LSAT For Dummies

Scott A. Hatch, JD, and Lisa Zimmer Hatch, MA, have helped thousands of students confront standardized tests with confidence and achieve success. They have coached paralegals and other legal professionals with live-lecture, online, DVD, and independent-study courses through more than 300 universities.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with the LSAT 5

Chapter 1: The L Team: The LSAT and Its Administrators 7 

Getting to Know the Enemy 8

Taking a Quick Look at the Types of Questions 9

Analytical reasoning — playing games with your head 9

Logical reasoning — putting your arguing skills to good use 10

Reading comprehension — concentrating and remembering what you read 10

The writing sample — jumping the final hurdle 11

You Gotta Score! 11

Registering for the LSAT 12

Preparing for the LSAT 13

What really helps 13

Practice makes perfect 14

What Have You Done for Me Lately? The LSAC 14

Creating and administering the LSAT 14

Aiding in law school applications 15

Providing other goods and services 15

Chapter 2: Test-Taking Basics: Setting Yourself Up for Success 17

Planning Your LSAT Test-Taking Tactics 17

Maximizing your chances 17

Taking the straight or the winding road 18

Taking the occasional break 19

To Guess or Not to Guess 20

The joy of statistics 20

Is Choice (B) really best? 20

Increase your odds: Eliminate the duds 20

Readying Yourself for Battle 20

What to bring 22

What to leave behind 22

Life after the LSAT: What to Do Now? 22

Yeah, that worked for me 22

Wait, I can do better than that! 23

Chapter 3: The Lowdown on Law School Admissions 25

Choosing a Law School 25

Where to go for information 25

Important considerations 26

Keeping ranking in mind 28

Filling Out All the Forms — Applying to Law School 29

Pick more than one 30

How admissions work 30

Don’t forget the money 32

Part 2: Analytical Reasoning: Following the Rules of the Logic Game 33

Chapter 4: Gaming the Analytical Reasoning Questions 35

Analyzing the Analytical Reasoning Section 35

Setting Yourself Up for Success Step by Step 36

Get the facts, decide between ordering and grouping, and set up your game board 36

Consider the rules and modify your game board 37

Answer the questions 40

Attending to Some Analytical Reasoning Do’s 44

Take time to develop your game board 44

Pick your battles 44

Remember that four wrongs make a right 44

Stay calm 45

Decide which problem to confront first 45

Maintain your perspective 45

Keep practicing 45

Chapter 5: Proper Placement: Analytical Reasoning Ordering Games 47

Spotting Ordering Games 47

Becoming Chairman of the (Game) Board 48

Putting together the game pieces 49

Drawing the box chart 49

Recording the rules 49

Analyzing the rules 52

Answering Ordering Questions 56

Substitute condition questions 56

Completely determined order questions 58

Ordering the Approach to an Advanced Game 59

Chapter 6: Type Casting: Grouping Games 63

Classifying Grouping Games 63

Following the Rules of Division 65

Target rules 65

Joining rules 66

If/then rules 67

Expanding the Grouping Game Board 68

Mastering Practice Grouping Games 69

An in/out grouping game 69

A more complex grouping game 72

Part 3: Logical Reasoning: Picking Apart an Argument 77

Chapter 7: Analyzing Arguments: The Basics of Logical Reasoning 79

What You Can Expect in the Logical Reasoning Sections 80

Taking a Systematic Approach 80

Reading the question first 81

Reading the argument 81

Formulating an answer 82

Reading the answers and eliminating the wrong ones 83

Making a Case: Essentials of Informal Logic 84

Fighting fair: The elements of an argument 84

Getting from point A to point B: Types of reasoning 84

Chapter 8: Conclusions, Inferences, Assumptions, and Flaws in Logical Reasoning Questions 87

