Logical Reasoning · Paradox
PrepTest 122 · Section 2 · Question 2
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “yet”
- “both”
- “explain”
Playground logic
Fewer spiders showed up in class, yet kids got more scared of spiders. Kevin started announcing every single sighting over the intercom, so the kids heard about spiders way more even though there were fewer. That handshake makes both facts shake hands.
Step 2 · The kid story
Spider Alert!
Ms. Rivera kept a spider chart on the wall. In September, kids spotted twelve spiders in the classroom. In October, only four. Fewer spiders! Yet in October, the kids were more scared than ever. Tommy refused to open his desk. Nadia wore gloves to reading time. Marcus said, "That makes no sense. Fewer spiders should mean less fear." Priya tapped her juice box. "Something else changed. What?" Lulu checked her clipboard. "In October, Kevin got the job of morning announcer. Every time anyone saw a spider, even a tiny one in the hall, he read it over the speaker. Twice. With sound effects." The kids heard about spiders every day, so the fear grew even while the spiders shrank. Both facts now made sense together.
Step 3 · Try the model question
In October, kids spotted far fewer spiders in the classroom than in September. Even so, fear of spiders among the kids rose sharply in October.
Suppose each choice is true. Which one best explains how both of these facts could be correct?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Nervous Neighbors
Mr. Whitfield faced the jury in a fictional town hearing. "The city says bike thefts fell to their lowest level ever this year. Yet the neighbors say they are more worried about bike theft than ever. Is someone lying?" He held up a stack of flyers. "No one is lying. This year the neighborhood newsletter started printing a story about nearly every theft, with big photos. Last year it printed almost none." A juror raised her hand. "So there were fewer thefts, but we heard about far more of them." Mr. Whitfield beamed. "Exactly. Both facts can live on the same street."
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 122, Section 2, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
State the two facts that seem to clash: one thing dropped while the worry about it rose. Then hunt for a choice that gives the worry a source other than the real rate. Test each choice with the Handshake Test: does it let both facts be true at once? Cross off choices that only explain the drop, and choices that talk about people who are not part of the puzzle.