Lsat Vocabulary Worksheet Template Page 8
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12do you know
what some and most mean?
NON E
A LL
?
?
Some and most are both words that in real life take on a great
some
deal of contextual meaning—these are words that mean
different things in different situations. However, as we’ve
(a.k.a. several, a few, certain)
discussed, the LSAT requires us to utilize an absolute, non-
an unknown amount
contextual understanding of words such as some and most.
greater than zero
Some does not mean less than half, and it does not exclude
most
the possibility of all. It simply means an unknown amount
greater than zero. Thus, knowing that some people like jazz
does not prove that a majority do not, or even that any do not
(a.k.a. a majority, usually, generally)
like jazz. Most also does not exclude the possibility of all, and
an unknown amount
thus knowing that most of a pie was eaten does not prove that
greater than half
some of it is left. We want to understand these words exactly,
and, as always, we want to be careful not to over-infer.
qualifier math
What happens when you bring together a statement about some elements of a certain group
having one characteristic, and most in that same group having another characteristic? What,
if anything, can be inferred? Occasionally, a challenging Logical Reasoning question will re-
quire us to bring together a combination of “qualifier” statements to see what can be inferred,
and, more importantly, what cannot. Here are the rules that you need to know.
“Some bears dream” and “some bears swim”
some + some = no inferences
doesn’t prove there are any bears that
dream and swim.
“Some bears dream” and “most bears swim”
some + most = no inferences
doesn’t prove there are any bears that
dream and swim.
“Most bears dream” and “most bears swim”
most + most = inferences!
combine to mean some bears dream and
swim.
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