Logical Reasoning · Strengthen
PrepTest 115 · Section 2 · Question 3
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “can”
- “really”
- “thereby”
Playground logic
Nadia says that with no turn rules on the swings, fewer kids actually get to swing. The secret sauce is how: the big kids hog the swings and the little ones give up. Supply that, and the strange-sounding top bun makes sense.
Step 2 · The kid story
The No-Rules Swing Set
The playground voted to get rid of all swing rules. No lines, no timers, total freedom! Marcus cheered. "Now everyone swings as much as they want!" By Thursday, Nadia had a different report. "No rules can actually stop kids from swinging. So no rules on the swings really means less swinging." Marcus frowned. "That sounds backwards. How can more freedom mean less swinging?" Priya pointed with her juice box. The two fifth-grade giants had stayed on the swings from the first bell to the last. A row of second graders stood watching, then wandered off to the sandbox. "That's how," Priya said. "The big kids never get off, so the little ones stop even trying." Lulu wrote it on her clipboard: freedom for all, swings for two.
Step 3 · Try the model question
Nadia: Having no rules for the swings can keep some kids from swinging. So having no swing rules really leads to less swinging overall.
Which choice, if true, would do the most to back up Nadia's surprising conclusion?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Unlimited Library Card
A town library dropped all checkout limits. Soon the town council was in court over complaints. Mr. Whitfield stood for the residents. "Your Honor, my clients claim unlimited checkouts really mean fewer people get books." The judge raised an eyebrow. "Unlimited means fewer? That sounds like nonsense, counselor." Mr. Whitfield called a librarian. "Since the limits ended, three collectors take home whole shelves every Monday. Other patrons find empty shelves, so they stopped coming." Mr. Whitfield smiled. "There is the link, Your Honor. The freedom itself is what keeps most people from using it." The judge nodded. "Now the odd claim makes sense." She ordered the shelves restocked and borrowed the last mystery novel herself.
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 115, Section 2, Question 3 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
State the conclusion in plain words and notice why it sounds contradictory. Then ask: how could the freedom itself cause less of the very thing it frees? Predict a mechanism where unlimited use by some leads others to hold back. Pick the choice that supplies that link between the premise and the surprising conclusion. Check each candidate: does it actually connect the freedom to fewer people taking part? If it only adds a related fact, it is a Bystander.