Philsat Review Intervention

PHILSAT REVIEW
INTERVENTION:
ANALYTICAL AND LOGICAL
REASONING
ANALYTICAL REASONING
How well were you able to scrutinize a situation in order
to break it down and solve the associated problem?
Were you able to take a complicated issue and identify
what is important and what information should be
ignored?
Analytical reasoning skills are important in both our
personal and professional lives, as they are an essential
part of solving the problems we encounter in our
everyday life.
What is Analytical Reasoning?
The ability to recognize and determine the meaning of
patterns in a variety of information.
• the ability to look at information
- quantitative (numbers)
- qualitative (arguments)
USE: to breakdown the underlying pattern
 Analytical reasoning comes from the ability of an individual:
to analyze a situation,
think in a step by step method to evaluate the
alternatives,
eliminating the ones that don’t fit the case,
and finding a solution that best matches the
problem at hand.
It is all about relationships - how (two) situations or
conditions compare to and interact with one another
 The information provided at the beginning of the game
should give you all you need to solve a question and be
able to immediately exclude any answer choices that do
not fit the question.
A diagram is helpful
AR questions are designed to assess your ability to
consider a group of facts and rules, and, given those facts
and rules, determine what could and must be true.
AR questions appear in sets, with each set based on a
single passage.
ANALYTICAL REASONING: TYPICAL PUZZLE
“Clarence is organizing his file drawers. He wants to put all
of his notes from five economics classes–A, B, C, D, and E–
in the chronological order in which he took the classes.”
“B was the last class he took.
He took class A either immediately before, or
immediately after class E.”
”He did not take class A immediately before or
immediately after class C. He took class C
before class E.”
The introduction gives you the basic information you
need to consider the problem at hand:
 What’s involved?
(file folders A through E)
 What’s the action?
(put them in chronological order)
RULES THAT GOVERN THE GAME
1.There are typically between two and seven rules
depending on the type and complexity of the puzzle .
2. Some rules are fairly concrete and tell you
exactly what to do.
For example, “B was the last class he
took,” gives you the specific position of the
B folder — it comes last.
3. Other rules are less specific or even ambiguous.
For example, “He did not take class A immediately
before or immediately after class C,” does not tell us
specifically where to put file folder A.
4. We will only know where to put folder A if we can
deduce something about folder C. These types of rules
require you to combine rules and make deductions.
• Your ability to paraphrase, understand, and
manipulate the rules is the key to getting high
score.
5.Many questions come with a hypothetical
rule.
“If class A was the fourth class that Clarence
took, then which one of the following
statements must be true?”
“if”- antecedent
“then” - consequent
6. Some questions may contain complex
hypotheticals.
“If Clarence took class C first, and class E

third, which class did he take fourth?”
7.You must understand exactly what the
questions are looking for to succeed. The
word “must” means that there are no
other possibilities.
“Which one of the following must be true?”

8. The word “could” means that the right
answer might be true, but doesn’t have to
be true. It is possible, but not necessary.
“ Which one of the following could be true?”

9. What about “except”? This is the same
as asking “which one of the following
statements is false?”
“All of the following statements could be

true EXCEPT:”
10.This question asks you to list all of the possible places
for folder A given the stated rules and hypotheticals. The
right answer must contain every single possible place A
could show up. If an answer choice contains an order you
know is impossible for A, or is missing an order you know
could be true, eliminate it.
“Which one of the following is a complete and
accurate list of the places Clarence could put folder A?”
EXERCISE
“Clarence is organizing his file drawers. He wants to put all of his

