Bocconi Law Test cheat sheet

Main idea question: identify the thesis sentence, usually at the end of the first paragraph or start of the last; test each option against the whole passage, not a single sentence.

Inference question: the correct answer must be necessarily true given the text, not merely plausible; reject options that require outside knowledge or a logical leap.

Tone question: map adjectives to a spectrum (approving, neutral, critical); an author who presents counterarguments is not necessarily neutral-look for evaluative language.

Function question: a paragraph that describes a problem before proposing a solution serves to motivate the solution; a paragraph that lists exceptions serves to qualify a general claim.

Detail question: locate the exact line reference; the correct option paraphrases without adding or removing scope (e.g., 'all' vs. 'most', 'may' vs. 'does').

Vocabulary in context: substitute each option into the sentence and check whether the surrounding argument still makes sense; the literal dictionary meaning is often a trap.

Passage structure: signal words (however, therefore, for example, in contrast) mark the logical role of each sentence; the conclusion often follows 'thus' or 'so'.

Elimination rule: an option that is true according to the passage but does not answer the specific question is incorrect; always re-read the question stem before choosing.

Sufficient vs. necessary: 'A implies B' means A is sufficient for B and B is necessary for A; the fallacy of affirming the consequent treats B as sufficient for A.

Contrapositive: 'If P then Q' is equivalent to 'If not Q then not P'; the inverse ('if not P then not Q') and converse ('if Q then P') are not equivalent.

Syllogism validity: an argument with two negative premises or two particular premises cannot yield a valid universal conclusion; check distribution of the middle term.

Assumption question: the correct answer is a statement the argument must rely on; negate it-if the argument collapses, it is the assumption.

Strengthen/weaken: identify the gap between evidence and conclusion; the answer either closes the gap (strengthen) or opens an alternative explanation (weaken).

Causal reasoning: correlation does not establish causation; alternative causes, reverse causation, and coincidence are standard weakeners.

Quantifiers: 'some' means at least one; 'most' means more than half; 'all' means every; an argument that shifts from 'some' to 'most' is invalid.

Flaw identification: common flaws include ad hominem, straw man, false dilemma, circular reasoning, appeal to authority, and equivocation on a key term.

Ancient Greek political thought: Plato's Republic argues that justice is harmony of the soul and that philosopher-kings should rule; Aristotle's Politics classifies constitutions by who rules and for whose benefit.

Roman law legacy: the Twelve Tables (c. 450 BCE) codified early Roman law; the Corpus Juris Civilis (Justinian, 6th century CE) preserved Roman legal categories later received in medieval and modern Europe.

Enlightenment: Locke grounds government in natural rights and consent; Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws (1748) advocates separation of powers; Rousseau's Social Contract (1762) centers the general will.

Italian unification: the Risorgimento (1815–1871) combined Mazzini's republican movement, Cavour's diplomatic strategy, and Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand (1860); Rome became capital in 1871.

Italian constitutional history: the Statuto Albertino (1848) was a flexible octroyée charter; the 1948 Constitution is rigid, republican, and based on a compromise among Catholic, socialist, and liberal forces.

Key 20th-century turning points: the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the rise of totalitarian regimes in the 1920s–30s, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and European integration from the Treaty of Rome (1957).

Philosophical method: distinguish descriptive claims (what is) from normative claims (what ought to be); Hume's is-ought gap warns against deriving norms from facts alone.

Contract theories: Hobbes (security under a sovereign), Locke (limited government protecting property and rights), Rousseau (popular sovereignty) differ on the state of nature and the purpose of the state.

Sources of law in civil-law systems: constitution, statutes, regulations, and custom; judicial precedent is persuasive but not formally binding in the Italian tradition.

Italian Constitution core articles: Art. 1 (popular sovereignty), Art. 3 (equality and substantive equality), Art. 7 (Lateran Pact), Art. 11 (rejection of war and support for international organizations), Art. 138 (rigid amendment procedure).

EU institutional triangle: the European Commission proposes and enforces, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU co-legislate, and the Court of Justice interprets EU law uniformly.

Hierarchy of sources in EU law: primary law (Treaties) > general principles > secondary law (regulations, directives, decisions); a directive binds member states as to result but leaves form and means to national authorities.

Rule of law elements: legality, separation of powers, independent judiciary, legal certainty, and protection of fundamental rights; these are used to evaluate both domestic and international institutions.

Italian judicial system: ordinary courts (civil and criminal), administrative courts (TAR and Consiglio di Stato), and the Corte costituzionale, which reviews legislation for constitutional legitimacy.

International organizations: the UN Charter (1945) prohibits the use of force except in self-defense or with Security Council authorization; the ICC (Rome Statute, 1998) exercises jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression.

Subject-verb agreement: ignore prepositional phrases between subject and verb; 'the list of items is' not 'are'; indefinite pronouns (everyone, each, neither) take singular verbs.

Verb tense consistency: use past perfect for an action completed before another past action; use present perfect for past actions with present relevance.

Modals and conditionals: 'would have' in the result clause of a third conditional ('If I had known, I would have acted'); 'would' in the if-clause is an error in standard written English.

Parallel structure: items in a list or comparison must share grammatical form; 'to read, to write, and to think' is parallel, while 'reading, to write, and thinking' is not.

Dangling modifiers: an introductory participial phrase must modify the subject of the main clause; 'Walking home, the rain started' is wrong because the rain was not walking.

Punctuation: a semicolon joins two independent clauses; a colon introduces an explanation or list; commas do not separate two independent clauses (comma splice).

Commonly confused words: affect (verb) vs. effect (noun), principal (main) vs. principle (rule), complement (complete) vs. compliment (praise), lie (recline) vs. lay (place).

Register and cohesion: academic English prefers precise verbs and explicit linking words (however, therefore, moreover); avoid contractions and vague quantifiers such as 'a lot of'.