Hi @allyky, thanks for your question. You are not alone; many LSAT students find formal logic to be challenging. In some ways, it's like learning a new language!
Let's first look at this question. You are presented with three premises, and asked what conclusion logically follows from those premises. The skills being tested include your ability to draw transitive conclusions and apply the contrapositive.
Here, we can link the given premises as follows: positive first premise (C - > not E), contrapositive second premise (not E - > D), positive third premise (D - > M). Link all three together: C - > not E - > D - > M. Therefore: C - > M.
That's answer choice (A).
More generally, please review the Sufficient & Necessary video lesson, and then work on the missing premise drills and argument completion drills. Careful practice will make this much easier over time. Don't give up!
Hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
@chris_vaSeptember 26, 2019
Wait you can link positive and contrapositive to form chains?! That has been a missing link.
allykyMay 29, 2020
Hello, I truly do not understand sequencing games I am doing better as far as being able to diagram. My biggest struggle is taking the diagram and compacting it into one big diagram so I can see the flow and another struggle is then answering the questions. If someone could maybe work some problems or explain one to me step by step that would be greatly appreciated.
DemeteriusJuly 29, 2020
I will keep trying. I'm a little confused, but I will go back and memorize these rules.
bojedaucsb@hotmail.comMarch 27, 2022
Hello,
I am just needing clarification. It's been a while since I took Logic. What do the arrows mean? For example: C->D, does that mean C unless D or C and D?
Emil-KunkinMarch 30, 2022
The arrows mean if x then y. For example, if we had the conditional statement "if it rains then I will be late" we could diagram is
If R -> L. The shorthand we use does not include the "if" but you can imagine it to be there. Ultimately you should choose a style of notation that works best for you to diagram, and the office hours are a great resource to see how others diagram
bojedaucsb@hotmail.comApril 18, 2022
Thank you! I have a question regarding the logical reasoning practice. Are we just reviewing the cards? Thanks again.
Emil-KunkinMay 9, 2022
Hi,
The flashcards (and many of the daily drills) are a great way to get better at understanding the core logic of sufficient and necessary (and quantifiers), but they are just one part of logical reasoning practice.
Once you feel pretty comfortable with the type of logic that the flashcards represent (that is putting premises together, understanding why a conclusion is or is not justified, finding a missing premise) your next job will be to apply those skills. Many, although far from all LR questions will ask you to apply these skills- and the next phase of studying will be applying what you have learned in the context of real questions for each of the LR question types.