Jumping to Logical Conclusions 88

Using Your Noggin to Make Inferences 89

Making Assumptions 91

Finding Flaws in an Argument 92

Chapter 9: Strengthening and Weakening Arguments 95

Understanding How These Questions Work 95

Affecting cause-and-effect arguments 96

Analyzing analogy arguments 97

Stabbing at statistical arguments 98

Build It Up: Strengthen/Support Questions 99

Tear It Down: Weakening Questions 100

A Twist: EXCEPT Questions 100

Chapter 10: Examining Other Logical Reasoning Question Types 103

Reconciling Discrepancies and Paradoxes 103

Looking for paradox questions 103

Perusing a paradox example 104

Finding Points of Agreement and Disagreement 105

Assessing points that intersect and divide 105

Analyzing an agreement/disagreement example 106

Reasoning by Pattern 107

Finding pattern-of-reasoning questions 107

Patterning a reasonable example 108

Exploring Arguments Based on Principles 110

Pinpointing principles questions 110

Parsing a principles example 110

Figuring Out an Argument’s Structure 111

Spotting structure questions 112

Tackling a structure-of-argument example 112

Knowing the Role Played by a Claim 113

Determining a claim’s purpose 113

Trying out the role of a claim example 114

Part 4: Reading Comprehension: Read ’Em but Don’t Weep 115

Chapter 11: Rites of Passage(s): Types of Reading Passages and Questions 117

Presenting Reading Passages 118

Experimenting with natural science passages 118

Observing social science passages 119

Entertaining a humanities passage 119

Laying down the law-related passages 120

Approaching Reading Questions 120

Identifying the question type 121

Eliminating answer choices 124

Dealing with exception questions 125

Chapter 12: Safe Landing: Mastering the Approach to Reading Comprehension 127

Reading Comprehension Strategy 127

Skimming the questions 128

To read or not to read 128

Pacing Yourself through the Passages 129

What to read for 129

Getting the main point 129

Absorbing the author’s tone 129

Forming the framework: The passage’s outline 130

Using the digital tools 130

Deciding whether to work in or out of order 131

Starting with the Questions 131

Giving Sample Passage 1 a Shot: Influenza Vaccination 133

Reading and highlighting or underlining 133

Thinking about the passage 134

Knocking down the questions 134

Conquering Sample Passage 2: Manifest Destiny 138

Answering questions and highlighting or underlining 138

Answering the questions — full speed ahead 139

Part 5: The Writing Sample: Penning a Persuasive Argument 143

Chapter 13: Pick a Side, Any Side: Responding to the Writing Sample Prompt 145

Picking a Side — No Ridin’ the Fence 146

Walking through a Practice Essay 146

Organizing your argument 146

One topic, two different essays 148

Chapter 14: Practice Writing Samples 151

Topic 1: Choosing a Law School 151

Sample answer: Choosing Law School A 152

Sample answer: Fighting for Law School B 152

Topic 2: The Sporting Goods Store 153

Sample answer: Use state funds 154

Sample answer: Don’t use state funds 154

Part 6: The Real Deal: Full-Length Practice LSATs 155

Chapter 15: Some Rainy-Day “Fun”: LSAT Practice Exam 1 157

Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 1 159

Section I: Analytical Reasoning 161

Section II: Logical Reasoning 166

Section III: Reading Comprehension 175

Section IV: Logical Reasoning 184

Writing Sample 193

Chapter 16: Practice Exam 1: Answers and Explanations 195

Section I: Analytical Reasoning 195

Section II: Logical Reasoning 208

Section III: Reading Comprehension 215

Section IV: Logical Reasoning 222

Answer Key for Practice Exam 1 230

Computing Your Score 231

Chapter 17: Perfecting with Practice: LSAT Practice Exam 2 233

Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 2 235

Section I: Logical Reasoning 237

Section II: Reading Comprehension 246

Section III: Logical Reasoning 256

Section IV: Analytical Reasoning 266

Writing Sample 270

Chapter 18: Practice Exam 2: Answers and Explanations 273

Section I: Logical Reasoning 273

Section II: Reading Comprehension 280

Section III: Logical Reasoning 287

Section IV: Analytical Reasoning 293

Answer Key for Practice Exam 2 306

Chapter 19: Even More “Fun”: LSAT Practice Exam 3 307

Answer Sheet for Practice Exam 3 309

Section I: Logical Reasoning 311

Section II: Reading Comprehension 320

Section III: Analytical Reasoning 329

Section IV: Logical Reasoning 333

Writing Sample 342

Chapter 20: Practice Exam 3: Answers and Explanations 345

Section I: Logical Reasoning 345

Section II: Reading Comprehension 354

Section III: Analytical Reasoning 362

Section IV: Logical Reasoning 374

Answer Key for Practice Exam 3 383

Part 7: The Part of Tens 385

Chapter 21: Ten (Plus One) Myths about the LSAT 387

The LSAT Doesn’t Have Anything to Do with Law School 387

You Can’t Study for the LSAT 388

You Must Take a Prep Course to Do Well on the LSAT 388

Some People Just Can’t Do Analytical Reasoning Problems 388

You Can Spot Difficult Questions Before You Work Them 388

B is the Best Letter to Guess 389

No One Reads the Writing Sample 389

Finishing a Section is Better Than Concentrating on Two-Thirds of It 389

A Great LSAT Score Guarantees Admission to a Great Law School 390

The LSAT is Used Only for Admissions Purposes 390

Your Score Won’t Improve if You Retake the LSAT 390

Chapter 22: Ten Kinds of Law You Can Practice 391

Business/Corporate 391

Criminal 391

Domestic Relations/Family Law 392

Employment/Labor 392

Intellectual Property 392

International 392

Personal Injury/Insurance Defense 393

Real Estate 393

Tax 394

Trusts and Estates/Probate 394

Index 395