Logical Reasoning · Paradox

PrepTest 116 · Section 3 · Question 2

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Paradox

The one idea it tests

One setting has an extra danger, yet things there do just as well. Explain it by finding a different danger in the other setting.

The basic logic

Write both facts on two hands: setting one has a special risk; outcomes are equal anyway. The answer must make them shake hands, usually by showing the other setting has its own big risk that the first one is spared.

Tiny words that decide it

“yet”
“even though”
“same”
“explain”

Playground logic

Classroom books get hit by juice spills that library books never face, yet both last about equally long. Lulu's handshake: library books are mostly lost when kids take them home, a risk classroom books never face, so the dangers even out.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Juice-Proof Mystery

Ms. Rivera's classroom shelf sits right beside the snack table. Juice spills happen weekly, and a soggy book is a dead book. The school library has no snack table, so its books never get splashed. Marcus was sure classroom books must die young. But Lulu checked her clipboard: classroom books and library books last about equally long. "That makes no sense!" Marcus shouted. Priya sipped her juice box, very carefully. "Both facts are true. So we need something that lets them shake hands." Lulu flipped a page. "Library books go home in backpacks. Most of the library books that disappear get left on the bus or lost under beds. Classroom books never leave the room." Marcus blinked. "So each shelf has its own monster." "Exactly," said Priya.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Classroom books often get ruined by juice spills, a danger library books never face. Yet classroom books and library books last about equally long.

Suppose each choice below is accurate. Which one best explains how both of these facts can be true?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Two Warehouses

A storage company sued its insurer. Warehouse North sits beside a river and floods some years. Warehouse South never floods. Yet goods in both buildings get damaged at the same rate. The insurer's lawyer cried, "Impossible! Someone is faking claims!" Mr. Whitfield stood, adjusting his suspenders. "Your Honor, Warehouse South sits under a flight path of hungry pigeons, and its roof leaks constantly. North has a brand new roof." The judge nodded slowly. "So each building has its own trouble, and the totals come out even." "Precisely," said Mr. Whitfield. The claims were paid. The lesson: when an extra danger does not change the result, look for a different danger on the other side.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 116, Section 3, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Write down the two facts that seem to clash: one setting carries an extra threat, but outcomes match. Predict a resolution: the other setting has its own major threat that the first setting escapes. Test each choice with the Handshake Test: does it let both facts be true at once? Drop choices that compare to outside groups, make the extra threat worse, or talk about something that does not affect outcomes in either setting.