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About the LSAT
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SPECIFIC QUESTION TYPES
Nearly all questions fall into 11 distinct types:
Macro Questions—cover general issues
1. Main idea
2. Purpose of the passage
3. Tone
4. Organization of the passage
5. Category of Writing (Advanced)
6. Identity of the author (Advanced)
Micro Questions--refer to specific elements of the essay
7. Detail of the passage
8. Definition of a term or phrase
9. Support for a premise – Proof and evidence
10. Function of part of the passage (Advanced)
Macro/Micro
11. Inference
HOW TO HANDLE THE MACRO QUESTIONS
The Five Questions are an effective means for answering macro questions because they enable you to focus on the essay's "big issues."
Question 1. What is the passage type?
Question 2. What is each paragraph about?
Question 3. What is the organization? (Create a mental roadmap.)
Question 4. What is the big idea?
Question 5. What is the author’s purpose?
As you read the passage, look for answers to the Five Questions. Once you've done this, you should be able to answer the macro questions without referring back to the passage. You will then have plenty of time for answering the micro questions. |
Some typical phrasings for Main Idea questions are:
What is the main point of the passage?
What argument is the author making?
The author is primarily concerned with advancing which of the following points?
What is the main idea?
Which of the following best summarizes the author’s argument?
Keep an eye out for words like main, general, summarize, and argument.
How to tackle them: If you follow the Five Steps strategy, you should easily be able to locate the main idea. Then, translate your conception of the main idea into something that matches one of the answer choices. Passages on the LSAT are relatively short. Therefore, the answer to a main idea question cannot be too general or too specific. Main ideas tend toward medium focus. If stuck, eliminate the options that are at the extremes of specificity: either very general or very detailed. This may leave you with one – probably, the right – answer; if it leaves you with more than one, you have still improved your chances of guessing correctly.
What is the main idea of the passage?
A) The Native Americans of Wichita have a long and rich cultural history.
B) Native Americans have traditions.
C) Chief Running Horse of the Wichita Native Americans enjoys the traditional New Year’s dance because he likes to watch his neighbor, Lone Tree, dance.
D) People have traditions.
E) The Native Americans of Wichita use dance in many of their traditions.
Now analyze the answer choices, looking for super-specific or super-general wording. Which choice is the most general? ...most specific?
(D) People have traditions is extremely general. A book might be able to cover such a broad topic, but a short passage can't address a wide enough variety of topics for this answer to make sense.
(B) Native Americans have traditions is still too broad. Native Americans have traditions, but what traditions? If the answer choice says something so general and so obvious that there's no need to write an essay about it, it's probably wrong.
(C) Chief Running Horse of the Wichita Native Americans enjoys the traditional New Year’s dance because he likes to watch his neighbor, Lone Tree, dance is far too specific. This idea can probably be found somewhere within the passage, but it's almost comically specific. The inclusion of this much detail, and the lack of any generalized wording, makes this choice far too specific. It's an idea, but not the MAIN idea.
This leaves us with two answer choices. Having eliminated the answer choices with overly specific and overly general wording, we can assume that the answer is probably (A) or (E). Let's take a closer look at them both:
(A) The Native Americans of Wichita have a long and rich cultural history.
(E) The Native Americans of Wichita use dance in many of their traditions.
Choice (A) sounds very main idea-ish: note the balance of detailed (Native Americans of Wichita) and general (rich cultural history) description. Choice (E) is a bit less general, but could very well be the main idea of a different sort of passage. They are both of adequate focus for a LSAT essay, but by this process of elimination you have improved your chances of choosing the correct answer from 1 in 5 to 50/50. |
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How to identify Purpose of the passage questions: Look for synonyms for purpose: objective, goal, main strategy.
What is the purpose of the passage?
Why did the author write the passage?
For which of the following reasons did the author write the passage?
What was the author’s primary objective?
The overall objective of the passage is which of the following?
How to tackle them: Often the answer choices will also start with verbs.
Look for the one that fits.
For example, if the passage is a description of a new species of bird, look for words that mean "describe": explain, discuss, etc.
Which of the following is the author’s main purpose?
