Complete and Accurate List:

Apply each rule in turn crossing off answer choices that violate rules, OR test each answer choice to see if it could be true.

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Must be True OR Cannot be False OR Could be False Except:

Try to prove that each answer choice could be false, the one that cannot be false is correct.

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Must be False OR Cannot be True OR Could be True Except:

Try to prove that each answer choice could be true, the one that cannot be true is correct.

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Could be False:

Try to prove that each answer choice could be false, the one that could be false is correct.

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Could be True:

Try to prove that each answer choice could be true, the one that could be true is correct.

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Additional Information Questions:

Fill in the extra information into your diagram and try to plug in as many more entities as possible before moving on to the questions.

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No Additional Information Questions:

Look to past questions for already completed diagrams that can be re-used. Then test each answer choice individually.

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Question Stem Explanations and Guide:

Complete and Accurate:

Which of the following could be a complete and accurate list…?

This question stem is often found in the first or second question. It does not give you any new information about the game and so you must test each answer choice individually to see if it satisfies all of the rules. With a little strategy you can improve your speed and accuracy on this question type dramatically.

You can use your diagram to answer this type of question, But there is a faster way!

A great way to approach a “which of the following could be accurate” question is to apply each rule in turn to all of the answer choices. Cross off answer choices that violate the rules. When you have applied all of your rules you will be left with only one answer choice.

Take the first rule and apply it to each answer choice, crossing off any which do not work with the rule. Then do the same with each successive rule. If there is more than one answer left when you have applied each rule, apply any rules included in the diagram or the game set up. The only answer left will be your correct answer.

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Must be True OR Cannot be False OR Could be False Except

Which of the following must be true?

If …, then which one of the following must be true?

Which one of the following entities must be found in a particular place or group?

Which CANNOT be false?

Each of the following could be false EXCEPT?

In a Must be True question you want to try to disprove each answer choice and the one that you cannot disprove is the correct answer choice. To disprove an answer choice means to try to place the entities in a different place than what the answer choice tells you and then fill in the diagram without breaking any rules. If you can do this to an answer choice you have disproved that it must be true, or in other words, this answer choice does not have to be true. It can be false.

Example: If X is first, which must be true?

1. Y is third

To try to disprove (A) place X in the first spot and then try to put Y somewhere other than third that still satisfies all the rules. If this can be done the answer choice does not need to be true and so you can cross off this answer choice. If you can not place Y anywhere other than third when X is first then this choice must be true and it is the correct answer. Remember to check the other answer choices anyway to make sure you haven’t made a mistake!

If …, then which one of the following could be false?

A Could be False question can be approached in the same way as a Must be True question, except that in the Could be False question the answer that you can disprove is correct and all the others you can’t disprove.

To disprove an answer choice means to try to place the entities in a different place than what the answer choice tells you and then fill in the diagram without breaking any rules. If you can do this to an answer choice you have disproved it and so it could be false.

Example: If X is first, could be false?

1. Y is third

To try to disprove (A) place X in the first spot and then try to put Y somewhere other than third that still satisfies all the rules. If this can be done the answer choice could be false and so this is your correct answer. If you can not place Y anywhere other than third when X is first then this choice must be true and you can cross off this answer choice and try the rest. Remember to check the other answer choices even after you get the right answer to make sure you haven’t made a mistake!

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Must be False OR Cannot be True OR Could be True EXCEPT

Which of the following must be false?

Which of the following CANNOT be True?

If …, then each of the following could be true EXCEPT:

This is a Must be False question. In a Must be False question, try to prove each answer choice and the one you can not prove to be true is the correct answer.

To prove an answer choice simply means to try to show that it can happen and still satisfy all of the rules. To do this plug the requirements of the question stem and the answer choice into your diagram and apply all the rules. If you can satisfy all of them you have proved the answer choice and you can cross of this answer choice and move on. If you can not prove the answer choice, this means it is not possible for this answer choice to be true and it is the correct answer.

Example: If X is sixth, then each of the following could be true EXCEPT:

1. Y is next to X

To prove answer choice (A) place Y next to X. There may be a number of spots for Y to be next to X. You will have to test them all. Once Y is next to X apply all your rules and fill in your diagram. If you can apply all of your rules filling in your diagram then you have proved that (A) could be true. Cross off (A) and move on to the next answer choice. If you can not prove that Y could be next to X without breaking one of your rules then (A) is the correct answer choice as it can not be true.

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CANNOT be True

Which of the following CANNOT be true?

Which one of the following foods CANNOT be added first?

This is a CANNOT be True questions. In a CANNOT be True question, try to prove each answer choice and the one that you cannot prove to be true is the correct answer. To prove an answer choice simply means to try to show that it can happen and still satisfy all of the rules. To do this plug the requirements of the question stem and the answer choice into your diagram and apply all the rules. If you can satisfy all of them you have proved the answer choice and you can cross off this answer choice and move on. If you can not prove the answer choice, this means it is not possible for this answer choice to be true and it is the correct answer.

Example: Which of the following CANNOT be true?

(C) O sits to the left of V

To prove answer choice (B) place O to the left of V. Then apply all your rules and fill in your diagram. If you can apply all of your rules filling in your diagram then you have proved that (B) could be true. Cross off (B) and move on to the next answer choice. If you can not prove that O could be to the left of V without breaking one of your rules then (B) is the correct answer choice as it CANNOT be true.

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Could be True

If … , then which one of the following could be true?

In a Could be True question try to prove each answer choice could be true. The one that you can prove is the correct answer.

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Could be False

Which of the following could be false?

In a Could be False question try to prove that each answer choice could be false. The one that you can prove could be false is the correct answer.

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Additional Information Questions

Any question that gives you new information such as “If X is in the first spot…?” is an Additional Information Question. The first step in these questions is to redraw your diagram and plug this information into your diagram. Then apply each rule to the diagram filling in as much information as possible before proceeding to the answer choices. Sometimes you can plug in enough information that you complete the diagram or only have two or three options for how the diagram can be completed. This will make answering the question much easier.

Separate out the Additional Information part of the question from the question itself. Then add the Additional Information to your diagram, apply all the rules and proceed to answer the question. Until you have added in your Additional Information there is not point in looking at the question itself.

Example: If Peter serves on every subcommittee on which Frank serves and every subcommittee on which Gina serves, then which one of the following could be true?

The additional information is: Peter serves on every subcommittee on which Frank serves and every subcommittee on which Gina serves

Add this to your diagram and apply all the rules before you even consider the question.

The question itself is: which one of the following could be true?

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No Additional Information

Questions with no Additional Information can be more time consuming because you need to test each answer choice, and without Additional Information there are far more possibilities. Often you will have to re-draw the diagram for each answer choice.

To save time, take a quick look at each answer choice remembering what you have learned from the previous questions and from your game set up. As you scan over the answer choices if nothing immediately jumps out at you just move on, and answer attack the answer choices individually.

Another way to speed up questions like this is to refer to question you have already done to see if the answer choice has already been tested. Often you can cross off 2 or more answer choices without doing any new work with this method. Just quickly look back at the diagrams you have already done.

Of course sometimes you have to do it the hard way and test the answer choice to see if it can be disproved.

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>> To continue with our free LSAT course the next step is to try an actual LSAT game.

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