LSAT

LSAT Basics

Logical Reasoning

Logic Games (analytical reasoning)

Vocab

School Quick Facts

100

What does LSAT stand for

Law School Admissions Test

100

Laird: Pure research provides us with new technologies that contribute to saving lives. Even more worthwhile than this, however, is its role in expanding our knowledge and providing new, unexplored ideas.

Kim: Your priorities are mistaken. Saving lives is what counts most of all. Without pure research, medicine would not be as advanced as it is.

Laird and Kim disagree on whether pure research

derives its significance in part from its providing new technologies
expands the boundaries of our knowledge of medicine
should have the saving of human lives as an important goal
has its most valuable achievements in medical applications
has any value apart from its role in providing new technologies to save lives

Answer: D

Explanation for Question 1

This question asks you to identify the point on which Laird and Kim disagree with respect to pure research. Laird identifies two contributions of pure research: its medical applications (“technologies that contribute to saving lives”) and its role in expanding knowledge and providing new ideas. Of these, Laird considers the second contribution to be more worthwhile. Kim, on the other hand, maintains that “Saving lives is what counts most of all.” Since pure research saves lives through medical applications, Kim disagrees with Laird about whether pure research has its most valuable achievements in medical applications. The correct response, therefore, is (D).

100

A school teacher must schedule seven sessions, which are abbreviated M, N, O, P, S, T, and U, during a day. Seven different consecutive time periods are available for the sessions, and are numbered one through seven in the order that they occur. Only one session can be schedules for each period. The assignment of the sessions to the periods is subject to the following restrictions:
M and O must occupy consecutive periods.
M must be scheduled for an earlier period than U.
O must be scheduled for a later period than S.
If S does not occupy the fourth period, then P must occupy the fourth period.
U and T cannot occupy consecutively numbered periods.

1) Which of the following could be a possible list of the sessions in the order that they are scheduled during the day?

MOPSTNU
NTMSOUP
SMOPTNU
SOMPUTN
STOMPUN

Answer: C

To answer this question, simply compare each rule to the answer choices, and cross off any choice that violates the rule. Rule #1 is violated by answer choice B, so B cannot be correct. Rule #3 is violated by answer choice A, so A cannot be correct. Rule #4 is violated by answer choice E, so E cannot be correct. Rule #5 is violated by answer choice D, so D cannot be correct. This leaves only answer choice C, which must be the correct answer.

100

Catalyst

something that causes an important event to happen
EX) “The economic collapse was the catalyst for worldwide political unrest.”

100

What is the average LSAT Score and GPA for: NYU

LSAT:169

GPA:3.78

200

Name all sections included in the STANDARD LSAT

5 Sections:

- 2 Logical Reasoning

- Logic Games

- Reading Comprehension

- Unscored random

(Writing section also administered at the end)

200

Executive: We recently ran a set of advertisements in the print version of a travel magazine and on that magazine’s website. We were unable to get any direct information about consumer response to the print ads. However, we found that consumer response to the ads on the website was much more limited than is typical for website ads. We concluded that consumer response to the print ads was probably below par as well.

The executive’s reasoning does which one of the following?

bases a prediction of the intensity of a phenomenon on information about the intensity of that phenomenon’s cause
uses information about the typical frequency of events of a general kind to draw a conclusion about the probability of a particular event of that kind
infers a statistical generalization from claims about a large number of specific instances
uses a case in which direct evidence is available to draw a conclusion about an analogous case in which direct evidence is unavailable
bases a prediction about future events on facts about recent comparable events

Answer: D

Explanation for Question 2

This question asks you to identify how the executive’s reasoning proceeds. The ads discussed by the executive appeared in two places—in a magazine and on the magazine’s website. Some information is available concerning the effect of the website ads on consumers, but no consumer response information is available about the print ads. The executive’s remarks suggest that the ads that appeared in print and on the website were basically the same, or very similar. The executive reasoned that information about the effect of the website ads could be used as evidence for an inference about how the print ads likely performed. The executive thus used the analogy between the print ads and the website ads to infer something about the print ads. (D), therefore, is the correct response.

200

- If session M is assigned to the third period, then which of the following must be true?

N is assigned to the sixth period.
O is assigned to the first period.
S is assigned to the fourth period.
T is assigned to the fifth period.
U is assigned to the seventh period.

