Logical Reasoning · Strengthen

PrepTest 136 · Section 2 · Question 17

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

Support a prediction that a new barrier against freeloaders will raise sales by showing how the barrier turns freeloaders into buyers.

The basic logic

The plan blocks people who take the product without paying. The prediction is that sales rise a lot. The gap: blocking freeloaders might just leave them going without. The strengthener gives a mechanism that pushes those freeloaders to pay.

Tiny words that decide it

“most”
“once”
“causes”

Playground logic

Tommy's friends keep sneaking free cups from his lemonade cooler. He adds a tap that gives sneakers just a sip, which hooks them into wanting a full cup. The patty that helps: the block itself turns sneakers into customers.

Step 2 · The kid story

Tommy's Lemonade Lock

Tommy's lemonade stand had a problem. Kids kept sneaking cups from the cooler while he wasn't looking. "Watch this. A special tap is coming," he announced. "Once it's on, sales will jump way up!" Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Or the sneakers just give up and drink water." Tommy hadn't thought of that. Priya stepped in. "Here's what the tap does. If you don't pay, it gives you one tiny sip. And Tommy's lemonade is so good that one sip makes most kids want a whole cup." Marcus whistled. "So the sip turns sneakers into customers." "Exactly," said Priya. "That's the missing piece. Blocking the sneakers isn't enough. Something has to push them to pay." Lulu wrote: block plus a push equals more sales. Tommy counted his quarters at the end of the day. Lots of quarters.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Kids often sneak free lemonade from Tommy's cooler. Tommy is adding a special tap to stop this. He predicts his lemonade sales will rise substantially once the tap is in place.

Assuming each is true, which choice gives Tommy's prediction the strongest boost?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Ticket Gate

The Riverside Puppet Theater was in court over its new back-door gate. "Your Honor," said the theater's lawyer, Nell Ward, "people have been slipping in free. With the gate, ticket sales will soar." The skeptical judge, Judge Fry, asked, "Won't the sneakers just stay home?" Mr. Whitfield, called as a friendly witness, explained. "The gate opens for the first five minutes of each show, Your Honor. Most sneakers catch the opening, get hooked, and line up to buy tickets for the next show." Judge Fry nodded. "So the gate doesn't just block them. It turns them into customers." Ms. Ward smiled. "That's the link our prediction needed."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 136, Section 2, Question 17 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Find the prediction (sales will rise) and the plan (a new block on people using the product without paying). Ask what could stop the plan from working: blocked people might simply go without. A strong supporter shows a mechanism that turns blocked people into paying buyers. Choices about past costs, trends in general, or comparisons with others usually leave that gap open. Pick the one that builds the bridge.