Logical Reasoning · Most Strongly Supported

PrepTest 138 · Section 2 · Question 8

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Inference (Most Strongly Supported)

The one idea it tests

Spot the loop: A adds to C, and C helps A grow, so if C gets going, A pushes it further.

The basic logic

One fact says a thing produces something that boosts an effect. Another says the thing itself grows faster under that effect. Put them together and you get a loop that feeds itself. The supported answer is conditional and modest, not a sweeping claim about amounts or other cases.

Tiny words that decide it

“if”
“more quickly”
“promotes”

Playground logic

When Kevin talks about dinosaurs, more kids join in, and the table gets louder. And Kevin talks even more when the table is loud. Put the two patties together: if the table gets loud, Kevin will make it louder still. That is all the lunchbox holds.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Kevin Volume Loop

Ms. Rivera noticed two things about the lunch table. First, when Kevin starts a dinosaur speech, other kids chime in with their own dinosaur facts, so the noise goes up. Second, Kevin talks faster and longer when the table is already noisy, because he thinks he has a bigger audience. Marcus announced, 'So Kevin is the reason every lunchroom in the world is loud!' Priya shook her head. 'Too big. We only know two things. Kevin's speeches add noise, and noise makes Kevin give more speeches. So if the table gets loud for any reason, Kevin will probably make it even louder.' Lulu drew a circle with two arrows on her clipboard. Kevin, mid-speech, said, 'The loudest dinosaur might have been a parasaurolophus!' The table got louder.

Step 3 · Try the model question

When Kevin gives a dinosaur speech at lunch, other kids join in and the table gets louder. Also, Kevin gives more and longer dinosaur speeches when the table is noisy.

The facts above most strongly support which one of the following?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Snowball Hill

A ski resort sued a neighbor whose snow machine blew powder onto the resort's slope. The resort's lawyer argued, 'The machine makes snow that cools the hill. And the machine runs faster when the hill is colder.' Judge Quinn raised an eyebrow. 'So the machine caused every cold winter here?' Mr. Whitfield stood. 'No, Your Honor. Only this: if the hill turns cold, the machine will make it colder. That is what those two facts support, and nothing more.' The judge nodded. 'Then I will rule only on that.'

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 138, Section 2, Question 8 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

List the facts as arrows: what produces what, what boosts what, and what makes the producer grow. Look for a loop where the effect feeds back into its own cause. Predict a careful, conditional statement: if the effect occurs, the producer will add to it. Pick the choice closest to that. Reject Megaphones that claim too much, Blankets that spread to every similar case, and Strangers that bring in facts the passage never gives.