Necessary Assumption Question: The Rattlesnake Folktale
Let’s look at one of my favorite Logical Reasoning questions: the Rattlesnake Folktale question. It’s PrepTest 30 – December 1999 LSAT, Section 2, Question 22 – page 60 in Next 10. We know this is a necessary assumption question because it says “which one of the following is an assumption the argument requires?” I can’t […]
Necessary Assumption Questions, Negation Test, and Must Be True Qs
In this article, I discuss a common, and effective strategy for approaching Necessary Assumption questions. I also talk about shortcomings in the way prep companies often teach test-takers to think about necessary assumption questions. Finally, I give some examples of necessary assumption questions and explain some frequent patterns in each. A Common and Effective Strategy […]
Arguments and Contrapositives | Necessary and Sufficient Assumptions
I spend a great deal of time talking about the difference between Necessary Assumption and Sufficient Assumption questions in my Logical Reasoning course. Arguments assume a link between the evidence and conclusion presented – this link can often easily be framed as a conditional statement. Because the contrapositive of this statement is simply a rewording of the […]
Difference Between Necessary & Sufficient Assumption Questions
Both Necessary Assumption and Sufficient Assumption questions contain the word “assumption” within the question stem. However, they ask for very different things. (Also see Sufficient Assumption Questions and the Negation Test.) This is why it’s misleading (and often confusing) to simply refer to both types under the catch-all category of “Assumption” questions. Others refer […]
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