Logical Reasoning · Most Strongly Supported

PrepTest 133 · Section 3 · Question 13

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Most Strongly Supported

The one idea it tests

Two items share one risk, but only one carries a built-in way to be traced to its owner; so that one can leak in situations where the other cannot.

The basic logic

Line up the facts: both can hold secrets; item one reveals who it belongs to by itself; item two can only be traced through an outside label. Combine them. Stay inside the Lunchbox: no claims about how often or how much people worry.

Tiny words that decide it

“like”
“also”
“only”

Playground logic

Tommy's drawings and his diary both hold secrets. But his drawings have his one-of-a-kind doodle style, while the diary can only be traced through the name on the cover. So a drawing can give Tommy away in cases where the diary cannot, like when the cover has no name.

Step 2 · The kid story

Tommy's Secret Doodles

Tommy keeps secrets in two places. His diary says where he hides his candy. His drawings show his candy hiding spots too, in little pictures. Lulu studied both with her clipboard. 'Here is the thing,' she said. 'Your drawings always have your rocket-ship doodle in the corner. Everybody knows that doodle. Anyone who finds a drawing knows it is yours.' 'And my diary?' Tommy asked. 'The only way to know it is yours is the name on the cover,' said Lulu. Tommy gulped. 'So if I peel off the name, a lost diary is a mystery. But a lost drawing points right at me.' Lulu nodded. 'Drawings can spill your secrets in times when the diary cannot.'

Step 3 · Try the model question

Like Tommy's diary, Tommy's drawings can hold his secrets. Each drawing also carries his rocket-ship doodle, which anyone at school can recognize as his. A diary can be traced to its owner only by the name written on its cover.

Which choice gets the most backing from these facts?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Anonymous Letter

In a fictional trial, a lawyer argued that a typed note and a handwritten note were equally private. The judge disagreed. 'Both notes can contain private thoughts,' she said. 'But this handwritten note is in the writer's unmistakable looping script. Anyone who knows that hand knows who wrote it. The typed note can be tied to its writer only through the envelope's return address.' Mr. Whitfield nodded. 'So if the envelope is thrown away, the typed note is a mystery, but the handwritten one still points to its author.' 'Exactly,' said the judge. 'The handwritten note can expose its writer in situations where the typed one cannot.'

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 133, Section 3, Question 13 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

List each fact in plain terms: what the two things share, what extra feature one has, and the single route by which the other can be traced. Combine them into the safest conclusion the facts force. Use the Spoiler Test: the right choice should feel already given away by the facts. Reject choices about frequency, feelings, or amounts, and reject any that use strong words the facts do not earn.