Logical Reasoning · Strengthen

PrepTest 123 · Section 3 · Question 13

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Strengthen

The one idea it tests

An argument that says plan X works better because only X targets what people control needs a bridge: working well depends on targeting what people control.

The basic logic

The patty says one approach focuses on things under direct control. The top bun says that approach works better. The gap is the link between control and success. The strengthener builds that bridge.

Tiny words that decide it

“only”
“likely”
“more effective”

Playground logic

Owen says Plan A will help the soccer team more than Plan B, since Plan A works on passing, which players control, while Plan B works on stuff they can't control. The secret sauce is that plans hardly ever work unless they target what players control. Add that, and Owen's burger holds together.

Step 2 · The kid story

Owen's Soccer Plan

Tommy's soccer team lost six games in a row. Coach asked the kids to pick a practice plan. Plan A: practice passing every day. Plan B: spend practice talking about the weather and hoping the referee is nicer. Owen stood on a bench. "Plan A will help us more! Passing is the one thing we control ourselves. We can't control rain. We can't control referees." Marcus frowned. "But maybe worrying about the weather is secretly the best plan." Priya took a sip of her juice box. "Owen's reason only helps if plans really do need to focus on what players control. If that's true, Plan B is in trouble." Lulu wrote it down: "Plans work best when they aim at what we control." Owen gave her a thumbs up.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Owen: Plan A focuses on improving our passing. So Plan A is likely to help our team more than Plan B, which focuses on the weather and the referees, since only our passing is under our own direct control.

Suppose each choice is accurate. Which gives Owen's reasoning the biggest boost?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Garden Contest Appeal

Mrs. Patel lost the county garden contest and appealed. Her lawyer, Mr. Whitfield, argued that her strategy was better than the winner's. "My client focused on soil and watering, things a gardener controls directly. The winner focused on wishing for good weather. Since only soil and watering are under the gardener's control, my client's method is more likely to grow prize tomatoes." The judge peered over her glasses. "Counselor, that only works if success depends on what a gardener controls." Mr. Whitfield smiled and handed her a report from the gardening society: nearly every winning garden in fifty years came from careful soil and watering work. "There is my bridge, Your Honor." The judge nodded.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 123, Section 3, Question 13 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Split the burger: the patty tells you the favored approach targets something under direct control, and the top bun says that approach works better. Name the gap: why would control matter for success? Look for the choice that makes success depend on targeting controllable things. Skip choices that only describe the approaches again, talk about causes of problems, or add side facts without linking control to results.