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Disclaimer I:
Apparently, LSAC regulations dictate that I refrain from dispelling any details regarding Saturday’s hateful exam (crazy, right?), so I am limiting my discussion to generalities and I would advise those who post, if and when you do, to follow suit and do the same.

The Morning Before

For me, getting through the morning before the LSAT was the worst part of the exam. For those taking the LSAT in Pasadena, CA the weather decided to match the excitement and so it rained cats and dogs. Seriously, I could barely see the car in front of me swerving through the 110 freeway. And of course, since it was the day of the LSAT—the exam that made you give up dieting, facebooking, quitting smoking, The Big Bang Theory (or whatever inferior show it is that you watch); the exam that determines the rest of your life—everything felt personal, and a small part of me (maybe a big part of me) wanted to accidentally intentionally ram my Toyota into the side of the road and have an awesome excuse for missing the LSAT that I’d describe as a great tragedy in my addendum. Though I managed to squish the urge and arrive at the test center safe and sound, the raindrops felt uncannily like hail as I walked in, and everyone I saw looked infinitely smarter and taller, better looking and better prepared than me. By this time, I had to face the fact that I was nervous as hell and tell myself to get an effing grip.
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It is time, my friends. Time, that is, for another Logical Reasoning question. As you may be aware, I have been breaking down a series of Logical Reasoning questions from the June LSAT. Hopefully these posts have been helpful in showing you the way that you need to approach different types of LR questions. (The subject matter is slightly altered so as not to run afoul of any licensing rules with the fine folks over at LSAC).

Well, now it is time for a real bitch. In my humble opinion, this is one of the hardest questions from the June test.

June 2009, LR2, #14

First of all, it is a hard question type. Second, it is a difficult stimulus to diagram and visualize. Third, the answer choices talk about a food company named Lester’s, which might be the most unfortunate name for a food company ever (you know, because it rhymes with molester and all, and who wants to buy milk from someone with a name like that).

But let’s put all of that aside and give it a shot. I am going to do this one with you in real time to illustrate how you can get through a tough question like this.

First, read the prompt and figure out what type of question you are dealing with.

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So I have been slacking on my Logical Reasoning breakdowns, and I apologize. I was temporarily distracted, first by money and then by a problem I had been noting with my students. But now we are back up and running.

If you missed my first two posts on Logical Reasoning questions from the June 2009 LSAT, you can check them out here.

1. Speed Limits
2. Sea Anemones

So onward and forward. When I was reviewing the June test, the following question struck me as being exceptionally difficult. We will do this one a little differently. I am going to show you the whole question and the answer choices so you actually get a chance to check it out and try to do it yourself. When you are finished, read on and we will discuss. Here you go, enjoy.

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A student came up to me the other day with a perplexing problem. He had improved to a point where he was reasonably adept at Logical Reasoning problems, but he felt that he could not improve past a certain plateau. He had followed all of my advice and could recite the methods that we teach backward and forward. And when he got a question wrong, he could understand why he got it wrong and why the correct answer was correct, but he did not feel he was learning anything from his mistakes.

So then I asked him to show me an example of a question that he got wrong. When he did so, I wanted to beat him senseless. So I did. Well, not really—at least not physically. The question was a form of argument that we had covered extensively in class, but it had surfaced in a type of question that didn’t normally contain that kind of argument.

And then it hit me. Everyone teaches question types in Logical Reasoning. Students are able to improve dramatically on the test by noticing patterns within the different question types. The LSAT can be very daunting when you first stumble upon it in a drunken haze because it appears that it is asking you to do a ton of different things. And then in come LSAT companies who show you that that is not really the case. Every LSAT company in existence teaches students that there are a small number of question types that occur frequently in each Logical Reasoning section. And each company claims to have discovered the ultimate approach to chopping up the section into these categories (Blueprint’s is best, by the way).

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Here we go again. As I stated in my last post, I am walking through some of the more challenging and important Logical Reasoning questions from the June 2009 LSAT. Last time we explored a causal question regarding the impact of harsh speed limits on accident rates. Now we dive into a different subject matter and a different question type. I chose this question because it is a perfect illustration of a question that can be very frustrating for students. However, once you know how to approach a question like this, you can quickly bring it to its knees.

So here we go. (Note: once again, the question has been slightly altered due to licensing issues.)

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I got my hands on the June 2009 test pretty recently. As that is the most recent LSAT that anyone will see before the upcoming September exam, there are always important lessons to be learned from such a recent test. As for me, I am taking the September test that will be my first real administered LSAT since 2006. When you teach the LSAT for a living, you tend to familiarize yourself with all of the questions. There is no such thing as an LSAT question that I have not seen. So basically I have no way to study. (I know; it’s a big problem). Except, of course, for the June test. So I was thrilled at the opportunity to take a new LSAT. Yes, I am aware that this is slightly lamer than owning a ShamWow, subscribing to eHarmony, or dotting an i with a heart.

As I was working through the Logical Reasoning on the exam, I inevitably started searching for teaching points as much as correct answer choices. So I decided that I would share some of the valuable lessons that can be easily uncovered in the June test. I am going to write a sequence of blog entries that will break down five or so Logical Reasoning questions from the June 2009 LSAT. (You will be able to purchase the entire test from LSAC some time in July.)

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