LSAT PrepTest 84 Unlocked: Exclusive Data + Analysis + Explanations (2019)

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LSAT®PrepTest 84UnlockedLSAT PrepTest 80 UnlockedDECONSTRUCTING THE JUNE 2018 LSATLSAT®is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council, Inc., whichneither sponsors nor endorses this product.

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LSAT® is a registered mark of the Law School Admission Council, Inc., which neithersponsors nor endorses this product.This publication is designed to provide accurate information in regard to the subjectmatter covered as of its publication date, with the understanding that knowledgeand best practice constantly evolve. The publisher is not engaged in renderingmedical, legal, accounting, or other professional service. If medical or legal advice orother expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional shouldbe sought. This publication is not intended for use in clinical practice or the deliveryof medical care. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the Editorsassume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising outof or related to any use of the material contained in this book.© 2019 by Kaplan, Inc.Published by Kaplan Publishing, a division of Kaplan, Inc.750 Third AvenueNew York, NY 10017ISBN: 978-1-5062-4713-710 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1All rights reserved. The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not bereproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from thepublisher.ISBN: 978-1-5062-4714-410 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Bypayment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook on screen. No part of thistext may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered,or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in anyform or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafterinvented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

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PrepTest 84: The Inside StoryPrepTest 84 was administered in June 2018. It challenged 22,489 test takers. Whatmade this test so hard? Here’s a breakdown of what Kaplan students who weresurveyed after taking the official exam considered PrepTest 84’s most difficultsection.Hardest PrepTest 84 Section as Reported by Test TakersBased on these results, you might think that studying Logic Games is the key to LSATsuccess. Well, Logic Games is important, but test takers’ perceptions don’t tell thewhole story. For that, you need to consider students’ actual performance. Thefollowing chart shows the average number of students to miss each question in eachof PrepTest 84’s different sections.Percentage Incorrect by PrepTest 84 Section Type

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Actual student performance tells quite a different story. On average, students wereactually more likely to miss questions in Logical Reasoning and ReadingComprehension than they were in Logic Games.Maybe students overestimate the difficulty of the Logic Games section because it’sso unusual, or maybe it’s because a really hard Logic Game is so easy to rememberafter the test (for instance, this test’s final game was very challenging). However, thetruth is that the testmaker places hard questions throughout the test. Here were thelocations of the 10 hardest (most missed) questions in the exam.Location of the 10 Most Difficult Questions in PrepTest 84

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The takeaway from this data is that, to maximize your potential on the LSAT, youneed to take a comprehensive approach. Test yourself rigorously, and review yourperformance on every section of the test. Kaplan’s LSAT explanations provide theexpertise and insight you need to fully understand your results. The explanations arewritten and edited by a team of LSAT experts, who have helped thousands ofstudents improve their scores. Kaplan always provides data-driven analysis of thetest, ranking the difficulty of every question based on actual student performance.The 10 hardest questions on every test are highlighted with a 4-star difficulty rating,the highest we give. The analysis breaks down the remaining questions into 1-, 2-,and 3-star ratings so that you can compare your performance to thousands of othertest takers on all LSAC material.Don’t settle for wondering whether a question was really as hard as it seemed to you.Analyze the test with real data, and learn the secrets and strategies that help topscorers master the LSAT.7 CAN’T-MISS FEATURES OF PREPTEST 84•101 questions per test is the standard. However, PrepTest 84 had only 100questions—the first test to do so since June 2015 (PT 75).•This was the second PrepTest since June 2007 with no Method of Argumentquestions. The other test was June 2014 (PT 72).•The first Logical Reasoning section of PT 84 had two questions about dinosaurs—#13 and #23. Test takers might have recalled those two questions on the Fridaynight after the test when they were watching the premier ofJurassic World: FallenKingdom.•It's not that uncommon to see Strict Sequencing, Matching, Loose Sequencing, ora Hybrid game on a test. But PT 84 was the first test to feature all four since June2004 (PT 43). Not only did the test feature all those game types, but the Hybridgame was a combination of Distribution and Selection. That means all thecommon game actions were present on this test.•Distribution/Selection games are rare—there have only been eight total ever.Prior to PT 84 the most recent ones were in December 2014 (PT 74) (when therewere two) and October 2011 (PT 64).•This was not the test to guess (D) in Logic Games. That answer was only correcttwice (tied for the fewest ever)—and both times it was right was on a 1-StarAcceptability question.•There were only two Detail Questions in the Reading Comp section. There haveonly been that few three times ever—the two other times were in October 2010 (PT61) and October 2000 (PT 32).

