Border Patrol Agent Exam: Logical Reasoning

The Border Patrol Exam includes a Logical Reasoning section that tests your ability to read, understand, and apply critical thinking skills presented in real­-­life situations. While on the job, Border Patrol Agents make many decisions using logical reasoning skills. It is important to understand how logical reasoning is used in legal situations, because as a Border Patrol Agent, you may be called on to testify in court. This section of the test is very important in determining whether you'll secure a job as a Border Patrol Agent. The tips and examples in this guide are designed to help you develop your ability to reason logically and then boost your score on the exam.

The Logical Reasoning section of the exam is a series of scenarios followed by multiple­-­choice questions. The questions will test your ability to understand complex written information and draw some type of conclusion. You will be asked to make your conclusion based on only the stated facts, so you will need to read carefully and ­concentrate on what is being asked. You will not need to know any extra information other than what is in the paragraph.

Logical Reasoning Skills
The most important part of being a successful Border Patrol Agent is your ability to reason competently. ­Logical reasoning is used in decision-making and problem ­solving, both on the job and in everyday life.
The questions in this test are different from regular reading comprehension questions that ask you to understand the meaning of a passage. Specifically, this is the kind of reading that will test your ability to draw conclusions and take action. Often, the situations presented in the questions can be quite complex. Careful reading and focused thinking are required to determine what is being asked and what is not being asked. The logical reading questions vary in level of difficulty from average to difficult.

Read Carefully
The paragraphs are related to some aspect of Border Patrol or government work. It is important to read very carefully. You are being tested on your ability to read and draw conclusions based only on the facts given, so assume that the facts are correct as given even if they differ from information you know to be true. Remember, you are not being tested on your own knowledge of facts.
There may be different types of information in the paragraph. Take the time to study carefully what information is being given. Sometimes, there may be facts about two or more situations or subjects that can be linked. Some of the information may be positive or ­negative.

Identify the Key Lead­-­In Question
The paragraphs in this test will be followed by a key lead­-­in phrase that asks you to complete a sentence by selecting choice a, b, c, d, or e. The lead­-­in phrase will be either positive or negative: From the information given above, it can be validly concluded that or From the information given above, it CANNOT be validly concluded that. Take time to carefully consider what is being asked by the lead­-­in question and whether it is positive or negative. This is the key to answering the question correctly.
For the positive lead­-­in phrases, you are given a choice of four incorrect conclusions and one correct conclusion. Negative lead­-­in phrases, in contrast, have four correct conclusions and one incorrect conclusion; the trick is to identify what CANNOT be concluded from the facts given in the paragraph.
In some of the paragraphs, the lead­-­in phrase may be limiting in some way. The lead­-­in phrase From the information given above, it can be validly concluded that, in 2015 in the state of ­Arizona, is an example of this. There may be answers that concern other states in other years. However, for the test question, only information from the paragraph dealing with the state of Arizona in 2015 would be valid.

Avoid Hasty Conclusions
Everyday speech habits can encourage us to come to hasty, and often faulty, conclusions. Ordinarily, you ­wouldn't hear someone say, 'Some of the sandwich has no mustard,' unless they are also suggesting that some of the sandwich has mustard. This is not the case when reasoning logically, however, so beware of this type of hasty conclusion. For instance, if a law enforcement officer says, 'Some of the tracks were not made by animals,' it would be incorrect to conclude that some of the tracks were made by animals. That may be the case, but you have not been given enough information to reach this conclusion validly. Be careful not to reach conclusions too quickly in the practice tests. Think each question through and remember to base your answer on the information given in the statement. You are interested only in the facts.
The following sections will familiarize you with the different types of questions on the exam and hone your reasoning skills.

Reasoning about Groups or Categories
Some of the information in the Logical Reasoning test is about events or situations, and some information is about individuals or groups (categories). We'll be talking about groups or categories in this section.

All Statements
When a test question about two different groups begins with the word all or every, you are being given an important clue to help draw the right conclusion. When the word all or every begins a phrase, you now know that the two groups are connected in some way: Everything that is true about one group is also true about the other group. For example, the statement 'All the agents at the station are Border Patrol Agents' means that the first group, the agents at the station, are included in the second group, Border Patrol Agents. The all statement does not provide enough information to determine whether all members of the second group, Border Patrol Agents, are included in the first group, agents at the station.

This may sound complicated, but it is actually an easy concept once you get the hang of it.
 

Here's another example: A teacher at the academy tells you that all of the Border Patrol uniforms are at the supply office. You might conclude from this information that all of the uniforms at the supply office are Border Patrol uniforms. It is incorrect, however, to come to this conclusion, because the supply office (the second group) may also have uniforms other than Border Patrol uniforms (the first group). The statement does not let you know whether or not there are other uniforms at the supply office.

Here are some other examples of all statements (all of Group A are Group B) followed by an invalid all statement (all of Group B are Group A).



Some Statements
All statements give enough information to conclude that at least some of the second group are contained in the first group. Following are more examples of true all statements (all of Group A are Group B) and a some statement (some of Group B are Group A).
The idea of a chain of events is important when reasoning about events or situations. This is a line of logical reasoning where one thing leads to another, which in turn leads to another, and so on. An example of a chain of events is If a driver is convicted of speeding in Orleans County, the driver is guilty of a traffic violation, and drivers found guilty of a traffic violation in Orleans County have points deducted from their driver's licenses. With this line of reasoning, you can go backward or forward along the chain of events.

