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Logical Reasoning · Sufficient Assumption

PrepTest 129 · Section 2 · Question 12

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type
Sufficient Assumption
The one idea it tests
Build a bridge rule that turns the goal in the premise into the action in the conclusion.
The basic logic
The premises say a group mostly wants something and that some new area offers lots of it. The conclusion says the group will chase that area. The magic key is a rule: anyone whose main goal is that thing will chase anything offering lots of it. Plug it in and the conclusion clicks shut.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “main”
  • “most”
  • “will”
  • “any”

Playground logic

The patty says most trading club kids mainly want rare cards, and the new shop promises tons of rare cards. The top bun says club kids will try to visit the shop. The secret sauce: anyone whose main goal is rare cards will chase any place that promises tons of them.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Great Card Shop Rush

The trading club at Maple Street School meets every Thursday. Most of its members care about one thing: rare cards. Shiny ones, holographic ones, ones with a dragon in the corner. On Monday a new shop opened on Elm Street with a giant sign: "Mountains of rare cards inside!" Marcus slammed his notebook shut. "Detective's prediction: the club kids will try to go to that shop. Guaranteed." Priya sipped her juice box. "What makes you so sure?" "Because they want rare cards, and the shop has rare cards." "That needs one more piece," said Priya. "You need a rule that anybody whose main goal is rare cards will chase every place that promises a pile of them. Without that rule, your guarantee is just a guess."

Step 3 · Try the model question

Most members of the trading club mainly want rare cards. The new shop on Elm Street promises a huge supply of rare cards. So the members of the trading club will surely try to visit the new shop.

Which choice, if added as a premise, makes the conclusion follow logically?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Bakers and the Sugar Sale

The prosecutor paced. "Your Honor, most bakers in this town care mainly about cheap sugar. The warehouse announced a giant sugar sale. Therefore the bakers will surely try to show up at the warehouse." Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "A tidy story, but it has a gap. The prosecutor shows what bakers want and what the warehouse offers. He never shows that wanting something means chasing every place that offers it." The judge tapped her pen. "So you need a rule that anyone whose main goal is cheap sugar will try to go wherever cheap sugar is promised." "Exactly, Your Honor. Give me that rule and his conclusion holds. Without it, it is a hunch."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 129, Section 2, Question 12 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Find the top bun and the patty. Circle the idea in the conclusion that never appears in the premises (an action) and the idea in the premises that never reaches the conclusion (a goal plus an opportunity). The right answer is a rule joining them, starting from the premise side and ending at the conclusion side. Run the Click Test: add the rule and check that the conclusion must follow. Be wary of rules pointing the wrong way.