Logical Reasoning · Principle
PrepTest 116 · Section 4 · Question 13
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “whereas”
- “usually”
- “tend to”
- “so”
Playground logic
Marcus's relay time is read off a stopwatch, so he shrugs when the results come in. Nadia's dog costume is judged on taste, so she bites her nails. The rule underneath: people whose results are easy to check fret less about others' verdicts than people whose results are hard to check.
Step 2 · The kid story
Stopwatch vs. Costume
Field Day had two big events. Marcus ran the relay. Nadia entered Biscuit in the dog costume contest. Before the results, Marcus munched a granola bar. 'Whatever. The stopwatch says what it says. Everyone can see who crossed first.' Nadia was pacing. 'But the costume judges need a really sharp eye to tell a great costume from an okay one! What if they don't see that Biscuit is a lobster on purpose?' Lulu wrote on her clipboard. 'So the kid whose result anyone can check stays calm. The kid whose result needs a special eye gets nervous.' Priya nodded. 'That is the rule hiding under it.' Biscuit, dressed as a lobster, ate the granola bar.
Step 3 · Try the model question
Anyone can read a stopwatch and see who won the relay, but telling a great dog costume from a merely good one takes a rare, sharp eye. So relay runners usually stay calm while results are announced, whereas costume contest entrants tend to get nervous.
Which one of these general rules, if valid, most helps justify the reasoning above?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Nervous Witnesses
Two witnesses waited in the hallway. One was a scale inspector; the other, a perfume tester. Mr. Whitfield explained to the jury. 'The inspector sat calmly. Why? Anyone can read a scale. If it says ten pounds, it says ten pounds. The perfume tester was trembling. Why? Judging a fine scent takes a rare nose, and few can tell whether she got it right.' He tugged his suspenders. 'Ladies and gentlemen, the principle is simple. When your work can be checked by anyone, you don't sweat the verdict. When it can only be judged by the few, you worry.' A juror whispered, 'That actually makes sense.'
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 116, Section 4, Question 13 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Spot the two groups being compared and what separates them: how easily outsiders can judge their results. Note the conclusion: one group stays calm, the other gets anxious. Then look for a rule that connects ease of judging results to amount of worry about evaluation. Make sure the rule covers the people who make the work, not the evaluators, and that it compares worry about others' judgments rather than something else.