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Logical Reasoning · Strengthen

PrepTest 129 · Section 2 · Question 22

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type
Strengthen
The one idea it tests
Finding something in place one only shows it started there if place one had it first.
The basic logic
The top bun is about where something began. The patty is just that it was found in a second place. The gap is timing: maybe it was carried back. A strengthener shows the finds in the first place are older than anything in the other place.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “shows”
  • “contrary to”
  • “not”
  • “first”

Playground logic

Marcus's patty: special knot bracelets were found at Oak Street. His top bun: the knot was not invented at Maple, as everyone thought. The secret sauce is timing, so proof that the Oak bracelets are older than every Maple one adds a big slice of support.

Step 2 · The kid story

Who Invented the Twisty Knot?

Everyone at Maple School believed the twisty-knot friendship bracelet was invented right there, in the Maple art room. Years ago, a bunch of kids moved from Oak Street School over to Maple. Then Marcus, poking through a dusty box at Oak Street, found a pile of twisty-knot bracelets. 'Aha!' he shouted. 'The twisty knot was not invented at Maple after all!' Priya tilted her head. 'Maybe. But what if a Maple kid visited Oak and taught them later?' Marcus paused. 'Hmm. So I need to know which came first.' Nadia checked the box. 'These have dates written inside the tags. They're older than any twisty bracelet ever found at Maple.' Marcus grinned. 'Now THAT helps my case.' Kevin asked if anyone had ever made a dinosaur knot.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Kids once moved from Oak Street School to Maple School. Marcus found twisty-knot bracelets at Oak Street. So, contrary to what most people think, the twisty knot was not invented at Maple.

Which choice, if true, gives the most support to Marcus's conclusion?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Secret Sauce Recipe

Two diners both claimed to have invented the famous tangy sandwich sauce. Everyone assumed the Uptown Diner made it first. Then a cook from the Riverside Diner showed up with an old jar of the sauce from Riverside's back shelf. 'This proves Riverside invented it!' said her lawyer. Mr. Whitfield raised an eyebrow. 'Your Honor, cooks moved between the two diners all the time. That jar could be a later copy.' The lawyer smiled and handed over a receipt. 'The jar's label is dated earlier than any Uptown record of the sauce.' The judge leaned back. 'Well. That timing changes things.' Mr. Whitfield quietly loosened his suspenders.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 129, Section 2, Question 22 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

State the conclusion in terms of where something started, and the evidence in terms of where it was found. Then ask how the evidence could be found there even if the conclusion were false: maybe it traveled the other way later. Pick the choice that closes that gap, usually by fixing the order of events. Skip choices about quality, usefulness, or later travel that would cut the wrong way.