VIPLSATCracking LSAT makes you a VIP.

Logical Reasoning · Role of a Statement

PrepTest 131 · Section 2 · 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
Role of a Statement
The one idea it tests
Sometimes a statement is the accepted fact that a rejected explanation was meant to explain.
The basic logic
The argument starts with an accepted observation, reports an explanation others give for it, then argues that explanation cannot be the whole story. On the Job Board, the observation is not the Boss and not a Helper. It is the thing the Rival's explanation is trying to account for.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “merely because”
  • “however”
  • “must be”

Playground logic

Everyone agrees soccer on the big field feels more exciting than in the backyard. Some say that is only because of the cheering crowd. Priya says there must be another reason. The 'big field feels more exciting' statement is the fact the crowd explanation is trying to explain.

Step 2 · The kid story

Why the Big Field Feels Bigger

After the game, the team flopped on the grass. Owen sighed happily. 'Playing on the big field is way more exciting than playing in my backyard.' Everyone agreed. Marcus nodded wisely. 'That is only because of the crowd cheering. No crowd in your backyard.' Priya shook her head. 'There has to be some other reason. Think about tag. We play tag at recess with a hundred kids watching, and we play tag at Owen's house with nobody watching. It feels about the same.' Marcus opened his mouth, then closed it. Lulu flipped to a new page. 'So the fact that big field soccer is more exciting is the puzzle,' she said. 'Marcus says the crowd explains it. Priya says the crowd can't be the whole answer.'

Step 3 · Try the model question

Priya: It is widely agreed that playing soccer on the big field is more exciting than playing in a backyard. Some say this is only because of the cheering crowd. But there must be another reason, since playing tag in front of a crowd feels about the same as playing tag with no one watching.

The statement that playing soccer on the big field is more exciting than playing in a backyard does what job in Priya's argument?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Mystery of the Louder Bakery Bell

In a small claims court, everyone agreed the bakery's front-door bell seemed louder in winter than in summer. The bakery's lawyer said, 'That is simply because the windows are closed in winter.' Mr. Whitfield stood. 'Your Honor, there must be another cause. The shop next door closes its windows too, and its bell sounds the same all year.' The judge tapped her pen. 'So nobody disputes that the bell seems louder in winter. That is the fact on the table. The closed windows idea is the explanation offered for it, and you are saying it fails.' Mr. Whitfield bowed. 'Precisely, Your Honor.'

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 131, Section 2, Question 7 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Locate the statement in the question and ask what job it does. Is it the conclusion, support, or something both sides accept? Then find the view the arguer rejects and ask what that view was trying to explain. If the statement is the observation the rejected explanation was meant to account for, that is its role. Rule out answers making it the conclusion, the thing refuted, or support for the rejected view.