Logical Reasoning · Weaken

PrepTest 103 · Section 2 · Question 5

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Weaken

The one idea it tests

A good outcome is credited to a program, but something else may explain the outcome.

The basic logic

The defense says: our members succeed, so our program has value. To pop it, show the success may come from something they already had before joining, not from the program itself.

Tiny words that decide it

“pointed to”
“percent”
“defending”

Playground logic

Coach Owen says his summer soccer camp is great because most kids who attend make the school team. But if most campers were already on travel teams before camp, the patty does not prove the top bun; their skill came from before. That alternate cause pops the argument.

Step 2 · The kid story

Owen's Super Soccer Camp

Owen ran a summer soccer camp in his backyard. When Marcus said the camp was useless, Owen pulled out a chart. 'Seventy percent of my campers made the school team this fall! My camp works!' Marcus squinted. 'Hmm, that does sound good.' Lulu flipped her clipboard. 'Owen, how many of your campers were already on travel teams before camp?' Owen shuffled his feet. 'Um. Most of them. They came to stay in shape.' Priya smiled. 'So they were already good players. They might have made the team without your camp at all.' Owen looked at his chart. 'Maybe I need a different chart.' Biscuit stole the soccer ball and ran off, which did not help.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Owen defends his soccer camp from the charge that it does not help players. He points out that 70 percent of his campers made the school team this fall.

Which choice, if true, does the most damage to Owen's defense?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Tutoring Center Case

Bright Path Tutoring was accused of false advertising. Its owner testified: 'Eighty percent of our students raised their grades this year!' Mr. Whitfield, for the parents, rose and tugged his suspenders. 'Ms. Hale, isn't it true most of your students joined after already signing up for a new summer reading program at the library?' She paused. 'Yes, many did.' 'So their grades might have gone up from that program, with or without your tutoring?' 'I suppose that is possible.' Mr. Whitfield turned to the judge. 'The grades rose. Fine. But the cause may be sitting at the library, not at Bright Path.'

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 103, Section 2, Question 5 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Identify what is being credited (the program) and the evidence (the outcomes of its members). The gap: did the program cause the outcomes? Look for a choice that offers another source of the outcome, especially something true of members before they joined. Test each choice: if true, does it make the evidence less able to show the program's value? Skip choices about outsiders' opinions or comparisons that leave the cause untouched.