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Logical Reasoning: Approach, Pacing, and the Current Format

The section as a machine: the four-section format, the 120-180 scale, prephrasing, answers that are true but wrong, and 35 minutes of budget.

9 topics · 33 questions

Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.

The Current Four-Section Format

  1. How it worksHow do four 35-minute sections divide into two scored Logical Reasoning, one Reading Comprehension, and one unscored?
  2. How it worksWalk me through why Analytical Reasoning left the LSAT after June 2024 and what took its place.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't the unscored variable section something you can pick out while you are taking the test?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens to your score when you guess on every question you never reached?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A test taker reaches question 21 of a 25-question Logical Reasoning section with 67 seconds left and cannot read the remaining stimuli. Which one of the following is the best account of what she should do?

The 120-180 Scale and the Raw Score Conversion

  1. How it worksHow does a conversion curve carry a raw count of right answers onto the reported LSAT scale?
  2. Worked exampleShow me why one more correct answer moves a 150 much further than it moves a 178.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't there any deduction at all for an answer you got wrong?
  4. Going furtherWhat does a percentile rank tell you that the scaled score by itself does not?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A test taker answers 64 of the roughly 78 scored questions on her form correctly and leaves 11 questions blank. Which one of the following is true of how that performance is scored?

LSAC's Published Abilities Versus the Prep-Industry Type Names

  1. How it worksHow do the ten abilities LSAC publishes map onto the type labels every prep book sells?
  2. Worked exampleShow me which published ability a question asking for a necessary assumption is really measuring.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't memorizing twenty type labels a substitute for reading the stem carefully?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A prep book lists 21 question types, among them 'Necessary Assumption' and 'Parallel Flaw'. LSAC's own published material lists about 11 abilities instead, among them detecting assumptions and identifying flaws. Which one of the following best describes the relation between the two lists?

Reading the Question Stem First or Last

  1. How it worksHow does reading the stem first turn a passive read into a search with a target?
  2. Common mistakeWhy doesn't stem-first reading help on a must-be-true item the way it helps on a flaw item?
  3. Going furtherWhat changes about that trade-off when a stimulus runs six lines instead of two?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A stimulus of about 78 words argues that a town's 15 bus routes should be cut, and the stem asks which answer describes a flaw in that argument. What does reading the stem before the stimulus buy the test taker?

Prephrasing the Answer

  1. How it worksHow does a prephrase act as a filter that the wrong choices fail the instant they touch it?
  2. Worked exampleShow me a prephrase for 'The lake froze, so the temperature dropped below zero' before any choices appear.
  3. Going furtherWhat do you do when no answer choice resembles your prephrase at all?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't a prephrase that misses the credited answer a wasted step?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Stimulus: The lake froze on 7 of the past 24 nights, so the temperature fell below zero on each of those nights. The stem asks what the argument assumes. Which one of the following is the best prephrase to hold before reading any answer choice?

Why an Answer Can Be True and Still Be Wrong

  1. How it worksHow does a choice that is true but irrelevant get built to look exactly like the credited one?
  2. Worked exampleShow me a true statement that still fails to weaken 'The drug cures flu, since trial patients recovered.'
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't outside knowledge about the topic ever a reason to pick a choice?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Argument: The drug cures influenza, since 87 percent of the 209 patients in the trial recovered within 8 days. Which one of the following, even if true, would do least to weaken that argument?

Answering on the Information Given

  1. How it worksHow do you hold a premise as true for ninety seconds without ever agreeing with it?
  2. Worked exampleShow me how to evaluate 'All politicians lie, so this one lied' without disputing the first claim.
  3. Going furtherWhat changes when a stimulus reports somebody else's opinion rather than asserting a fact?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't a premise ever the thing you are allowed to attack on a weaken question?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Stimulus: All 12 members of the council lie. Vasquez is one of the 12. So Vasquez has lied. A test taker believes the first sentence is false. How should she evaluate the argument?

Pacing: 35 Minutes Across About 25 Questions

  1. How it worksHow does an 85-second average per question turn into a real plan across a 35-minute section?
  2. Worked exampleShow me a budget that spends 60 seconds on early questions to buy two minutes for late ones.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't finishing every question the same thing as maximizing your score?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens to your pace when you skip and flag instead of grinding on a stuck question?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A Logical Reasoning section runs 35 minutes and holds 25 questions, and a test taker spends 195 seconds on the first question. Which one of the following best describes what the average pace means for her?

Strategy Across Two Scored Logical Reasoning Sections

  1. How it worksHow does one skill carrying two thirds of the scored test reshape an entire study plan?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't the second Logical Reasoning section built to be harder than the first?
  3. Going furtherWhat changes about stamina when three of your four sections are argument-heavy?
  4. Ties togetherHow does mastering argument structure pay off again inside Reading Comprehension?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A scored LSAT form holds two Logical Reasoning sections of about 25 questions each and one Reading Comprehension section of about 27. What does that division mean for how a student should divide 189 hours of study?

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