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PREPTEST 84 IN CONTEXTAs much fun as it is to find out what makes a PrepTest unique or noteworthy, it’seven more important to know just how representative it is of other LSATadministrations (and, thus, how likely it is to be representative of the exam you willface on Test Day). The following charts compare the numbers of each kind ofquestion and game on PrepTest 84 to the average numbers seen on all officiallyreleased LSATs administered over the past five years (from 2013 through 2017).Number of LR Questions by Type: PrepTest 84 vs. 2013–2017 AverageNumber of LG Games by Type: PrepTest 84 vs. 2013–2017 Average

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Number of RC Questions by Type: PrepTest 84 vs. 2013–2017 AverageThere isn’t usually a huge difference in the distribution of questions from LSAT toLSAT, but if this test seems harder (or easier) to you than another you’ve taken,compare the number of questions of the types on which you, personally, arestrongest and weakest. Then, explore within each section to see if your best or worstquestion types came earlier or later.

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Students in Kaplan’s comprehensive LSAT courses have access to every releasedLSAT and to a library of thousands of officially released questions arranged byquestion, game, and passage type. If you are studying on your own, you have to do abit more work to identify your strengths and your areas of opportunity. Quantitativeanalysis (like that in the charts shown here) is an important tool for understandinghow the test is constructed, and how you are performing on it.

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Section I: Reading ComprehensionPASSAGE 1: ATMOSPHERIC WARMING AND THEGREENHOUSE EFFECTQ#Question TypeCorrectDifficulty1GlobalD★★2Logic Reasoning (Method of Argument)C★★3DetailA★4InferenceE★★★5Logic FunctionD★PASSAGE 2: TECHNIQUES FOR POLICEINTERVIEWERSQ#Question TypeCorrectDifficulty6GlobalE★★7Detail (EXCEPT)D★8Logic FunctionC★★★★9InferenceA★★10InferenceD★★★11Logic Reasoning (Parallel Reasoning)B★★12InferenceB★

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PASSAGE 3: THE ROLE OF READERS INCLASSIFYING GENRESQ#Question TypeCorrectDifficulty13GlobalC★14InferenceE★★15InferenceA★★16Logic Reasoning (Method of Argument)A★★17InferenceA★★★18InferenceB★★★★19Logic Reasoning (Principle)C★★PASSAGE 4: BIOLOGICAL EFFECT OF COOKINGFOODQ#Question TypeCorrectDifficulty20GlobalB★★21InferenceA★★22Logic FunctionB★23InferenceE★★★24GlobalE★★★25Logic Reasoning (Strengthen)B★★★★26InferenceD★★★

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Q#Question TypeCorrectDifficulty27GlobalD★★★★PASSAGE 1: ATMOSPHERIC WARMING AND THEGREENHOUSE EFFECTStep 1: Read the Passage StrategicallySample Roadmapline#Keyword/phrase¶ Margin notes2quite compelling3reinforced recentlyDefinitely warming10unprecedented11other recent12strengthened;controversial13Proponents"Proponents: cause is "greenhouseeffect"14claim17Early18inconsistentEarly models inconsistent22led opponents; questionthe validity23But new

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line#Keyword/phrase¶ Margin notes24more acurately25important26overlooked:New models better: include sulfates34consistent36Another questionAlternate explanation: cause is solarvariability42strong44But45cannot account46While51inevitably revertedDoesn't fully explain increase52But53surpasses56it seems reasonable toconcludeConclusion; greenhouse explanationmore reasonable59bestDiscussionThe passage opens with an italicized disclaimer: It was written in the mid-1990s.This author from the distant past starts off by citingcompellingevidence thattemperatures in Earth’s atmosphere have been rising—half a degree Celsius overthe last 100 years. This temperature rise serves as theTopicof the passage. Theauthor then introduces acontroversialview that this temperature increase iscaused by the “greenhouse effect,” which involves certain gases preventing heat

