Logical Reasoning · Point at Issue

PrepTest 140 · 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

Point at Issue

The one idea it tests

Two speakers accept the same fact but disagree about what that fact should make us do.

The basic logic

Both speakers start from the same shortfall. One says it means the rule is broken. The other says the rule is fine and the missing stuff is just hidden. Run the Two-Clipboard Test: find the statement one would check 'yes' and the other 'no'.

Tiny words that decide it

“should”
“committed”
“disagree”

Playground logic

Frankie and Sharon both agree they found only a few of Biscuit's hidden toys. Frankie's top bun: drop the rule about how many toys Biscuit hides. Sharon's top bun: keep the rule, the rest are still hidden. They fight over whether the shortfall should make them drop the rule.

Step 2 · The kid story

Biscuit's Secret Stash

Lulu had a rule on her clipboard: 'Biscuit buries one toy every day.' After twenty days, Frankie and Sharon searched the yard. They found only two toys. Frankie threw up her hands. 'Twenty days, two toys. Your rule is wrong, Lulu. Throw it away.' Sharon shook her head. 'The rule has been right every time we watched Biscuit. He buried a toy on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and we saw it. So I think most of the toys are still out there. We just haven't dug in the right spots.' Lulu looked at her clipboard, then at Biscuit, who was very busy pretending not to know anything. Tommy whispered that his missing candy might be down there too.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Frankie: We found only two of the twenty toys Lulu's rule says Biscuit buried, so we should throw the rule away. Sharon: The rule has worked every time we watched, so it is better to think most of the toys are still buried somewhere.

On which point do Frankie and Sharon clearly split?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Missing Marbles Hearing

Judge Okafor looked at two expert witnesses. 'The marble factory's formula says the jar should hold five hundred marbles. We counted fifty.' Dr. Plum folded her arms. 'Then the formula is junk, Your Honor. Toss it.' Dr. Grey shook his head. 'That formula has predicted every jar for ten years. I say four hundred and fifty marbles rolled under the shelf.' Mr. Whitfield leaned toward his client. 'See? They agree on the count. They agree the formula has a good record. They only fight about whether a low count means throwing out the formula.' The judge nodded and sent a bailiff to look under the shelf.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 140, Section 3, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Write each speaker's top bun on its own clipboard. Note what both accept as given; those statements cannot be the answer. Find the one statement where one speaker clearly says yes and the other clearly says no. Check that both actually speak to it. Toss statements only one speaker addresses, or ones both would accept.