Logical Reasoning Question Types

Main Conclusion

• Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?
• Which one of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion of the passage?

Identify the claim the argument is trying to prove.

Inference

• Which one of the following judgments most closely conforms to the principle stated above?
• Which of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?
• If the statements above are true, which one of the following must also be true on the basis of them?
• Which of the following can be properly concluded [or properly inferred] from the statements above?
• Which of the following follows logically from the information above?

Identify any claim that is proved by the passage.

Point of Disagreement

• Ronaldo and Cho disagree over whether...
• Olivia’s and Geraldina’s statements provide the most support for holding that they disagree about... Which one of the following most accurately expresses the point at issue between Claude and Kenji?

Identify what the arguers disagree about.

Point of Agreement

• Octavia's and Massimo's statements provide the most support for holding that they agree about...

Identify what the arguers agree about.

Flaw

• The reasoning above is most vulnerable to criticism because it...
• The argument’s reasoning is flawed because the argument...
• The argument contains which one of the following reasoning errors?
• The argument’s reasoning is questionable because it...

Articulate how the argument failed.

• Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends [or relies]?
• Which one of the following is an assumption required by the argument?
• Which of the following is a necessary assumption of the argument?
• The argument assumes which one of the following?

Name a piece of evidence the argument needs but does not have.

Sufficient Assumption

• Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the reasoning above?
• Which one of the following, if assumed, allows the conclusion to be properly drawn?
• The conclusion above follows logically if which of the following is assumed?

Choose a response that will prove the conclusion is true.

Strengthen

• Which one of the following, if true, most supports [or strengthens] the argument?
• Which one of the following statements, if true, provides the strongest support for the argument?

Make the conclusion more likely to be true.

Weaken

• Which one of the following, if true, most seriously undermines [or weakens] the argument?
• Which one of the following statements, if true, most calls into question the argument?
• Which one of the following, if true, would cast the most serious doubt on the conclusion?

Make the conclusion less likely to be true.

Evaluation

• Which of the following would be most helpful to know in evaluating the argument above?
• In order to evaluate the argument above, it would be most useful to know whether...

Choose a response that would help you decide whether the argument was strong or weak.

Resolution

• Which one of the following, if true, does most to resolve the apparent paradox described above?
• Which of the following, if true, contributes most to an explanation of the seeming contradiction in the claims above?
• Which one of the following, if true, most helps to reconcile the experts’ belief with the apparently contrary evidence described above?

Pick an answer that will solve the problem in the passage.

Method

• The argument proceeds by...
• Which of the following is a method of reasoning employed in the argument?
• Which one of the following most accurately expresses the principle illustrated above?
• The argumentation conforms most closely to which one of the following principles?

Describe the structure of the passage.

Role

• The statement that <yadda, yadda, yadda> [where <yadda, yadda, yadda> is a reprinting of some sentence from the argument] plays which of the following roles in the argument above?
• The statement that <blah, blah, blah> functions in the argument in which of the following ways?

Describe the way one sentence fits into the whole argument.

Parallel

• Which of the following best illustrates the principle illustrated by the argument above?
• Which of the following is most similar in its reasoning to the argument above?
• Which of the following exhibits the same pattern of reasoning as the argument above?
• Which of the following exhibits the same pattern of flawed reasoning as the argument above?

Describe the argument, then identify another argument that fits that same description.