Question Type: Weaken/Strengthen
You will have to attack a significant number of weaken and strengthen questions in
order to end up with a respectable LSAT score. This question type also sometimes
appears in the Reading Comprehension section of the exam. Since the LSAT is set up to test your understanding of the structure of arguments, the correct answer choices for
weakening and strengthening questions will more often undermine or support their
respective conclusions structurally rather than by directly attacking stated evidence, or
by providing new evidence. You can undermine conclusions by finding a key assumption
in the argument and then finding the answer choice that will make that assumption
more likely to be true or less likely to be true, as the case may be.
NOTE
Remember that weakening an argument does not mean disproving it completely and strengthening an argument does not mean proving it beyond all doubt. To strengthen an argument is to make the conclusion more likely to be true, and to weaken an argument is to make the conclusion at least somewhat less likely to be true.
Some example question stems are
Weaken:
1. Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?
2. The prediction that ends the paragraph would be most seriously called into question
if it were true that
3. Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the researcher’s argument?
4. Which one of the following, if true, most calls into question the argument that…?
5. Which one of the following, if true, most undermines the conclusion?
6. Which one of the following, if true, would be the strongest challenge to the
author’s conclusion?
Strengthen:
1. Which one of the following, if established, does most to justify the position advanced by the passage?
2. Which one of the following, if true, provides the best reason in favor of the proposal?
3. Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
4. Which of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the scientist’s reasoning?
5. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to support the claim that…?
6. Which one of the following, if true, most supports the proposal?
Strategies
To answer either a weaken or strengthen question, you must first identify the key
assumptions in the argument. This should become second nature to you as you practice
for test day. Once you become proficient at identifying assumptions, you can more easily
choose answers that either support or undermine them. In some cases of weaken
questions, the correct answer actually contradicts a statement made in the stimulus
argument.
Sample Weaken/Strengthen Questions
Consider the following example:
1. More and more computer software that is capable of correcting not just spelling,
but also grammar and punctuation is being developed. Therefore, it is increasingly
unnecessary for working reporters and writers to have a complete knowledge of the
principles of English grammar and punctuation. Consequently, in training journalists,
less emphasis should be placed on the principles of grammar so that students
and professors can concentrate on other important subjects.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument given
for the recommendation above?
(A) The effective use of software that corrects grammar and punctuation
requires an understanding of grammatical principles.
(B) Much of the software that corrects grammar and punctuation is already
in use.
(C) Development of more complex ethical guidelines for reporters and writers
has meant that professors and students in journalism schools must allow
time for teaching such issues.
(D) Most of the software that is capable of correcting grammar and punctuation
can be run on the types of computers available to most media outlets.
(E) The journalism curriculum already requires that journalism students be
familiar with, and able to use, a variety of software packages.
The best answer is A. If journalists must be able to understand the principles of
grammar in order to effectively use the software described, the conclusion of the argument—
that less emphasis should be placed on such principles in journalism school—is
less likely to be true. Answer choices B, D, and E are irrelevant to the argument. Answer
choice C actually strengthens the argument by making the conclusion just slightly more
likely to be true.
You will have to attack a significant number of weaken and strengthen questions in
order to end up with a respectable LSAT score. This question type also sometimes
appears in the Reading Comprehension section of the exam. Since the LSAT is set up to test your understanding of the structure of arguments, the correct answer choices for
weakening and strengthening questions will more often undermine or support their
respective conclusions structurally rather than by directly attacking stated evidence, or
by providing new evidence. You can undermine conclusions by finding a key assumption
in the argument and then finding the answer choice that will make that assumption
more likely to be true or less likely to be true, as the case may be.
NOTE
Remember that weakening an argument does not mean disproving it completely and strengthening an argument does not mean proving it beyond all doubt. To strengthen an argument is to make the conclusion more likely to be true, and to weaken an argument is to make the conclusion at least somewhat less likely to be true.
Some example question stems are
Weaken:
1. Which one of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument?
2. The prediction that ends the paragraph would be most seriously called into question
if it were true that
3. Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the researcher’s argument?
4. Which one of the following, if true, most calls into question the argument that…?
5. Which one of the following, if true, most undermines the conclusion?
6. Which one of the following, if true, would be the strongest challenge to the
author’s conclusion?
Strengthen:
1. Which one of the following, if established, does most to justify the position advanced by the passage?
2. Which one of the following, if true, provides the best reason in favor of the proposal?
3. Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
4. Which of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the scientist’s reasoning?
5. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to support the claim that…?
6. Which one of the following, if true, most supports the proposal?
Strategies
To answer either a weaken or strengthen question, you must first identify the key
assumptions in the argument. This should become second nature to you as you practice
for test day. Once you become proficient at identifying assumptions, you can more easily
choose answers that either support or undermine them. In some cases of weaken
questions, the correct answer actually contradicts a statement made in the stimulus
argument.
Sample Weaken/Strengthen Questions
Consider the following example:
1. More and more computer software that is capable of correcting not just spelling,
but also grammar and punctuation is being developed. Therefore, it is increasingly
unnecessary for working reporters and writers to have a complete knowledge of the
principles of English grammar and punctuation. Consequently, in training journalists,
less emphasis should be placed on the principles of grammar so that students
and professors can concentrate on other important subjects.
Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument given
for the recommendation above?
(A) The effective use of software that corrects grammar and punctuation
requires an understanding of grammatical principles.
(B) Much of the software that corrects grammar and punctuation is already
in use.
(C) Development of more complex ethical guidelines for reporters and writers
has meant that professors and students in journalism schools must allow
time for teaching such issues.
(D) Most of the software that is capable of correcting grammar and punctuation
can be run on the types of computers available to most media outlets.
(E) The journalism curriculum already requires that journalism students be
familiar with, and able to use, a variety of software packages.
The best answer is A. If journalists must be able to understand the principles of
grammar in order to effectively use the software described, the conclusion of the argument—
that less emphasis should be placed on such principles in journalism school—is
less likely to be true. Answer choices B, D, and E are irrelevant to the argument. Answer
choice C actually strengthens the argument by making the conclusion just slightly more
likely to be true.
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