Weaken Question Type Review

Weaken questions require you to select an answer choice that undermines the
author’s argument as decisively as possible. Keep these fundamental rules in
mind when you approach Weaken questions:
1. The stimulus will contain an argument.
2. Focus on the conclusion.
3. The information in the stimulus is suspect. There are often reasoning
errors present, and you must read the argument very carefully.
4. Weaken questions often yield strong prephrases.
5. The answer choices are accepted as given, even if they include
“new” information.
The conclusion is the part of the argument that is most likely to be attacked, but
the correct answer choice will not simply contradict the conclusion. Instead, the
correct answer will undermine the conclusion by showing that the conclusion
fails to account for some element or possibility. In this sense, the correct answer
often shows that the conclusion does not necessarily follow from the premises
even if the premises are true.
Several scenarios that can occur in LSAT Weaken question stimuli are easy to
recognize and attack:
1. Incomplete Information.
2. Improper Comparison.
3. Qualified Conclusion.
There are certain incorrect answer choices that appear frequently in Weaken
questions:
1. Opposite Answers.
2. Shell Game Answers.
3. Out of Scope Answers.
There is a simple rule for weakening a conditional conclusion:
To weaken a conditional conclusion, attack the necessary condition by
showing that the necessary condition does not need to occur in order for
the sufficient condition to occur.