Chapter 7. Weaken Qs P265

[hrhyoo]

Hi Powerscore,

I am having a hard time understanding what it means to attack a necessary condition to weaken an argument. I thought necessary conditions can occur whether or not sufficient conditions are triggered, but when SC is triggered, then NC should occur. So by negating the NC, are we looking for whether the SC is also negated (contrapositive)? I am so confused... What does it mean to "attack" the NC?

For me, WKN Qs tend to be more time-consuming than STN Qs because I have to keep reminding myself the opposite of the conclusion needs to happen with the correct answer which is an extra step (making the logical opposite of the conclusion) compared to STN Qs. Is this usually what happens with others as well?

With less than 3 weeks left, I am starting to feel the pressure and began doubting whether my study plan is the right one. I feel like I should be taking more PTs than studying the Q-types that I have difficulties with. Is it too late to improve? My biggest concern is with time. I am not a fast reader, actually more of careful and slow reader and most of the time, I cannot finish the LR sections. I miss about 4~5 questions at the end because I don't get to them and miss 2~4 questions I tried wrong. I need to reduce this to about -5 to even get a chance to be around my target score. With about 18 days to the exam, what can I do to improve as much as possible?

Your help is much appreciate and Merry Christmas!

Hanna

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Hanna,

I added some thoughts below!

I am having a hard time understanding what it means to attack a necessary condition to weaken an argument. I thought necessary conditions can occur whether or not sufficient conditions are triggered, but when SC is triggered, then NC should occur. So by negating the NC, are we looking for whether the SC is also negated (contrapositive)? I am so confused... What does it mean to "attack" the NC?

In this case (page 270 in the 2020 edition, by the way), the entire conclusion is a conditional statement. As stated in the introduction to the problem (page 269 in the 2020 edition, should be 264 for you), "To attack a conditional
statement you must show that the necessary condition is not actually necessary for the sufficient condition to occur." That's what is being reference din the explanation to the correct answer choice. To undermine a conditional statement, you show that the sufficient condition can occur without the supposed necessary condition occurring. Here's a basic example:

• Conclusion: To get into Harvard, one must be smart.
  Weaken answer: Jim isn't smart but Harvard let him in because he's rich and he made a big donation.

For me, WKN Qs tend to be more time-consuming than STN Qs because I have to keep reminding myself the opposite of the conclusion needs to happen with the correct answer which is an extra step (making the logical opposite of the conclusion) compared to STN Qs. Is this usually what happens with others as well?

Hmm, I wouldn't say it's the "opposite of the conclusion" that needs to happen (although that certainly is one way it happens). I moreso see it as "something different" happens.

It may be that you are overthinking this here. Most people find Weaken the easier type because they are used to arguing with others. Get into a fight with Mom? You're trying to weaken what she says? Argue with a significant other? You're weakening. Complain to a company representative? Often it involves weakening their response. So, this is a process you've done your whole life—it shouldn't require "extra" steps in thinking, if that makes sense.

With less than 3 weeks left, I am starting to feel the pressure and began doubting whether my study plan is the right one. I feel like I should be taking more PTs than studying the Q-types that I have difficulties with. Is it too late to improve? My biggest concern is with time. I am not a fast reader, actually more of careful and slow reader and most of the time, I cannot finish the LR sections. I miss about 4~5 questions at the end because I don't get to them and miss 2~4 questions I tried wrong. I need to reduce this to about -5 to even get a chance to be around my target score. With about 18 days to the exam, what can I do to improve as much as possible?

If you have concerns over doing more questions, by all means start doing more questions! The thing you want is balance: to know what you are doing and to be able to do it quickly. Studying question types is learning how to use the tools, and taking tests is learning to do it fast. I've posted this analogy before and it applies here:

• Sometimes I analogize to improving scores on the LSAT to digging a mile-long trench—how easy it will be depends on the tools you have at your disposal. If you don't know what you are doing or don't have a good methods, it's almost like you are trying to dig a mile-long trench with a fork. If you are working hard on doing all these PTs, but your grasp of the tools isn't strong yet, you then are working way harder than you need to be and improving is slow and tough. If you study strategies and your process, you can get better tools. It's as if you upgrade your fork to a shovel, and then digging that long trench with a shovel is a lot easier. Eventually you hope to be good enough with the methods and techniques so that you are digging that same trench with a backhoe.

If you feel like it's time to move on to doing more questions, then trust yourself and do that. There is definitely still time to improve!


Happy holidays to you too!