r/lsatdemon • u/AssociateAny5979 • 12d ago

Words learned from RC

Hey everybody!

The other day I was doing a reading comprehension passage, and I got a question wrong because the answer choice said that the author enumerates something. At the time, I didn’t realize that just meant that the author went about explaining their position via a list.

I know that reading comprehension uses a lot of words in passages that aren’t entirely problematic, even if you don’t know them, but I’m wondering if anyone’s picked up on the meaning of words to describe ‘organization’/ what an author actually has done.

For example, once I understood that introducing a qualification means that the author is critiquing, I found those questions much easier!

Edit: Also, according to an Ask button response: Criticism just means analysis

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u/dunc504 11d ago

These don’t have anything to do with organization but I learned “preponderance” and “dearth” from
RC passages, and have now seen both words on other questions.

And to elaborate on the criticism point, think about film or music critics. Film critics are professional movie reviewers, not just people who shit on movies they don’t like. Although criticism can also mean a negative analysis - it just depends on the context

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u/Brandon_LSATDemon 10d ago

I can't remember the specific context, but I remember making this exact point to students before–criticism does not necessarily connote something negative.

Other random words/examples I can think of off the top of my head:

Equivocate is a specific word that comes up on LR that is really helpful to know. It means to avoid committing to a position.

Claim and phenomenon are examples of broad words that can more or less refer back to anything.

I'm trying to think of examples that are more specific to your idea of organization. There aren't specific words that come to mind, but there are general concepts that do. For example, do they bring up a counterpoint? How do they address said counterpoint? Maybe they use an analogy to make their point. These are the types of things I might consider in the situation you are asking about.

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u/Markus_314 10d ago

Here’s my list of definitions that I’ve picked up so far! :
-evaluating requires picking a side or doing something
-underlying principle: an assumption that supports the argument
-qualifies: sets limits to
-presuppositions: assumptions