Logical Reasoning · Main Conclusion

PrepTest 135 · Section 2 · Question 2

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Main Conclusion

The one idea it tests

Find the claim everything else supports, even when it hides after a 'however'.

The basic logic

The argument opens with background about people being hopeful, turns with a contrast word to say a certain hope will probably fail, then gives research as the reason. The top bun is the turn sentence. Pick the answer that restates it, keeping its hedge (probably, likely) and its exact scope.

Tiny words that decide it

“however”
“likely”
“yet”

Playground logic

Kevin's bottom bun: the class loves the new shortcut path. His top bun: kids hoping it will get them to school sooner will be let down. His patty: kids on the shortcut stop and play enough to eat up all the time it saves.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Shortcut Through the Field

A new path opened across the field behind the bakery. It cuts four minutes off the walk to school. Everyone was thrilled. "No more being late!" cheered Tommy. Kevin raised his hand at morning meeting and rambled for a while about a T. rex that once took a shortcut. Then he got to it. "Kids who think the shortcut will get them here earlier are probably going to be disappointed. Owen timed it. Kids on the shortcut stop to catch frogs and swing on the old rope. The minutes they lose match or beat the minutes the path saves." Ms. Rivera smiled. "So what is your point, Kevin?" Lulu wrote it down: The shortcut probably will not get kids to school sooner. Everything else is the reason, or the setup.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Kevin: Lots of kids are excited about the new shortcut, which cuts minutes off the walk to school. Kids who expect it to get them to school sooner will likely be disappointed, though. Owen found that kids who use the shortcut stop to play long enough that the lost minutes match or beat the minutes saved.

Which choice best states Kevin's main point?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Speedy Scooter

The Galactic Gum Company was on trial for its Turbo Scooter ads. "Kids love it," said its lawyer. "It is twice as fast as walking!" Mr. Whitfield stood up. "Your Honor, my point is this: families who expect the scooter to cut their trip to the store will probably be disappointed. Our witness counted. Scooter riders take so many extra loops and jumps that they use up all the time they save." The judge leaned forward. "So the loops are your evidence, and the disappointment is your conclusion?" "Exactly, Your Honor." The judge nodded. "Then the ad promises a benefit that likely never arrives."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 135, Section 2, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Label the opening as background: what people hope. Circle the contrast word and the sentence that follows it; that is your candidate top bun. Check that the research sentence supports it, not the other way around. Choose the answer that restates the candidate with the same scope and the same hedge. Drop answers that echo the evidence, widen the claim to a bigger outcome, or add a feature the speaker never discussed.