Method of Reasoning Questions: LSAT & GMAT Practice Quiz
Method-of-reasoning questions ask what an argument does, not whether it succeeds. The stem usually reads 'the argument proceeds by' or 'the author responds by'. Your job is to describe the structure accurately — which means the correct answer can describe a terrible argument, as long as the description fits. Twelve drills below, five choices each. The reliable move: state in your own words what each part of the passage is doing before you read the options.
0 / 12 answered
Q1
Critic: The new stadium will not pay for itself. Supporters point to Grantham, where a similar stadium boosted local revenue. But Grantham sits on a major highway and draws visitors from three states; our town has neither advantage. The critic's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q2
Manager: We should not adopt the four-day week. Employees claim it would raise morale, and it might. But morale is not our problem — our problem is that we cannot meet delivery deadlines, and a shorter week would make that worse. The manager's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q3
Biologist: Some claim that no bird species can survive a winter above the tree line. But the snow finch nests above the tree line year-round and its population has been stable for decades. The biologist's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q4
Columnist: If the museum charges admission, attendance will fall. If attendance falls, donations will fall, since most donors first visit as ordinary guests. And if donations fall, the museum will close. So if the museum charges admission, it will close. The columnist's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q5
Editor: The reporter argues that we should publish the leaked memo because the public has a right to know. But that principle, taken seriously, would require us to publish every private document that reaches us, including medical records of private citizens. Clearly we cannot do that. The editor's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q6
Economist: Critics say the tariff caused domestic steel prices to rise. But prices rose by nearly the same amount in countries that imposed no tariff at all, which suggests a global cause. The economist's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q7
Coach: Players who train in the morning perform better in matches than those who train at night. Some say this shows morning training is superior. But our morning sessions are led by our most experienced coach, while night sessions are run by assistants. The coach's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q8
Ethicist: Whether an action is right cannot depend on its consequences alone, because we often cannot know the consequences until long after we must decide. A theory that makes right action depend on information unavailable at the time of choice cannot guide anyone. The ethicist's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q9
Historian: It is often said that the printing press caused the Reformation. But movable type reached China centuries earlier without producing any comparable religious upheaval. The press may have accelerated the Reformation, but something else must explain why it happened where and when it did. The historian's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q10
Nutritionist: A recent article claims that a low-carbohydrate diet is the most effective way to lose weight. The article's evidence is a study in which low-carbohydrate dieters lost more weight than a control group. But the study did not control for total calories consumed, so it cannot support a claim about carbohydrates specifically. The nutritionist's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q11
Developer: The council rejected our building plan because it exceeds the height limit. But the limit was written in 1962, when the tallest structure in the district was a grain silo. A rule designed for that district cannot sensibly govern the one that exists today. The developer's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
Q12
Linguist: Some argue that texting is degrading young people's writing. But every generation has believed the newest medium was ruining language — the same was said of the telephone, the telegram, and the postcard. The linguist's argument proceeds by doing which of the following?
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Method of reasoning: the cheat sheet
- Describe, do not judge
- The correct answer can describe a bad argument. You are matching structure, not quality. 'Is this what the author did?' — never 'is this reasonable?'
- Counterexample
- Defeats a universal claim ('no X is Y') with a single case. One instance is logically enough.
- Disanalogy
- Accepts the compared case but attacks the comparison by naming relevant differences.
- Concede and redirect
- Grants the opponent's point, then argues it is beside the issue. Watch for 'it might' and 'perhaps, but'.
- Reductio
- Applies the opponent's principle consistently until it produces something the opponent would reject.
- Alternative cause
- Accepts the correlation and offers a confounding factor as the real explanation.
- Cause without effect
- Undercuts causation by finding a case where the alleged cause occurred but the effect did not — or the reverse.
- Half-right is wrong
- The commonest trap: a choice whose first clause fits and whose second clause describes something the passage never did.
How method-of-reasoning questions work on the LSAT and GMAT
Method-of-reasoning questions hand you an argument and ask you to describe it. Stems include 'the argument proceeds by', 'the author responds by', and 'which of the following describes the technique used'. They appear on both the LSAT's Logical Reasoning sections and the GMAT's Critical Reasoning, and they reward a habit most test takers never build: separating what an argument does from whether it works.
That separation is the whole game. A correct answer can describe an argument you find unconvincing, and a tempting wrong answer can describe a perfectly good move the passage simply did not make. The question is never whether the reasoning is sound — it is whether the description is accurate. Test takers who read these questions evaluatively pick the answer that criticizes the argument most sharply and lose the point.
The efficient approach is to paraphrase before reading the choices. Walk through the passage and label each part out loud: here is the opposing view, here is the concession, here is the counterexample, here is the conclusion. With that skeleton in hand, most of the five choices fall away instantly, because they describe skeletons that do not match.
The most common trap is the half-right answer. A choice will open with an accurate description and close with something the passage never did — 'undermines the analogy by questioning the motives of those who drew it' fits only if both halves fit. Read every clause as a separate claim to verify, and reject the choice the moment one clause fails.
Method of reasoning FAQ
What is a method-of-reasoning question?
A question that asks you to describe how an argument is constructed — what moves the author makes — rather than to evaluate whether the argument succeeds.
How is it different from a flaw question?
A flaw question asks what is wrong with the reasoning, so the answer is always critical. A method question asks what the reasoning does, and the answer is neutral: it can describe a strong argument or a weak one.
Can the correct answer describe a bad argument?
Yes, and it often does. Accuracy of description is the only criterion. If the author draws a sweeping conclusion from one case, 'generalizes from a single instance' is correct even though it is terrible reasoning.
What is the fastest way to improve on these?
Paraphrase the structure before looking at the choices, then verify each choice clause by clause. Most wrong answers fail on their second half.
Are these real LSAT or GMAT questions?
No. Official questions are copyrighted by LSAC and GMAC. These are original arguments written in the style of both exams, using the same argumentative moves and distractor patterns.
Do these questions appear often?
They are less frequent than assumption or strengthen and weaken questions, but they appear on essentially every form of both exams, and the structural reading they train speeds up every other Logical Reasoning type.