Logical Reasoning · Principle

PrepTest 102 · Section 2 · Question 8

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Principle

The one idea it tests

Match one concrete case to the broad rule it actually illustrates, no more and no less.

The basic logic

The passage gives a claim about why some behavior happens (it is not meant to be mean) and an example showing a goal being blocked. The rule that fits says the behavior is sometimes an attempt to fix a problem. Reject rules that add motives, beliefs, or outcomes the example never shows.

Tiny words that decide it

“not”
“for example”
“sometimes”

Playground logic

Mr. Whiskers is not being mean when he knocks cups off the windowsill (top bun). For example, he wants the sunny spot, and the cup is in his way (patty). The rule it fits: knocking things over is sometimes his way of solving a problem.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Windowsill Mystery

Every afternoon a cup crashed off the windowsill. Marcus put on his detective hat. 'Mr. Whiskers is a villain. He does it to be mean.' Lulu shook her head and pointed at her clipboard notes. 'Look. At three o'clock the sun hits the windowsill. Mr. Whiskers loves that sun. The cup sits right in the sunny spot. He pushes the cup, then lies down where it was.' Priya nodded. 'He is not being mean. He has a problem: something is in his nap spot. Pushing it off is his way of fixing that.' Grandpa chuckled. 'Not a villain. Just a cat with a plan.' They moved the cup, and the crashes stopped.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Mr. Whiskers is not being mean when he pushes cups off the windowsill. For example, he may want to nap in the sunny spot, and the cup is sitting where he wants to lie.

The situation described best fits which general statement?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Moved Fence

A farmer was accused of spite for pulling down part of his neighbor's fence. Mr. Whitfield explained. 'My client is not a spiteful man. His cows were trapped on the wrong side during a flood, and that fence stood between them and high ground. He pulled the boards to get them out.' The judge considered. 'So the act was an attempt to fix a problem, not to harm anyone.' 'Exactly, Your Honor. He even put the boards back the next day.' The judge ordered him to pay for one bent nail and dismissed the rest.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 102, Section 2, Question 8 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Find the claim about the behavior and the example offered for it. Ask what the example actually shows: the goal, the obstacle, and what the behavior does about it. Pick the generalization that the example illustrates without adding anything. Cross out choices that introduce a new motive, describe beliefs the passage never mentions, or claim the behavior works or backfires, since the example shows neither.