Logical Reasoning · Weaken

PrepTest 124 · Section 3 · Question 4

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Weaken

The one idea it tests

A small share of a big catch does not mean a small effect, if the target group was small to begin with.

The basic logic

The argument jumps from 'only a few of the catch were targets' to 'it does little against the targets.' That is Percent vs. Number. A weakener shows the few caught were most or all of the targets around.

Tiny words that decide it

“only”
“so”
“most”

Playground logic

Marcus sees only 6 glitter bits in a sweeper bag of 300 crumbs and calls the sweeper useless for glitter. Pop his burger by showing there was no glitter left on the rug: the 6 were all there was.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Glitter Hunt

Ms. Rivera's class got a new rug sweeper. After one day, Marcus dumped the bag on a newspaper and counted. 'Three hundred bits of junk! Pencil shavings, crumbs, paper dots. And only six pieces of glitter.' He crossed his arms. 'This sweeper may grab lots of junk, but it will not help with our glitter problem.' Nadia raised her hand. 'How much glitter was on the rug before?' Marcus blinked. Priya was already on her knees with a flashlight, scanning the rug inch by inch. 'Zero glitter left,' she reported. 'Not one sparkle.' Lulu wrote: 'Six out of six?' Kevin cheered. 'The sweeper got every single one!' Marcus slowly uncrossed his arms.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Of more than 300 bits the new rug sweeper picked up in one day, only 6 were glitter. So the sweeper may pick up lots of junk, but it will not do much about the glitter on the classroom rug.

Suppose each choice below is true. Which one hurts Marcus's conclusion the most?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Lost Mittens

A town hired a company to clear lost mittens off the ice rink. The town sued, saying the company's crew collected 500 items and only 10 were mittens. 'Useless for mittens!' the town lawyer cried. Mr. Whitfield stood, thumbs in his suspenders. 'Your Honor, my client's crew walked the whole rink afterward with a checklist. They found no mittens left. Not one.' He set down the checklist. 'Ten mittens collected, zero left behind. That is not a small result. That is a perfect one.' Judge Okafor looked at the town lawyer. 'It seems the rink simply did not have many mittens to lose.'

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 124, Section 3, Question 4 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Spot the move from a small share of the catch to a claim about little effect on the target group. Ask: how many targets were there to begin with? Predict a weakener showing the few caught were all, or nearly all, of the targets present. Test each choice by asking whether it makes the small count look like a success. Drop choices that only talk about the other things caught.