notes from five economics classes–A, B, C, D, and E–in the
chronological order in which he took the classes.” “B was the last
class he took. He took class A either immediately before, or
immediately after class E.” ”He did not take class A immediately
before or immediately after class C. He took class C before class E.”
“If Clarence took class C first, and class E third, which class did he
take fourth?”
Answer: Folder A
2. Answer questions 11-13 in the pre-test
questionnaire.
LOGICAL REASONING
Logical reasoning (or just “logic” for short) is one
of the fundamental skills of effective thinking. It
works by raising questions like:
• If this is true, what else must be true?
• If this is true, what else is probably true?
• If this isn’t true, what else can’t be true?
LOGICAL REASONING
These are all inferences: they’re connections
between a given sentence (the “premise”) and
some other sentence (the “conclusion”).
Inferences are the basic building blocks of logical
reasoning, and there are strict rules governing
what counts as a valid inference and what
doesn’t.
LOGICAL REASONING
Example:
“If there is someone at the door, the dog will bark.”
Assuming this sentence holds true, there are some other sentences
that must also be true.
If the dog didn’t bark, there is no one at the door.
Just because the dog barked doesn’t mean there’s someone
at the door.
There are also a few sentences that are probably true, such as:
The dog can sense (hear or smell) when someone is at the
door.
• The dog belongs to the people who live in the house where the door is
located
LOGICAL REASONING: TIPS
Study the question carefully.
NEVER assume or use any information that the question
fails to give you.
Read both the factual passage and the
sentence completion instruction carefully.
Be sure to read all the response choices carefully before
choosing one.
In questions that ask you to select a valid conclusion,
always choose the one conclusion that must definitely
follow from the information you are given.
In questions that ask you to find the invalid alternative,
choose the one conclusion that does not definitely follow
from the information.
Pay attention to negative prefixes also, such as
non-, un-, or dis-. These can be crucial to specifying the basic
facts in the paragraph.
• Understand Assumptions (unstated idea or fact that allows
the conclusion to be inferred); Flaw – faulty reasoning
“Everyone who is compassionate is kind, and someone who has experienced
life’s challenges is invariably compassionate. Jeremy is kind, so he has
experienced life’s challenges.” (invalid conclusion)
• find the conclusion, find the premise or premises (facts) that
support the conclusion, and identify any logical gaps
(assumptions)
LOGICAL REASONING: TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Flaw Questions ask you to spot the underlying flaw in
the argument presented.
The statement "all blue birds are birds" is true. Thus, by analogy, the statement
"all suspected terrorists are terrorists" is also true.
The reasoning in the argument above is flawed because it fails to recognize that
A)Not all terrorists are suspected.
B)The relationship between being a bird and being suspected is not of the same
kind as that between being blue and being a terrorist
C)The relationship between being a blue bird and being a bird is not of the
same kind as that between being a suspected terrorist and being a terrorist.
D)Not all birds are blue.
E)The relationship between being a bird and being a terrorist is not of the same
kind as that between being blue and being suspected.
• Assumption Questions require you to identify a
statement upon which the conclusion depends, i.e. a
statement without which the conclusion wouldn't
make any sense.
Loven studied very hard for the PHILSAT. So Loven
will do well on the PHILSAT tomorrow.
The argument requires that which one of the following
be assumed?
A) Loven did all of the practice PHILSATs.
B) Loven improved quite a lot from the first time that
he took the PHILSAT.
C) Loven won’t fall asleep in the middle of the test
tomorrow and sleep through two sections
Inference Questions ask to find the statement that is most
supported by the argument, assuming all the statements in the
argument are accurate.
A growing world population has caused growing concerns about increasing
famine. The population in 2000 was 6 billion. Ten years later the population
was 7 billion. There were also more people affected by famines in 2010 than
in 2000. Furthermore, in each year from 2000 to 2010, when the world's
population increased, so did the number of those affected by famine.
Based on the information given, which of the following is true?

A)The population increased in every year between 2000 to

2010.
B)From 2000 to 2010, when the world's population
increased, the percentage of the population affected by
famine also increased.
C)If the population increased in 2005, then more people
were affected by famine in 2005 than in 2004
D)There was greater concern about famine in 2010 than in
2000.
Based on the conversation between Heidi and Mavic, which of the
following choices can be inferred?
Heidi: I have just heard that Rico failed the
bar exams.
Mavic: Impossible, Rico was very witty.
1. Mavic thinks that Heidi is telling a lie.