A) Present . . .
B) Argue . . .
C) Persuade . . .
D) Lament . . .
E) Praise. . .
The answer must be (A) because it is the closest synonym to "describe." Notice how "present" (choice A) is similar to "a description of a new species". The other choices don't match up with the "description of a new species" essay topic. |
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How to identify Tone questions: Tone is feeling, not thinking. Look for emotion and attitude.
What is the author’s attitude toward . . . ?
Which of the following best describes the author’s feelings toward . . . ?
How to tackle them: Look for adjectives in the passage that describe attitudes, such as "jubilant", "depressed", "extraordinary", etc. Also, remember that the tone must be consistent with the main idea.
Which of the following best describes the author’s feelings towards gentrification?
A) Outrage
B) Suspicion
C) Indifference
D) Acceptance
E) Exhilaration
The author is probably not outraged or exhilarated about the subject. Both of these adjectives are extreme and would warrant much stronger language than that which commonly appears on LSAT essays. |
How to identify Passage Organization questions: Look for questions asking about organization.
Which of the following correctly describes the organization of the passage?
In which of the following ways is the passage organized?
In the third paragraph, the author does which of the following?
How to tackle them: Knowing the function of each paragraph is key to being able to answer organization questions. Remember the Five Steps. Step #3: What is the organization? said to look out for each paragraph’s main points and function in the essay as a whole. If you make a mental roadmap of the essay as you read, you will already know how the passage is organized when you reach the questions. Then, answering an organization question is simply a matter of referring back to your roadmap. |
LSAT passages represent some form of writing in the real world. Is it a letter to a newspaper? An excerpt from a book? A lobbyist's position paper?
How to identify Category questions: Look for questions asking about the origin of the passage's writing.
In what type of publication would this passage most likely appear?
Which of the following best describes the passage?
From which of the following sources was the passage most likely excerpted?
How to tackle them: As always with macro questions, it comes back to main idea and purpose. Who is the author and why did he or she write the passage? If you know that, you’ll know where the passage should appear.
For example, you decide that the purpose of the passage is to discredit a politician and its official language lets you know it was meant for the public to read. You can assume the writer is a reporter or journalist.
From which of the following sources is the passage excerpted?
A) A nationally distributed newspaper
B) A press release from a big company
C) The diary of a senator
D) A governmental budgetary report
E) An encyclopedia
if the writer is a journalist, then you know the answer must be A.
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This question type asks you to identify the type of person who wrote the passage. Don’t forget to use some elementary logic. A passage written to describe the mating habits of the whale will probably not have been written by a senator.
How to identify Identity of Author questions: Look for the question to ask about the author.
Who is the most likely author of the passage?
Who might have written the passage?
How to tackle them: Use main idea and purpose. You know what the passage is saying. You know the author’s purpose. Who would write such a passage?
Think back to the passage on water management. Government had screwed up water management by having agencies that didn’t coordinate. The author’s purpose was to tell us about these problems. His goal was for us to understand the problems as well as he did. So who could he be? Perhaps he is an academic who studies land management. Perhaps he is a lobbyist for an organization that supports irrigation. He could be a journalist who specializes in these issues. Use the main idea and purpose in conjunction with common sense. Who would be the likely author of a passage describing governmental problems in the management of water resources?
HOW TO HANDLE MICRO QUESTIONS
1) Find the section of the passage that is relevant to the question (often this is highlighted for you).
2) Use information in the relevant section to select the correct answer choice.
How to find the relevant section of the passage:
Usually the LSAT writers help you out and highlight the relevant text of the essay. When there is no highlighted text, micro questions will contain words that help you find the relevant section of the passage.
Watch for Synonyms
Usually in micro questions, the correct answer choice will contain a paraphrase that will be a rephrasing of the supporting text. Rarely will you see:
. . . My parakeets, Herman, Herman II, and Herman III, were an important part of my childhood. Their deaths taught me that life was fragile—and precious. . .
Question: What did the author’s parakeets teach him about life?
Correct Answer Choice: They taught him that life was fragile—and precious.
The LSAT will usually not repeat text verbatim; rather, the answer will usually rephrase the supporting text.
