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Logical Reasoning · Most Strongly Supported

PrepTest 116 · Section 2 · Question 17

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type
Most Strongly Supported
The one idea it tests
When the numbers march in one direction, the answer is the trend they show, stated as a ratio, not as a raw amount.
The basic logic
Line up the cases from smallest to largest. Note what is being compared: a part as a share of a whole, not the size of the part itself. Then state the pattern the cases show. Beware answers that switch from shares to raw amounts, or that claim something the numbers never measured.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “only”
  • “much”
  • “than”
  • “percent”

Playground logic

Lulu's chart: the kid with the smallest allowance saves half of it, the middle one saves a quarter, and the kid with the biggest saves a tenth. The pattern: the bigger the allowance, the smaller the share saved.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Piggy Bank Chart

Lulu made a chart for Ms. Rivera's math class. Her own allowance is tiny, and she saves half of it. Tommy's allowance is bigger, and he saves a quarter. Marcus gets the biggest allowance of anyone, but he saves only a tenth. "So Marcus is the worst saver!" Tommy said. Lulu shook her head. "Not so fast. A tenth of a big allowance could be more coins than half of a tiny one. My chart only shows shares." Priya studied the chart. "Here's what it does show: bigger allowance, smaller share saved." Marcus shrugged. "I'm saving for something huge." "What?" "A Galactic Gum Company Space Helmet. Only forty easy payments." Lulu wrote that down too.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Lulu has a tiny allowance and saves half of it. Tommy's allowance is larger, and he saves a quarter of it. Marcus has a much larger allowance than Tommy, and he saves only a tenth of it.

The facts above best illustrate which statement?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Tip Jar Dispute

Three restaurant workers argued over a tip-sharing rule. Their lawyer laid out the numbers. "The worker with the smallest paycheck puts a third of it in the shared fund. The middle worker puts in a fifth. The worker with the biggest paycheck puts in a twelfth." The big earner jumped up. "So I give the least!" Mr. Whitfield raised a hand. "Your Honor, these numbers are shares, not amounts. A twelfth of a big check might be more dollars than a third of a small one. What the numbers do show is a pattern: the larger the paycheck, the smaller the share given." The judge nodded. "Noted. Now, does anyone here know how to split a check?"

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 116, Section 2, Question 17 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

List the cases in order of size. Note exactly what each number measures: a share of something, or a raw amount. State the trend in your own words before reading the choices. Pick the choice that matches the trend in the same terms the facts use. Drop choices that switch shares into raw amounts, measure something the facts never measured, or reach beyond the cases given.