Tips for cracking Logical Reasoning in CLAT

Logical reasoning is one such section that has seen tremendous pattern change since CLAT's inception in 2008. There is always a doubt as to whether analytical concepts like blood relations and puzzles will be tested, which can be practised once since they are mechanical in solving like mathematics is. However, with the current pattern, the answers may become subjective sometimes and it becomes harder to understand the logic behind the answer. Given that there is a very fine line between English and the Logical reasoning section, from my own experience as well as what I have seen with many of my friends and juniors, logic poses certain obstacles that English does nott, creating a mindset that one is weak at this section. The first thing to then remember is that a very huge part of the aspirant circle considers themselves weak at logical reasoning, which stems from low scores in mocks which are meant to be at a difficulty much higher than CLAT. However, what helped my preparation was practising GMAT and LSAT preparatory materials. Many such books are available online and I found them to be very clear in terms of the logic behind reaching the correct answer, there always was one which is undisputed. This helps in building not only the knack to solve questions but also developing a critical reasoning mindset. Practise is the main thing when it comes to logic because it is very useful to know tricks like elimination, thinking from the question setter's framework, extreme options, broad options, options with extra information or alien information and many such patterns in answers which can be figured out when having solved a plethora of questions.

Another thing is to know that many mocks have varied levels of difficulty and also it is advisable to follow answer keys when the explanation is given. With this section, it is more useful to take each test or sectional test as a learning or an analysis of your own thinking style to mould it to the required CLAT pattern, instead of focusing on the falling scores, because many a time, this area could showcase a drop. It is also useful to solve CLAT past papers to get an idea of the way questions are set here, finding them comparatively easier may boost your confidence. Making it a habit to solve a few passages every day may inculcate a problem-solving ability that is crucial for this exam. 1000 RC and 1000 CR questions are both GMAT/LSAT-based materials which are incredible and can be of essence for practice. MK Pandey's Logical Reasoning book is also an extra guide that can be referred to. With logical reasoning, it also helps to read the passage in a broad, larger-picture sense, where instead of slowing down and focusing on details, you focus on the arguments, opinions and neutrality of the author which is where most of the questions will be based. While reading newspapers too, as an added task, one can make note of the main idea, arguments and summary of the same to work on quick comprehension of whole passages. Even though mock scores may reflect your actual position with logical reasoning, it is highly scoring and shorter compared to the other reading areas. It can be a caveat as to the unpredictability behind it, but practising it thoroughly and exhausting materials with oneself should be the path to a confidence boost in the section, and to attempt the actual paper with a calm mind.