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Logical Reasoning · Parallel Flaw

PrepTest 102 · Section 2 · Question 2

Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type
Parallel Flaw
The one idea it tests
Match the broken reasoning step by step: the most eager person is not acting, so nobody will act, whatever the reward.
The basic logic
X-Ray the original: (1) one person wants it more than anyone, (2) that person is not doing it, (3) so no one at all will do it, (4) no matter how big the incentive. The flaw: the eager person may have a private reason, and other people's choices do not depend on his. Find the choice with the same four bones.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “no one”
  • “as much as”
  • “no matter how”

Playground logic

Kevin loves dinosaurs more than anyone (patty), and he is skipping the dino art contest (patty), so Marcus says nobody will enter, however big the prize (top bun). The secret sauce is that everyone else follows Kevin's lead, which ignores that Kevin may have his own private reason.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Empty Contest Box

Ms. Rivera taped up a poster: Draw a Dinosaur Contest! Prize: a giant box of crayons. Marcus put on his detective hat. 'Case closed. Nobody loves dinosaurs more than Kevin, and Kevin is not entering. So nobody will enter. Even if the prize were a real fossil, the box stays empty.' Lulu checked her clipboard. 'Kevin is not entering because he is the judge's helper this week. Helpers cannot enter.' Priya laughed. 'Right. Kevin's reason is about Kevin. It says nothing about Owen, or Nadia, or me.' By Friday the box held fourteen drawings, including Lulu's stegosaurus wearing a tutu. Marcus quietly took off his detective hat.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Nobody wants a new bike more than Owen, yet Owen did not enter the bike raffle. So no one will enter the raffle, no matter how cheap the tickets are.

Which argument below goes wrong in the same way?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Bakery Nobody Bought

Attorney Gloria Venn rose. 'Your Honor, no one wanted the old bakery building more than Mr. Pell. He is not bidding. Therefore no one will ever bid, no matter how low the asking price drops.' Mr. Whitfield stood, thumbs in his suspenders. 'Objection. Mr. Pell is not bidding because he just bought a boat. That is his business. It tells us nothing about the other eight hundred people in town who like bread.' Judge Ortez agreed. 'One person's wallet is not the whole town's wallet. Sustained.'

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 102, Section 2, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

First X-Ray the original and write its skeleton in plain terms: who is most eager, what that person is not doing, and the sweeping 'nobody, whatever the reward' conclusion. Then check each choice bone by bone. The match needs the same top-person setup, the same failure to act, and the same leap to everyone regardless of incentive. Reject choices that reach a sensible conclusion, a different kind of conclusion, or add a pattern the original lacks.