Logical Reasoning · Paradox

PrepTest 136 · Section 2 · Question 23

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Paradox

The one idea it tests

A rule predicts an activity, the rule's trigger is present, yet the activity is missing.

The basic logic

Big groups usually do a lot of an activity because the activity keeps the group together. A certain group was big but did almost none of it. The fix is a fact that lets both sides shake hands: something else did that same job, so the activity was not needed.

Tiny words that decide it

“but”
“yet”
“usually”
“instead”

Playground logic

Big teams usually trade lots of high-fives to keep team spirit. Owen's team is huge yet trades almost none. If they sing a team song that builds spirit better, both facts shake hands: no high-fives needed.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Team That Never High-Fives

Coach Dee told the kids a pattern she had noticed. "The bigger a team, the more high-fives the players trade. High-fives keep the team feeling close." Owen's kickball team had thirty players, the biggest in town. Marcus watched a whole game with his detective notebook. "Weird. Almost zero high-fives. Mystery!" Priya sipped her juice box. "Maybe they have something better than high-fives." Owen laughed. "We sing our team song before every inning. It makes us feel way closer than slapping hands." Lulu wrote it down: Big team, few high-fives, but the job gets done another way. Marcus crossed out MYSTERY. Biscuit, the team mascot, howled along with the chorus.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Coach: The bigger a kickball team, the more high-fives its players trade, mainly to keep team spirit up. Owen's team is the biggest in town. Yet its players trade almost no high-fives.

Which choice, if true, best clears up the puzzle?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Silent Choir

"Your Honor," the plaintiff's lawyer said, "large choirs always hold the most rehearsal parties, to keep members friendly. The Maple Street Choir is the largest in the county, yet it threw no parties. Something is fishy." Mr. Whitfield rose. "Nothing fishy, Your Honor. The Maple Street members all live in one apartment building and eat dinner together every night. Those dinners keep them friendlier than any party could." The judge set down her pen. "So the parties had a job, and the dinners already did it. Both facts stand, and nobody is lying." She smiled. "That's what we call a handshake."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 136, Section 2, Question 23 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

State both sides of the puzzle in one line each: what the rule predicts and what actually happened. Note the stated purpose of the missing activity. Run the Handshake Test: the right answer lets both facts be true together. Often it shows the purpose was met another way. Reject choices that explain only one side, that make the clash worse, or that talk about other groups without touching the odd case.