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Logical Reasoning · Most Strongly Supported

PrepTest 124 · Section 2 · Question 3

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 evidence shows no difference in the very results a belief promises, the safe conclusion is that the belief's promised advantage is not real.
The basic logic
Background: a popular belief says one setting gives better results, and it names a reason. Patty: measurements show the two settings come out equal on those results. The supported answer says the setting does not actually deliver the advantage. Avoid answers that attack the reason itself, add new causes, or make broad rules.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “supposed to”
  • “but”
  • “as often”
  • “equal”

Playground logic

Everyone says the front row makes better spellers (bottom bun: the belief and its reason). Ms. Rivera's records show front-row and back-row kids miss the same number of words (patty). Lunchbox Rule: the safest thing to pull out is that the front row does not make kids better spellers.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Front Row Myth

Marcus always rushed to grab a front-row seat. 'Front row is supposed to make you a better speller,' he explained. 'You can see the board better, so the words stick.' Nadia shrugged. 'Says who?' Lulu flipped through her clipboard. She had copied Ms. Rivera's spelling-test records for the whole year. 'Front-row kids missed an average of three words a test. Back-row kids missed an average of three words a test. Same number. Same kinds of mistakes, too.' Marcus frowned. 'So seeing the board is bad for spelling?' 'I did not say that,' said Lulu. 'I only know the scores came out equal.' Priya sipped her juice box. 'Then the only safe thing to say is that the front row does not make you a better speller. Why it doesn't is a different question.'

Step 3 · Try the model question

The front row is supposed to make students better spellers because they can see the board clearly. But Ms. Rivera's records show that front-row students miss as many spelling words as back-row students do, and their mistakes look alike.

Which choice is best backed up by these statements?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Lucky Courtroom

Lawyers in our fictional town believed that cases heard in Courtroom Two went better, because its windows let in calming sunlight. Mr. Whitfield asked the clerk for records. 'Your Honor, the clerk reports that cases in Courtroom Two and Courtroom Five end with the same win rates and the same delays.' The opposing lawyer gasped. 'So sunlight hurts our cases?' Mr. Whitfield shook his head. 'I claim nothing about sunlight. I claim only this: Courtroom Two does not give anyone a better outcome.' Judge Park smiled. 'Narrow, and fully supported. I will allow it.' The lawyers stopped fighting over Courtroom Two that afternoon.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 124, Section 2, Question 3 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Identify the belief and the advantage it promises. Then find the evidence comparing the two settings, and notice that the results come out equal. Apply the Lunchbox Rule: prefer the answer that simply denies the promised advantage. Reject answers that deny or condemn the stated reason, introduce new causes, or stretch to rules about what people should do. Smaller and directly backed beats bold.