Lesson: Challenging Critical/Logical Reasoning - 17

Additional Question Types: Explain/Paradox Questions

Some of the arguments on your test will present you with a paradox, or an apparent discrepancy.

You'll recognize a paradoxical argument by the contradiction it suggests. An argument of this type will lead you to expect point A, but will then tell you that point Z is really the case. The correct answer to this question type will be the choice that reconciles the seemingly inconsistent statements.

One good thing about paradox questions is they're very easy to identify from their question stems:

• Which one of the following, if true, does the most to resolve the apparent paradox?
• Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy in the statements above?
• Which one of the following explains the surprising result?

Straightforward question stems are great in that they provide a clear idea about what you should be looking for. They may even allow you to prephrase an answer.

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