Answer: A

Begin by drawing seven dashes and placing M on the third dash. We know that O must be next to M, and cannot go into period 4, since period 4 must be either S or P. Thus O must be placed in period 2 and S must be placed in period 1. This will leave P to be placed in period 4. Since U and T cannot be in consecutive periods, they will need to go into spots 5 and 7 in either order, leaving N for period 6.

200

Subsidiary

less important than but related or supplementary to.
For example: Subsidiary point to the main conclusion of the argument.

200

What is the average LSAT Score and GPA for: Maurer

LSAT:161

GPA:3.76

300

How long is 1 section on the LSAT

35 mins per section

300

During the construction of the Quebec Bridge in 1907, the bridge’s designer, Theodore Cooper, received word that the suspended span being built out from the bridge’s cantilever was deflecting downward by a fraction of an inch (2.54 centimeters). Before he could telegraph to freeze the project, the whole cantilever arm broke off and plunged, along with seven dozen workers, into the St. Lawrence River. It was the worst bridge construction disaster in history. As a direct result of the inquiry that followed, the engineering “rules of thumb” by which thousands of bridges had been built around the world went down with the Quebec Bridge. Twentieth-century bridge engineers would thereafter depend on far more rigorous applications of mathematical analysis.

Which one of the following statements can be properly inferred from the passage?

Bridges built before about 1907 were built without thorough mathematical analysis and, therefore, were unsafe for the public to use.
Cooper’s absence from the Quebec Bridge construction site resulted in the breaking off of the cantilever.
Nineteenth-century bridge engineers relied on their rules of thumb because analytical methods were inadequate to solve their design problems.
Only a more rigorous application of mathematical analysis to the design of the Quebec Bridge could have prevented its collapse.
Prior to 1907 the mathematical analysis incorporated in engineering rules of thumb was insufficient to completely assure the safety of bridges under construction.

Answer: E

The question asks you to identify the response that can be properly inferred from the passage. The passage indicates that the Quebec Bridge disaster in 1907 and the inquiry that followed caused the engineering “rules of thumb” used in construction of thousands of bridges to be abandoned. Since the Quebec Bridge disaster in 1907 prompted this abandonment, it can be inferred that these were the rules of thumb under which the Quebec Bridge was being built when it collapsed and that these were the rules of thumb used in bridge building before 1907. Further, since the Quebec Bridge collapsed while under construction and the rules of thumb being used were abandoned as a result, it can be inferred that the rules of thumb used in building the Quebec Bridge and bridges prior to 1907 were insufficient to completely assure the safety of bridges under construction. Finally, since the alternative that was adopted in place of the old engineering rules of thumb was to “depend on far more rigorous applications of mathematical analysis,” it can be inferred that the mathematical analysis incorporated in the engineering rules of thumb used prior to 1907 made them insufficient to completely assure the safety of bridges under construction. Thus, (E) is the correct response.

300

- Which of the following could be true?

M is assigned to the first period.
O is assigned to the fifth period.
S is assigned to the seventh period.
T is assigned to the sixth period.
U is assigned to the third period.

Answer: B

Choice A is incorrect because S must be scheduled before M. Choice C is incorrect because S must be scheduled before M, O and U. Choice D is incorrect because if T is placed in 6, there will be no valid space left for U. Choice E in incorrect because S, M and O must be scheduled before U.

300

Quackery

dishonest practices and claims to have special knowledge and skill in some field, typically medicine.

300

What is the average LSAT Score and GPA for: Columbia

LSAT:171

GPA: 3.7

400

Name all the sections included in the FLEX LSAT

Reading Comprehension

Logical Reasoning

Logic Games

(Writing Sample)

400

Political scientist: As a political system, democracy does not promote political freedom. There are historical examples of democracies that ultimately resulted in some of the most oppressive societies. Likewise, there have been enlightened despotisms and oligarchies that have provided a remarkable level of political freedom to their subjects.

