Kaplan LSAT 180 2006-2007 Edition

Chapter One: The Logic Games Challenge Exactly five guests -- August, Dasha, Henry, Memphis, and Nicholas -- arrive at a Super Bowl party. No guest arrives at the same time as any other guest. Each guest brings exactly one of the following items to the party: beer, chicken wings, ice cream, pizza, or soda. Each guest brings a different item. Exactly two guests arrive between Henry's arrival and the arrival of the guest who brings chicken wings. The guest who brings the ice cream arrives fourth. Nicholas arrives after Dasha. Memphis is the only guest to arrive between the arrival of the guest who brings chicken wings and the arrival of the guest who brings beer. If Memphis brings ice cream to the party, then the order of guest arrivals and the item each brings would be precisely determined if it were also known that . . . Who knows? Who cares? Well, for starters, the admission boards at most accredited law schools do -- and if you're reading these words, chances are you're someone who's looking to impress that particular crowd. To most law school admission officers, the LSAT Logic Games section is not some arbitrary exercise in tortured logic (as it no doubt may seem to some test takers), but rather a realistic test of the kinds of reasoning skills necessary to think through complex legal issues and situations. Above-average difficulty games appear often on the LSAT. Unfortunately, the advice to "just skip the tough ones and do the best you can on the others" simply won't cut it for those aspiring to enter 180 territory. If that's your quest, then you have no choice but to muster all your skill, speed, and stamina to face these killers head-on. For those of you simply interested in improving your gaming techniques, cutting your teeth on the hardest games will certainly help you to hone your skills and raise your score. It is in this spirit, and with these objectives in mind, that we present the Logic Games in this book. USING THE LOGIC GAMES IN THIS BOOK The Logic Games in this book are broken up into four categories: Supercharged Standards Time Warps Volatile Mixtures Huh . . . ? Together, these represent the full range of the types of difficult games you may encounter on your test. You'll find descriptions of these categories at the beginning of each chapter. You're probably best off working your way up to the games in the final chapter, which, as the name implies, are particularly nasty. You can do the games one at a time before reviewing the explanations, or plow through a bunch before coming up for air -- really, it's up to you. A few suggestions, however: Observe timing guidelines.You'll surely get the right answers eventually if you take an hour to do each game. The point, however, is how well you can handle the tough stuff under true LSAT conditions. You don't have to go so far as to hire a proctor to stand over you with a timepiece (although that probably couldn't hurt), but make sure you spend no more than nine and one-half minutes per game. Four games in 35 minutes allows for roughly eight and one-half minutes per game, but considering the difficulty level of these, it's reasonable to allow a little extra time. Read the explanations.Review the keys to each game, comparing your own approach to the insights provided. Notice whether you are consistently coming up with the same deductions as us, and recognizing the same factors that cut these killers down to size. Take special note of the thought processes and habits of 180 test takers highlighted throughout the explanations. Have fun.Remember, these are games. Games are meant to be fun. A 180 test taker approaches the Logic Games section with good humor, a positiGoodman, Eric is the author of 'Kaplan LSAT 180 2006-2007 Edition', published 0008 under ISBN 9780743279369 and ISBN 0743279360.