LSAT Reading Comprehension: Application & Evaluation Skills

Application to New Context

Questions that ask you to apply a principle or concept from a passage to a new situation the passage did not discuss.

Abstract Idea

The underlying concept or principle extracted from a passage, stripped of specific details.

Strengthen Questions

Questions that seek information which would make an argument more convincing or likely to be correct.

Weaken Questions

Questions that seek information which would make an argument less convincing or likely to be correct.

Evaluate Questions

Questions that ask for information needed to judge the validity of an argument.

Causal Claim

A statement asserting that one event or condition directly causes another.

Main Conclusion

The primary claim that the author intends to convince the reader of in a passage.

Premises

Supporting evidence or reasons provided to justify the main conclusion.

Assumptions

Unstated beliefs or principles that must be true for the premises to support the conclusion.

Comparative Reading

Reading comprehension tasks involving two passages where you analyze their relationship and contrasting viewpoints.

Axis of Comparison

The fundamental point of contrast or similarity between two passages.

Logical Form

The structural outline of an argument that indicates the relationships between claims rather than their content.

Concessions

Acknowledgments made by one author about the validity of points made by another author.

False Symmetry

A misunderstanding where both passages are viewed as equally opposing when one may simply refine the other.

Dependency Relationship

The connection where the truth of one statement or claim relies on the truth of another.

Evidence

Information used to support a premise or conclusion within an argument.

Argument Anatomy

The breakdown of a passage’s argument into its conclusion, premises, assumptions, and alternative explanations.

Alternative Explanations

Other possible causes or interpretations that are not considered in the original argument.

Relationship Questions

Questions that ask about the connection or interaction between two different ideas or arguments in comparative reading.

Tone Analysis

Evaluating the attitude or feeling conveyed by the author in a passage.

Scope Problem

An issue that arises when an argument's conclusion extends beyond what the premises can support.

Target Confusion

A mistake made when misidentifying which claim in a passage a question is addressing.

Structure Matching

The process of evaluating comparisons based on the logical relationships between ideas rather than their subject matter.

Surface Features

The specific details or examples used in a passage that differ while sharing an underlying structure.