Resolve the Paradox Questions

You should attempt to prephrase an answer; many students are able
to successfully predict a scenario that would explain the situation.
A ResolveX question would present four incorrect answers that resolve or
explain the situation. The one correct answer would either confuse the
situation, or, more likely, have no impact on the situation.
Resolve the Paradox questions are generally easy to spot because of their
distinctive stimuli: each stimulus presents a situation where two ideas or
occurrences contradict each other. Because most people are very good at
recognizing these paradox scenarios, they usually know after reading the
stimulus that a Resolve the Paradox question is coming up.
Stimulus Peculiarities
Besides the discrepant or contradictory facts, most Resolve the Paradox stimuli
contain the following features:
1. No conclusion
One of the hallmarks of a Resolve the Paradox question is that the
stimulus does not contain a conclusion. The author is not attempting to
persuade you, he or she just presents two sets of contradictory facts.
Thus, when you read a stimulus without a conclusion that contains a
paradox, expect to see a Resolve question. If you read a fact set that
does not contain a paradox, expect to see a Must Be True question or a
Cannot Be True question (less likely).
2. Language of contradiction
In order to present a paradox, the test makers use language that signals a
contradiction is present, such as:
But
However
Yet
Although
Paradoxically
Surprisingly
If you can recognize the paradox present in the stimulus, you will have a head
start on prephrasing the answer and completing the problem more quickly.
Question Stem Features
Resolve the Paradox question stem are easy to identify, and typically contain the
following features:
1. An indication that the answer choices should be accepted as true
Because Resolve the Paradox questions fall into the Second Question
Family, you must accept the answer choices as true and then see if they
resolve the paradox. Typically, the question stem will contain a phrase
such as, “which one of the following, if true, ...”
2. Key words that indicate your task is to resolve a problem
To convey the nature of your task, Resolve the Paradox question stems
usually use words from both of the lists below. The first list contains
words used to describe the action you must take, the second list contains
words used to describe the paradox present in the stimulus:
Action          Problem
Resolve           Paradox
Explain           Discrepancy
Reconcile         Contradiction
                Conflict
                Puzzle
Here are several Resolve the Paradox question stem examples from actual
LSATs:
“Which one of the following, if true, would most effectively resolve the
apparent paradox above?”
“Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent
discrepancy in the passage above?”
“Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the puzzling
fact cited above?”
“Which one of the following, if true, most helps to reconcile the
discrepancy indicated above?”
“Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent
conflict described above?”