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from leaving the atmosphere. This potential explanation for the rise intemperature serves as theScopeof the passage.In the second paragraph, the author suggests the greenhouse effect explanationwas not initially convincing. Early models were not consistent with actual data.But, the author then mentions newer models that factor in sulfates, and thosemodels allowed for greater accuracy and consistency. (Did you see all thatscience-y stuff about volcanoes and solar energy and glacial ice? Notice howutterly unimportant it is for understanding the author’s main point.)The third paragraph introduces another potential pitfall for the greenhouse effecttheory. Other scientists argue that Earth’s temperatures are actually tied to solarenergy variations, not greenhouse gases. According to the author, thesescientists have managed to develop some pretty solid models.But, the authorargues that their models don’t match up well with the recent increase, whichexceeds even the most drastic fluctuations predicted by the solar energy models.The author keeps introducing potential objections to the greenhouse effecttheory, only to reject those objections and return favor back to the greenhouseeffect. Defending that theory serves as thePurposeof the passage. And theMainIdeais driven home in the very last sentence, when the author says what is“reasonable to conclude” in light of all the evidence: Temperatures have indeedrisen, and greenhouse gases offer the best explanation for that.1. (D) GlobalStep 2: Identify the Question TypeThe question asks for the “main point of the passage,” making this a Globalquestion.Step 3: Research the Relevant TextAs with any Global question, the entire text is relevant. There’s no need to goback into the passage. The main point was predicted when summarizing the bigpicture.Step 4: Make a PredictionThe author’s main idea, as emphasized in the last line of the passage, is thattemperatures have risen, and evidence points to the greenhouse effect theory asthe best explanation for that occurrence.Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices(D)is correct, matching the idea that temperatures have risen, and that there’sample evidence of the greenhouse effect being responsible.

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(A)is a 180. The greenhouse effect theory issupported, not questioned, by thesulfate data. And the author rejects the idea that solar cycle data refutes thegreenhouse effect theory.(B)is too narrow and a Distortion. This focuses too much on the sulfate data fromthe second paragraph. Furthermore, the author only talks about howtemperatures have risen, not about whether they will continue to rise.(C)is too narrow. This only refers to the equilibrium temperature information fromthe third paragraph. Furthermore, although the author does state that thegreenhouse effect theory models initially overestimated the temperatureincrease, new methods have yielded results that are consistent with thetemperature increase.(E)is a Distortion. The author only shows support for the greenhouse effect theoryat the end. There’s no indication that it needs to be combined with anything else,let alone the inadequate solar-fluctuation theory.2. (C) Logic Reasoning (Method of Argument)Step 2: Identify the Question TypeThe question asks how the argumentation in the second paragraph relates to thatin the third paragraph. Method of Argument questions in Logical Reasoning askfor exactly that: the author’s style of argumentation. So, this question will use theexact same skills one would use for such questions in Logical Reasoning, only ona larger scale (due to the size of the paragraphs in Reading Comprehension).Step 3: Research the Relevant TextThe question is based on understandinghowthe author argues rather thanwhatthe author says. So, the margin notes should be sufficient for seeing therelationship.Step 4: Make a PredictionBoth paragraphs are ultimately about the greenhouse effect theory. In the secondparagraph, the author describes how early models weren’t so great, but newermodels are much better. In the third paragraph, the author introduces a potentialrival to the greenhouse effect theory, but rejects the rival and claims it’s morereasonable to accept the greenhouse effect theory. The correct answer will beconsistent with this describe-and-then-defend approach.Step 5: Evaluate the Answer Choices(C)is correct. The theory discussed in the second paragraph is the greenhouseeffect theory. And the author does accept that theory after weighingconsiderations (the solar-fluctuation theory) in the third paragraph. The word

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