Logical Reasoning · Point at Issue

PrepTest 112 · Section 3 · Question 4

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Point at Issue

The one idea it tests

Two speakers make predictions about the same new thing, and their predictions clash on one specific effect.

The basic logic

Use the Two-Clipboard Test: the right answer is a claim where one speaker says yes and the other says no. Speaker one says the new thing reduces the need for help; speaker two says it increases it.

Tiny words that decide it

“thus”
“so”
“probably”
“more”

Playground logic

Frankie's top bun: the rulebook means kids won't need the game captain. Sharon's top bun: the rulebook will make kids lean on the captain even more. Both clipboards have a mark on the same line: does the rulebook raise the need to ask the captain?

Step 2 · The kid story

The Giant Rulebook

Ms. Rivera put a giant new rulebook in the game closet. It had the rules for every game, from checkers to a strange one with forty dice. Frankie was thrilled. "With every rule right there, nobody needs to ask Owen anymore!" Owen was the class game captain, the kid who explains rules when people argue. Sharon crossed her arms. "Nope. Remember when the closet got ten new games last year? Kids asked Owen MORE, not less, because there was more to sort out. A rulebook with even more stuff in it means kids will lean on Owen even harder." Frankie gasped. "Lean on him MORE?" Biscuit, who had wandered in, sat on the forty-dice game. Owen sighed. "Either way, I am going to need a bigger juice box."

Step 3 · Try the model question

Frankie: The new rulebook puts every game rule within reach, so kids will no longer need to ask the game captain for help. Sharon: When the game closet got more games in the past, kids asked the captain more often. So the rulebook will probably make kids depend on the captain even more.

Frankie and Sharon disagree about whether

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Map Kiosk

In a small town hearing, two council members argued about a new map kiosk in the park. Councilor Banerjee said, "With every trail on one screen, hikers will stop needing the ranger." Councilor Lindqvist disagreed. "When we opened more trails before, hikers needed the ranger more, to explain which trail fit them. A screen full of trails will send even more hikers to her desk." Mr. Whitfield, hired to sort out the dispute, tugged his suspenders. "Your Honor, they agree the kiosk shows lots of trails. They do not fight about that. Their only real clash is this: will the kiosk raise or lower how much hikers need the ranger?" The judge nodded. "Noted. That is the question."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 112, Section 3, Question 4 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Write each speaker's top bun on a separate clipboard. Find the one claim where one says yes and the other says no. Check that each speaker actually takes a side on it. Cross out claims only one speaker addresses and claims both would accept. If two choices survive, reread each speaker's last sentence; that is usually where the clash lives.