2. Heidi knows that Rico failed the bar exam.
3. Mavic assumes that no witty individual can
fail the exam
4. Heidi thinks that Rico failed the bar exam.
Strengthen Questions ask you to recognize the statement
that would best bolster the author’s argument and support the
conclusion
A rock band has seen recent declines in their concert attendance. To
combat the decline in attendance, the rock band included more new
music in their performance because a pop band recently included more
new music in their live performances and saw an increase of attendance.
Which of the following most supports the rock band’s reasoning?
A) Rock bands and pop bands have similar patterns of attendance
B) Some of the drop in attendance was due to a pop band releasing
several new songs.
C) People who go to see pop bands also go to see rock bands.
D) People always want to hear a new song.
Weaken Questions ask you to spot the statement that would
most detract from the author’s evidence in support of the
conclusion
Coffee allows people to stay awake, when they would otherwise have had to
go to sleep, because of its caffeine content. According to several recent
studies, people who drink coffee actually go to sleep earlier than people who
drink no coffee. Therefore, coffee actually makes people go to sleep.
The strongest criticism of the argument is that it:
A) Fails to consider other factors which might make someone
drink coffee yet also go to sleep early
B) Claims something is true without scientific evidence of the proof
of its factual truth.
C) Concludes that people who do not drink coffee are not drinking
other beverages which provide them with a source of caffeine.
D) Assumes caffeine is present in all coffee.
Parallel
 Questions ask you to match up two arguments that share structural
characteristics.
Since all the floors in the building I have inspected have marble tiles, it follows
that the other floors which I have not seen will also have marble tiles.
Which of the following have a parallel reasoning to the statement above?

A) Every town I have visited has a church facing a plaza; so a
community with a church facing a plaza must be a town.
B) Some newspapers are not selling very well; therefore, tabloids are
not selling very well.
C) Since the car dealer does not buy cars older than five years old, his
new purchase will probably be no older than five years old.
D) Since all of the children I know fear monkeys, there must be
something in the monkeys that scare children.
Conclusion Questions ask you to draw a conclusion
from evidence presented within the stimulus.
Allfoods that contain iron are toxic substances. All fishes containing
mercury are foods that contain iron. Therefore, ________.
A) Some fish containing mercury are toxic
substances.
B) All fishes with toxic substances contain
mercury.
C) All fishes containing mercury are toxic
substances
D) No fish containing mercury is a food that
contains iron.
All reactionaries are subversive elements. Some reactionaries
are critics of the present administration. Therefore,_______.
A) All reactionaries are critics of the present
administration.
B) All subversive elements are reactionaries.
C) No reactionaries are subversive
elements.
D) Some critics of the present administration
are subversive elements
GOOD LUCK
Title and Content Layout with Chart
6
0
Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4
Series 1 Series 2 Series 3

Two Content Layout with Table
Class Group A Group B Firstbullet point here
Class 1 82 85 Second bullet point here
Class 2 76 88 Third bullet point here
Class 3 84 90
Two Content Layout with SmartArt
Firstbullet point here Group A
Task 1
Task 2
Second bullet point here

Group B
Task 1
Third bullet point here Task 2
Group C
Task 1
Task 2

Philsat Review Intervention

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PHILSAT REVIEW

“If Clarence took class C first, and class E

“Which one of the following must be true?”

“ Which one of the following could be true?”

“All of the following statements could be

“Clarence is organizing his file drawers. He wants to put all of his

Based on the information given, which of the following is true?

A)The population increased in every year between 2000 to

1. Mavic thinks that Heidi is telling a lie.

Which of the following have a parallel reasoning to the statement above?

Series 1 Series 2 Series 3

Second bullet point here

Third bullet point here Task 2

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