LSAT arguments frequently don’t make sense, but sometimes they can be made to make a bit more sense by rearranging them slightly. Section 3, Question 13 of the June 2007 LSAT is a good example. Here’s the argument as it was presented on the test:

Therapist: Cognitive psychotherapy focuses on changing a patient’s conscious beliefs. Thus, cognitive psychotherapy is likely to be more effective at helping patients overcome psychological problems than are forms of psychotherapy that focus on changing unconscious beliefs and desires, since only conscious beliefs are under the patient’s direct conscious control. 

That’s probably not how I would have structured my argument. Continue reading ‘June 2007 LSAT, III, #13’ »

No outside knowledge of the world is really required on the LSAT.  All the information you need, for the most part, is already on the page.  You do need to think critically about what you read, of course, but you don’t need to have prior knowledge of the topics that are being discussed.  Question 19 in Section 2 of the June 2007 LSAT is a good illustration of this.  You definitely don’t need to know anything about the nation of Banestria, and if you do know something about Banestria it can surely only hurt you.  Because “Banestria” doesn’t even exist.

Continue reading ‘June 2007 LSAT, II, #19’ »