Logical Reasoning · Main Conclusion
PrepTest 102 · Section 2 · Question 7
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “however”
- “without”
- “only”
- “whereas”
Playground logic
Everyone says the bump caused the tower to fall (bottom bun). Priya says that is misleading, because the tower was already wobbly and overbuilt (patty). Her point (top bun): the bump was a cause only in a tiny sense; the real causes were the shaky conditions.
Step 2 · The kid story
Who Knocked Down the Tower?
The block tower crashed during art class. Everyone blamed Kevin, because he bumped the table. Priya held up a hand. 'Kevin's bump did make it fall. Fine. But saying the bump caused it is misleading. Marcus built it twelve feet tall on one tiny base block. Frankie and Sharon had been arguing and wobbling the table all morning. That tower was going down no matter what. Kevin's bump was just the last tap.' Lulu wrote on her clipboard: Bump = small cause. Shaky tower = big cause. Marcus protested. 'So Kevin did not knock it over?' 'He did,' said Priya. 'He just was not the real reason.' Kevin was relieved and talked about volcanoes for ten minutes.
Step 3 · Try the model question
Everyone says Kevin's bump caused the tower to fall. Unless we add a qualification, that claim misleads, because the tower would not have fallen without its tiny base and the wobbly table. Those were the real, deeper reasons; the bump was a cause only in a small sense, like the last tap on something that was going to fall anyway.
What is Priya's main point?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Last Raindrop
A flood ruined a bakery basement, and the owner sued the neighbor whose sprinkler ran that night. Mr. Whitfield defended the neighbor. 'Yes, the sprinkler water joined the flood. I will not deny it. But the basement drain was clogged for months, the gutters were broken, and a storm had dumped rain all week. That basement was going to flood. My client's sprinkler was the last drop in a full bucket. Call it a cause if you like, but only a tiny one. The real causes were the clogs and the storm.' The jury agreed.
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 102, Section 2, Question 7 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Identify the common view the author starts with, then notice the author does not fully reject it but qualifies it. Track the contrast word that sorts causes into deep ones and a trivial one. The main point combines both: the trigger counts only in a small sense, while the conditions are the true causes. Reject choices that deny the trigger played any role, that overstate inevitability, or that restate just one supporting detail.