The reasoning in the political scientist’s argument is flawed because it

confuses the conditions necessary for political freedom with the conditions sufficient to bring it about
fails to consider that a substantial increase in the level of political freedom might cause a society to become more democratic
appeals to historical examples that are irrelevant to the causal claim being made
overlooks the possibility that democracy promotes political freedom without being necessary or sufficient by itself to produce it
bases its historical case on a personal point of view

Answer: D

This question asks you to identify how the reasoning in the political scientist’s argument is flawed. The argument bases its conclusion—that democracy does not promote political freedom—on two sets of historical examples. The first set of examples demonstrates that democracy is not sufficient for political freedom, and the second set demonstrates that democracy is not necessary for political freedom. But it does not follow from these examples that democracy does not promote political freedom. Even if democracy is not, by itself, sufficient for political freedom, it can still promote political freedom by contributing to it in most instances. Even if democracy is not necessary for political freedom, it can still be true that democracy is something that promotes political freedom wherever it is found. Thus, (D) is the correct response.

400

- If N is assigned to the third period, then each of the following could be true EXCEPT:

M is assigned to the fifth period.
O is assigned to the sixth period.
P is assigned to the fourth period.
U is assigned to the sixth period.
U is assigned to the sixth period.

Answer: E

Begin by drawing seven dashes and placing N on the third dash. We know that M and O will need to go on the fifth and sixth dashes. (They cannot occupy the fourth period, since that period must be reserved for either S or P. Neither can they occupy the sixth and seventh periods, since U must be scheduled after them. They also cannot be scheduled for the first and second periods, since S must be scheduled before them.) Since M and O must be scheduled – in either order – for the fifth and sixth periods, U will have to be scheduled for the seventh period. Thus, U cannot be scheduled for the sixth period.

400

Admonish

warn or reprimand someone firmly.

advise or urge (someone) earnestly.

warn (someone) of something to be avoided.

400

What is the average LSAT Score and GPA for: McKinnley

LSAT:154

GPA:3.45

500

Name 5 LSAT Prep programs/companies

Answer can be any 5 credible sources

EX)

- 7Sage

- Khan Academy (free)

- Princeton

-Kaplan

-Blueprint

- LsatMax

500

The supernova event of 1987 is interesting in that there is still no evidence of the neutron star that current theory says should have remained after a supernova of that size. This is in spite of the fact that many of the most sensitive instruments ever developed have searched for the tell-tale pulse of radiation that neutron stars emit. Thus, current theory is wrong in claiming that supernovas of a certain size always produce neutron stars.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

Most supernova remnants that astronomers have detected have a neutron star nearby.
Sensitive astronomical instruments have detected neutron stars much farther away than the location of the 1987 supernova.
The supernova of 1987 was the first that scientists were able to observe in progress.
Several important features of the 1987 supernova are correctly predicted by the current theory.
Some neutron stars are known to have come into existence by a cause other than a supernova explosion.

Answer: B

Explanation for Question 4

This question asks you to identify the response that most strengthens the argument. The argument concludes that “current theory is wrong in claiming that supernovas of a certain size always produce neutron stars” based on the observation that no evidence has been found of a neutron star left behind by the supernova event of 1987. However, the failure to find evidence of the predicted neutron star does not necessarily indicate that such evidence does not exist. It may instead indicate that the instruments used to search for the evidence are not powerful enough to detect a neutron star in the area where the 1987 supernova event occurred. The argument would thus be strengthened if there was evidence that the search instruments used would in fact be capable of finding the predicted neutron star if that star existed.

Response (B) provides such evidence. If “sensitive astronomical instruments have detected neutron stars much farther away than the location of the 1987 supernova,” then it is less likely that the predicted neutron star is outside the detection range of “the most sensitive instruments ever developed.” Thus, (B) is the correct response.

500

- If T is assigned to the seventh period, then which of the following must be assigned to the fifth period?

Answer: E

Begin by drawing seven dashes and placing T on the seventh dash. If T is the seventh period, S cannot be the fourth period, because there would not be enough room to schedule M, O, and U after S but before T. Thus, P must be the fourth period. The only periods now available to M and O are second and third. (They cannot occupy the fifth and sixth periods, since there would be no room to place U, and they also cannot be scheduled for the first and second periods, since S must be scheduled before them.) This will force S into the first period. Since U and T cannot occupy consecutive periods, U must be in period 5, the only remaining open period that is not consecutive with T’s period.

500

Ad Hominem

in which the author attacks her opponents personal credibility rather than the substance of the opponents argument

500

What is the average LSAT Score and GPA for: University of Michigan

LSAT:168

GPA:3.76