Question: What did the author’s parakeets teach him about life?
Correct Answer Choice: They showed the author that life was delicate and something to be valued highly.
The correct answer choice should rephrase the relevant part of the passage. |
How to identify it: The question will use complex language to ask: "What does the author say?"
Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?
Which of the following is stated by the author?
What does the author say about . . .?
How to tackle it: Learn the skill of paraphrasing. You’ll have to refer to the passage and find the answer that says the same thing in different words. These questions only ask for you to find information that is contained within the passage. All you need to do is match what you read with an answer choice that has a similar meaning.
The avian wildlife of the Neru Valley has attracted little scientific attention.
"In other words" could possibly be:
No one has studied the birds of the Nehru Valley.
Interest in studying birds of the Nehru Valley is low.
Cut through the wordiness of the passage and translate the details into simple language. This will help you match the passage to an answer choice. |
You will be asked to define a word or phrase used in the passage. Rely on the context because the author’s use of a word or phrase may or may not coincide with the way it is normally used in everyday speech. However, it is just as likely that a question will ask you for a definition of a commonly used word or phrase, used in an unusual way.
Context clues will help you decipher the meanings of words.
How to identify it: Look for questions asking about specific terms or phrases in the passage.
What does the author mean by negative pressure (highlighted text)?
What is the meaning of an "invisible icon" as used in the passage?
Which of the following is an example of "creative destruction" as the author describes it in paragraph 2?
How to tackle it: Most of the time, an unusual phrase will be defined somewhere near its use. Read the sentences before and after the word or phrase in question to get context and use that information to come up with an approximate definition of the word. |
Say the author makes an assertion such as, "Small dogs make great pets." Does the author support it with any evidence? A question may ask you to figure out how a premise is defended. Common forms of evidence include:
Examples--The author recounts the devoted poodle he had as a child.
Statistics--The author surveys dog owners and finds that owners of small dogs are more satisfied with their pets.
Logical Argument—The author presents logical reasons that small dogs must be great pets. They’re cute, they don’t eat a lot, their bark isn’t too loud, etc.
How to identify it: Look for questions that ask about evidence.
How does the author support his point that . . . ?
Which of the following does the author offer in support of his premise that . . . ?
The passage provides support for all the following statements EXCEPT:
How to tackle it: Look for real evidence, examples or logical arguments that reinforce the author’s point.
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Just why does the author say the things he or she does? Every part of the passage has a purpose, which is typically connected to the main idea.
How to identify it: The question will ask why the author says something.
For what reason does the author assert that the slave rebellion was highlighted?
Why does the author cite the studies on global warming in paragraph 3?
What function does the analogy to a military coup in paragraph 2 serve?
How to tackle it: Generally, the selection of most passage parts in a question functions to:
1. Support a point made elsewhere in the passage (maybe the main idea).
2. Show why two things are similar or different.
3. Clarify a point. |
These questions ask you to go beyond the passage. The answer won’t be stated directly in the text, just implied. To answer this question type you must be able to get inside the author’s mind and understand how he or she would react to a given situation. Inference questions are especially difficult because they combine both macro and micro elements of the passage.
How to identify it: Hint, imply, suggest . . . these are words that signal inference.
With which of the following would the author most likely agree?
Based on the details in the passage, which position would the author find most objectionable?
What does the author imply about military history?
How to tackle it: Think about which answer is best supported by the facts of the passage alone. On inference questions, outside knowledge can confuse your understanding of the intention or implication of the passage.
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Vulcan Mind Meld and Reading Comprehension
In the science-fiction series Star Trek, the Vulcan mind meld occurred when a Vulcan said "your mind to my mind" and pressed his hand to the subject's head. The subject's thoughts were then transferred.
Inference questions are often the most challenging reading comprehension questions because they ask you to make logical conclusions based on the author's way of thinking. Because of this, be open the author's point of view and learn how to "meld" with it.
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A: Reading Comp Introduction
B: The Five Steps
C: Question Types
D: Tips for Finding the Right Answer
Continue to Chapter 2.D: Tips for Finding the Right Answer
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