What's the structure of a reading comprehension section in the LSAT?

Answer 1

The reading comprehension section of the LSAT has been changing over the last few years. Currently, you will usually be expected to answer 27 questions based on reading passages. Three sets of questions will relate to individual passages of about 400 words each. One set of questions will be based on two shorter, related passages, each of which will be about 200 words. The topics of the passages will usually relate to some combination of arts/literature, social science, natural science, or legal/government. The mix of topics varies from test to test.

In general, questions focus on testing how well you understand the logic of the overall arguments in the passages. Some of the questions will require you to relate specific answers from the passage. In some cases, you'll be expected to choose paraphrases of what is in a passage. More often, you will be asked about what the author would likely agree with, which requires understanding the logic of the author's position. You will also have some questions about how the argument is structured. Increasingly in recent tests, you have been expected to answer logical reasoning style questions that relate to the material in the passages. The questions concerning the related two passages will usually require you to make observations about how the passages compare and contrast in their views.