Hi Pacer,
Sure, let's see if we can help here. The best way to think about an Evaluate question is that you are trying to come up with the question that you can ask that will help you determine how good or bad the argument is. It's kind of like trying to find the pivotal issue within what the author said.
For example, consider an argument where someone said, "I just got an 70 on the test, so I failed." This argument—like all Evaluate arguments—has a hole in it. The correct answer choice will be the one that helps reveal that hole. So, what questions could we ask that might help show what the problem is here? Well, we could ask about how the rest of the class did (something like "what was the average score of all other students?") or we could ask about the score scale itself (this is weaker, but the general idea is there: "Was 70 the highest possible score on the exam?" If it was 70, the person didn't fail
). Basically, you are trying to ask a question or come up with an information request that will tell you how good the argument is (or isn't). And the right question will be good enough so that the answer always tells you if the argument is strong or weak.
That last point is the crux, too, because the argument isn't isn't proven strong or weak by the correct answer choice; the correct answer choice just asks the question that—when answered—will show you whether the argument is strong or weak. That's the tricky part!
Because of that, what's probably equally challenging is the Variance Test, which is really just a way of determining how pivotal the issue raised in the answer choice is. The Variance Test helps you see whether that question can lead to showing if the argument is strong or weak.
The good news is that this is a relatively rare question type, and there's a decent chance you won't even see one on your LSAT
Ok, that's a start, so please let me know if that helps. Thanks!