You can think forward, meaning that when the first thing happens, then the other events follow. Suppose a friend tells you she has just been convicted of speeding in Orleans County. From the chain of events just described, you also know that your friend is guilty of a traffic violation and that points are deducted from her driver's license.
 

You can also think backward, meaning that if the later events don't happen, then the earlier events can't have happened, either. If your friend mentions to you, instead, that she has not had any points deducted from her driver's license, you will know that she has not been found guilty of a traffic violation in Orleans County and that she has not been convicted of speeding in Orleans County.

If­-­Then Statements
The phrase typically used to connect a chain of events is if­-­then. The first event is marked by the word if and the second event is marked by the work then. An example of this is If Dick is sent to line­watch duty tonight, then the line­watch duty unit will need an extra vehicle. If­-­then can also be used to connect two events that have already happened. If there are leaves on the ground, then it is fall.
 

Another way to express the same connection is to use the words whenever, each time, or every time. When you see a sentence that begins with one of these words, two events are being connected: Whenever I go home, I feel happy, or Each time I go home, there is a storm. A. important point to remember is that the order of the two statements cannot be validly switched. In other words, if you switch the order of the two statements, the wrong conclusion may be reached. Consider the statement If the tire goes flat, the car will come to a stop. It cannot be validly concluded that If the car comes to a stop, the tire has gone flat.
 

Here are more examples of this line of reasoning. The first example is a true if­-­then statement and is followed by an invalid if­-­then statement with the statements reversed.



However, the order of these statements can be validly reversed if the statements are negated, or made opposite. Use our example, If the tire goes flat (the first statement), the car will come to a stop (the second statement). Based on this information, you can validly conclude that If the car does not stop (the second ­statement), then the tire has not gone flat (the first ­statement).
Here are some examples of a true if­-­then statement with a true (or valid) if­-­then statement following where the first and second statements have been reversed and made opposite.


It is important to note that the opposite of the second statement cannot be validly concluded from the opposite of the first statement. Let's use our earlier example: If the tire goes flat, the car will come to a stop. It cannot be concluded that If the tire does not go flat (the opposite of the first statement), then the car will not stop (the opposite of the second statement).
Here are more examples of a true if­-­then statement followed by an invalid conclusion statement.


Warnings about Words
All and None
If you have ever had test-preparation training, you may have been advised to avoid answers in reasoning tests that start with the words all or none. This is not true for the Logical Reasoning Exam. There is a common belief that these two words represent extremes and that correct answers fall somewhere in the midrange between all or none. This is absolutely untrue for this exam. In both the reading paragraphs as well as the correct and incorrect responses, there will be all statements and none statements that are correct. The Logical Reasoning Exam will test you with real­-­life scenarios where all and none situations do actually exist.

Positive and Negative Words, Prefixes, and Connectors

As a rule, pay careful attention to words that give you clues about information on groups or linked events. These include positive words such as
all
some
most
always
Negative words and prefixes that should throw up a red flag are:

Carefully read for connectors that have the key information about the relationship among the facts given in the paragraph. Some common connectors are:
whenever
unless
except

Double Negatives
Single negatives are used commonly in the English language. When the word not is used in a sentence, it makes the sentence negative, as in the sentence That flower is not a sunflower. The Logical Reasoning Exam may also contain double negatives. On the test, there may be sentences such as The door is not unlocked, which means the door IS locked. Double negatives in English make a statement positive. The statement This question is not unfair means that the question IS fair. The gun was fired might be stated on the test as It is NOT the case that the gun was not fired.
 

Use of the Word Only
It is very important to pay careful attention to the word only in a statement. Use of the word only restricts the meaning of a sentence. For example, The computer is on only when both buttons are pushed means very clearly that it is necessary to push both buttons to turn on the computer. Now consider the sentence The ­computer is on when both buttons are pushed. This sentence is less restrictive because, although the computer can be turned on by pushing both buttons, it is possible there are other, unstated, ways to turn it on as well.
The phrase if and only if restricts the meaning even further. The computer is on if and only if both buttons are pushed means it MUST be the case that both buttons were pushed if the computer is on.

Summary of Logical Reasoning Test Tips

1. When choosing a conclusion, always look for one that can be made based only on the information in the paragraph.

2. Assume all information in the paragraph is true. Do not use other factual information you may already know to reach your conclusion.
3. Focus on the key lead­-­in sentence and read the paragraph carefully. Consider all of the answer choices carefully before making your final answer selection.
4. Pay special attention to words such as all, some, none, unless, except, and only. These qualifying words help define the facts in the statement.

5. Keep in mind that negative prefixes such as non­-­ or negative words such as disorgan­ized or unfasten can be critical to an understanding of the information in the statement.
6. If for other tests you have been told to avoid answers that contain the word all or none, disregard that advice for the Logical Reasoning Exam. These words do not indicate an incorrect answer in this test. All and none can be in both the incorrect and the correct answers.
7. Answer every question on the test. Guess at an answer only after eliminating answers that you know to be false. While you are not penalized for guessing, your chances of picking a correct answer are greatly improved by using the process of elimination. You have a one in five chance of picking a right answer by blindly guessing. Your chances improve with every choice that is eliminated.
8. Do not pay attention to patterns made by a, b, c, d, or e on the answer sheet. Correct answer positions are selected randomly. You cannot improve your chances of guessing based on a pattern on the answer sheet. Trying to figure out a pattern is a poor test strategy.
9. The best way to improve your chances on the exam is through practice. Take the practice tests on Fatskills and study their answer explanations. This will hone your logical reasoning ability. Remember that the time you put into preparing for the Logical Reasoning Exam is time well spent and will increase your chances of doing well on the test.