If you’ve been studying online with Grockit’s LSAT question bank, you’ve probably noticed that some of the LSAT Reading Comprehension practice games contain LSAT questions with words like “Except,” “Not,” or “Least” in them. These questions can be slightly more intimidating since they are more verbose and require you to look for the opposite of what you normally would Use this 4-step strategy for better scores on this LSAT reading question-type! Once you get over the format, it’s smooth sailing!
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1. Put the question in your own words. Simplify these long-winded questions using simpler terminology. This will help you understand what the question is really asking.
2. Give yourself a task. Once you understand the question, write down your task. For example, if a question asks, “Which of the following does NOT match the tone of the passage?” your task might be to “eliminate choices that fit the tone.” This will give you a clear idea of how to approach the answer choices.
3. Write down a Prediction whenever possible. Although these LSAT questions can be a bit more open-ended, go back to the LSAT passage and make a prediction (by writing it down on your scratch paper) whenever possible. Even for a question like, “All of the following is true about Watson and Crick except:” you can still refer back to the passage and locate the paragraph that provides details about Watson and Crick.
4. Always use POE. You’ll need to examine these answer choices more slowly and critically than other LSAT Reading questions to avoid simple mistakes. A strong LSAT reader never rushes, but moves confidently and efficiently using process of elimination.
Let’s apply this method to an example LSAT question:
The author mentions all of the following as reason for the ruling on Brown v. Board of Education EXCEPT:
1. Rephrase: What reason is NOT given by the author?
2. Task: Eliminate reasons that ARE mentioned in the passage.
At this point, you would go back to the LSAT passage to find the necessary information.
3. Prediction: List the reasons directly stated in the passage in shorthand on your scratch pad.
4. POE. Then go through the answer choices, eliminating ones that are close to what you’ve written down.
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