Logical Reasoning · Inference (Complete the Argument)

PrepTest 124 · Section 3 · Question 7

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Inference (complete the argument)

The one idea it tests

When the blank follows 'therefore,' fill it with what the premises force, not with a nice-sounding extra.

The basic logic

Line up the premises: success needs some ingredient; almost nobody arrives with enough of it. So the job must include creating more of that ingredient, not just using what is there. Use the Lunchbox Rule: nothing new from outside.

Tiny words that decide it

“only”
“almost no”
“therefore”
“and also”

Playground logic

Aunt Rosa's rule: only thirsty people buy lemonade, and almost nobody walks by thirsty enough. So her top bun has to be that a stand-keeper must make people thirsty, not just quench the thirst that shows up.

Step 2 · The kid story

Aunt Rosa's Pretzel Trick

Aunt Rosa helped Nadia and Owen run a lemonade stand. 'Rule one,' she said. 'Only thirsty people buy lemonade. They love that first cold sip.' Owen looked at the street. People strolled by, waved, and kept walking. 'But nobody is thirsty enough to buy all forty cups we made,' he said. Aunt Rosa grinned and pulled out a bag of salty pretzel bites. 'Free samples!' Soon a line formed. People munched, licked their lips, and reached for their wallets. Nadia gasped. 'So our job is not just to give thirsty people lemonade. We have to make them thirsty too!' Biscuit snuck a pretzel and drank from his water bowl for five whole minutes. Lulu wrote it down: 'Make thirst AND fix thirst.'

Step 3 · Try the model question

Aunt Rosa: Only thirsty people will buy our lemonade, and they enjoy quenching their thirst. But almost nobody walking past is thirsty enough to buy all the lemonade we need to sell. So the job of running our stand ______.

What fits the blank best?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Empty Theater

A small theater sued its ad agency. 'Only people who already love plays buy tickets,' the owner said. 'You were supposed to find them.' Mr. Whitfield rose, adjusting his suspenders. 'Your Honor, the owner's own words solve this. Only play-lovers buy tickets, true. But her own survey shows almost nobody in town loves plays enough to fill every seat all season.' He spread his hands. 'Then the job cannot be just finding play-lovers. It has to be making new ones, too.' Judge Okafor nodded. 'So the contract should have covered growing an audience, not only serving one that does not exist.'

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 124, Section 3, Question 7 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Write the premises as a chain: success needs some ingredient, and almost no one comes with enough of it. Ask what the job must therefore include. Predict: producing that ingredient, not just using it. Check each choice against the Lunchbox Rule; any choice that brings in an idea the premises never mention is out. Pick the one that the premises force, and watch for half-answers.