The Secret Language of The LSAT (Not) – LSAT Quantifiers
It’s important that LSAT courses, LSAT tutors and third party LSAT books justify their existence. Therefore, LSAT courses and books focus on every conceivable aspect of the LSAT.
The bottom line is that the LSAT is a test of reading and reasoning in context. High LSAT test scores require effective reading and a heightened awareness of language. Given that the LSAT is a reading test, difficulty is to be presumed. There are certain instances where language distracts test takers, creates huge anxiety, and provokes endless discussion. One such area is the use of “quantifiers” on the LSAT. Here is an email that I received from a student:
“Hi John:
I have a question regarding the words few and some. In LSAT world are they of equivalent meaning.
I know some indicates, in numerical terms, 1-100.
But what would few be in numerical terms.
Cheers,”
(Those interested in my response are invited to see:
http://lsattoronto.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/lsat-poll-meaning-of-the-word-few/)
Who could have imagined that a Law School Bound student, would be interested in this question?
What is a quantifier?
Even if you have not heard the word (it sounds boring), you can probably figure it out. It seems to be based on the word “quantity” which means “how many”. A “quantifier” is a word that that describes “how many” or “what proportion”. Quantifiers are common in everyday language. Here are some examples: “all”, “none”, “most”, ”many”, ”few”, “several”, “some”. These words are so common on the LSAT that at least one (that means a minimum of one, but does not preclude all) scholar has written an essay about the use of quantifiers on the LSAT. For your reading pleasure I refer you to:
http://nlp.stanford.edu/projects/nlkr/scoper.pdf Continue reading →
