VIPLSATCracking LSAT makes you a VIP.

Logical Reasoning · Paradox

PrepTest 125 · Section 4 · Question 21

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type
Paradox
The one idea it tests
The same group resisted being pushed wrong AND resisted being pushed right; one trait (they ignore pushes) explains both.
The basic logic
Side one: a group did better than most when someone tried to steer them wrong. Side two: the same group did worse than most when someone tried to steer them right. The Handshake answer is a trait that makes them shrug off steering in either direction.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “fewer”
  • “greater”
  • “most”
  • “then”

Playground logic

Owen's group flew planes better than most when Marcus gave bad tips, but worse than most when Priya gave good tips. Strange! The handshake: those kids ignore tips. Bad tips could not hurt them, and good tips could not help them.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Paper Airplane Puzzle

In art class, Ms. Rivera ran an experiment. First Marcus, playing a sneaky coach, gave every kid terrible paper airplane tips. "Fold the nose up! Use wet paper!" Then Priya gave every kid excellent tips to fix their planes. Lulu tracked the results. "Weird. Owen, Kevin, and Nadia had fewer crashes than most kids during Marcus's bad tips. But during Priya's good tips, they had MORE crashes than most kids." Tommy scratched his head. "So are they good fliers or bad fliers?" Priya sipped her juice box. "Maybe neither. Maybe they just don't listen to coaches at all. Marcus's bad tips couldn't wreck them, and my good tips couldn't fix them." Owen shrugged. "I wasn't listening to either of you." Ms. Rivera laughed. "Mystery solved."

Step 3 · Try the model question

In a class experiment, a coach gave students bad tips for folding paper airplanes, and then a second coach gave them good tips. The students whose planes crashed less than most others under the bad tips crashed more than most others under the good tips.

Suppose each statement below is true. Which best explains the surprising result for those students?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Stubborn Jurors

Judge Okafor frowned at a report. "Counselor, in our mock-trial study, a sneaky speaker tried to confuse the jurors about a stolen bicycle, and then a helpful speaker tried to clear things up. Some jurors got fewer facts wrong than most during the confusing speech, but more wrong than most during the helpful one. Explain that." Mr. Whitfield adjusted his suspenders. "Your Honor, those jurors are simply stubborn. Nobody's speech moves them. The tricks could not trip them, and the help could not help them." The judge nodded. "One trait, both results. Very tidy."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 125, Section 4, Question 21 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Write down both sides: a group beat most others in the first round and trailed most others in the second. Ask what single trait would cause both. Run the Handshake Test: the right choice must explain round one AND round two. Cross out Half-Hugs that explain only one round, like a skill that would help in both rounds. Look for a trait about how the group responds to the questioning itself.