Struggling on author's position/stance questions

[godingtherese@gmail.com]

Hey there!

I've found that I am consistently missing LR and RC questions that ask the reader to choose a two-word (i.e. implicit acceptance) that best describes the author's position on a topic.

(Example: December 2005 Digital RC 1 is a question that I got wrong and really struggled between A and B)

I think a better understand of LSAT vocabulary typically used in ACs for these question types could help me.

Can anyone point me to a good resource/specific lesson/or questions that I can better familiarize myself?

[Adam Tyson]

We get asked this question frequently, godingtherese, so you're not alone! I find that many of my students come up against challenging vocabulary on the LSAT for a variety of reasons, and while the test is not directly about vocab, the authors do assume that test-takers have a pretty extensive one along with the skills to determine definitions from context.

We have not, to my knowledge, published a vocabulary guide for the LSAT. Instead, we encourage every student to create their own by writing down every challenging word or phrase they encounter during their studies and then looking those up. I used to routinely tweet out an "LSAT Vocabulary Word of the Day," and now you have me thinking about starting that up again!

"Implicit acceptance" means that it is clear from the text that the author agrees with something, but they never came right out and said it. It is "implicit" (goes without saying) rather than "explicit" (stated unequivocally) that the author accepts the position. This is the kind of thing we pick up on while reading based on their word choices, and which helps us choose answers to questions about what the author thinks, feels, or believes, and what the overall tone of the passage is.

I suspect that there are apps and websites that are designed to help increase your vocabulary, with "word of the day" or other techniques, so look into those, too. We may not have exactly what you're looking for here, but I'm confident that you can find it, or create it, on your own!