Logical Reasoning · Strengthen

PrepTest 137 · Section 3 · 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

Strengthen

The one idea it tests

To show an announcement caused a choice, rule out that people would have made that choice anyway.

The basic logic

The conclusion says something worked because people acted after hearing it. The secret sauce is that they were not already planning to act. A strengthener backs that sauce: it shows the action was new, not routine.

Tiny words that decide it

“apparently”
“after”
“more likely”

Playground logic

Nadia says the morning announcement made kids join the garden club, since kids who heard it signed up more. The secret sauce is that those kids were not already planning to join. A fact showing they had no plan before backs up the announcement as the cause.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Garden Club Announcement

Every morning, Ms. Rivera reads announcements over the speaker. On Tuesday she said, "The garden club needs helpers. Sign up by the office!" Nadia counted names on the sheet. "Look, way more kids signed up after the announcement than before it. The announcement worked!" Marcus squinted. "Maybe those kids were going to sign up anyway, announcement or not." Priya sipped her juice box. "Good question. Let's ask them." Lulu went down the list with her clipboard. Kid after kid said the same thing: "I didn't even know there was a garden club until I heard it." Nadia beamed. "Then the announcement really did it." Kevin signed up last. "Do we get to grow dinosaurs?" "No," said Lulu, and wrote that down too.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Kids who signed up for the garden club after Tuesday's morning announcement far outnumbered those who signed up before it. So the announcement did a good job of recruiting members.

Which choice, if true, gives the argument the most support?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Talking Billboard

A pet shop claimed its new talking billboard boosted sales of birdseed. A rival shop sued, calling the claim a fib. "Your Honor, people buy birdseed all the time. Maybe they would have bought it anyway!" Mr. Whitfield stood and snapped his suspenders. "We asked the buyers. Most said they came in for dog treats and only grabbed birdseed after the billboard squawked at them." The judge raised an eyebrow. "So the shoppers had no plan to buy birdseed until the sign spoke up?" "Exactly," said Mr. Whitfield. "The billboard did the work." The judge banged the gavel. "Claim upheld. And please turn down the squawking."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 137, Section 3, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Find the conclusion: something worked because people acted after it. Ask what else could explain the action, such as people who would have acted no matter what. Pick the choice that closes that gap by showing the action was new, not habit. Skip choices that only describe timing again, choices that add another reason for the action, and choices that never connect the action to the cause.