. However, I have noticed that on recent LSATs, the Assumption questions seem to have gotten harder, but maybe it's just me. Even when you apply the Assumption Negation technique, it's not always easy to discern which answer is correct. Such questions are challenging under timed conditions, but later on when I review them untimed, I'm normally able to find the right answer. Do you have any advice on how to tackle Assumption questions on recent LSATs, especially under timed conditions?

Thank you very much for your time, I appreciate it.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi LSATfighter!

some thoughts for you:

I just have 2 general questions.

Firstly, I know that an appeal to improper authority is considered a flaw in reasoning, but is an appeal to a proper authority ever considered a flaw in reasoning?

Generally it's ok to cite a relevant authority on a topic, and you'd only run into trouble if you cited the wrong portions or misuses the information in some way. However, at that point the flaw wouldn't be citing an authority, it would be related to how it was cited.

Secondly, I'm normally good at Assumption questions. However, I have noticed that on recent LSATs, the Assumption questions seem to have gotten harder, but maybe it's just me. Even when you apply the Assumption Negation technique, it's not always easy to discern which answer is correct. Such questions are challenging under timed conditions, but later on when I review them untimed, I'm normally able to find the right answer. Do you have any advice on how to tackle Assumption questions on recent LSATs, especially under timed conditions?

Thank you very much for your time, I appreciate it.

We did a podcast on Assumption questions recently that might help! It's Episode 11 at http://www.powerscore.com/lsat/podcast/.

Thanks!