[LSAT Dan]

From an instructional perspective, what’s your favorite (i.e. most useful) question from a past exam?  For me, it’s no contest – the “Rattlesnake Question” (Preptest 30, LR Section 1, Question 22).  If you really understand why the right answer is right and why the best wrong answer (I won’t throw a spoiler in my own thread, but we all know which answer 80% of students pick) is wrong…you’re well on your way to understanding sufficient vs. necessary assumption questions.

[dannypearlberg]

Cool thread to start Dan!!!

For me, there is nothing close to a hands down winner, but PT 53 LR Section 1, Question 17 is kind of cool from an instructional perspective: The stimulus actually gives us a lesson in causal reasoning, explains one of the most common flaws in causal reasoning, and then just to make sure that we understand the lesson we are asked to pick the answer choice that best illustrates avoiding the flaw! A good place to start if you’re having any trouble with causal reasoning 🙂

 

[Mike Kim]

Great picks — we used to feature that rattlesnake q in the manhattan course (not sure if they do anymore) — and Danny, I can totally see what u mean about 53-1-17 — great, great teaching q —

One I like is 16-2-16 — about sharks and the rate of catching them — love the way it plays around with easy-to-make math assumptions.

[LSAT Dan]

Some other great choices there.  On the subject of causal reasoning/flaws, I also like 52-1-2, not so much from an instructional standpoint, but because it’s an exception to a pretty good LR Rule of Thumb – If it’s a flaw question, and the evidence comes from a survey, there’s a really good chance that there’s something wrong with the survey.  I always wondered why the examiners seem bound and determine to hammer the point that survey evidence is unreliable…perhaps because hearsay evidence is generally frowned upon in the practice of law, and a survey is essentially mass hearsay!