Logical Reasoning · Strengthen

PrepTest 142 · Section 2 · Question 22

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Strengthen (EXCEPT)

The one idea it tests

Four answers back up the claim that cutting back would cause no harm. The odd one out talks about a different group, or even hints that more of the habit helps.

The basic logic

The evidence: the highest and lowest groups score the same. The conclusion: the high group could cut back safely. Strengtheners confirm the measurement, show the same pattern, or show real cutbacks with no harm. The answer to pick fails to help, often because it comes from an unrelated group and points the other way.

Tiny words that decide it

“EXCEPT”
“about the same”
“could”
“without”

Playground logic

Nadia sees that big candy eaters and tiny candy eaters spell equally well, so she says the big eaters could cut back without their spelling slipping. Real helpers make that patty firmer. A fact about grown-ups in another town where more candy goes with better spelling is a Stranger, and it even leans against her.

Step 2 · The kid story

Candy and Spelling Tests

Nadia did a survey at lunch. The kids who ate the most candy got about the same spelling scores as the kids who ate the least. "So," she announced, "the candy monsters could eat way less candy, and their spelling would not suffer." Marcus scoffed. "Prove it." Priya helped. Both groups study the same number of hours each week. The candy has nothing in it that changes memory. The big eaters don't use candy as a study reward. All the scores came from the same test on the same day. Each fact made Nadia's claim sturdier. Then Kevin read a news story: in a town far away, grown-ups who ate more candy did better on word puzzles. "That helps her!" said Kevin. Lulu shook her head. "Different people, different puzzles. And it points the wrong way."

Step 3 · Try the model question

At school, the kids who eat the most candy at lunch get about the same spelling scores as the kids who eat the least. This suggests the big candy eaters could eat less without their spelling scores dropping.

All of the following would support Nadia's argument EXCEPT:

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Overtime Gardeners

"Your Honor," said Mr. Whitfield, "gardeners who water the most and gardeners who water the least grow tomatoes of equal size. So the heavy waterers could use less water without smaller tomatoes." Judge Bay listened as he added support: the soil is the same in every plot, the scale was checked twice, and two gardeners already cut back with no change. Then the other side said, "In a desert farm overseas, more water means bigger melons." The judge frowned. "Different place, different crop, and it points the other way. That does not help Mr. Whitfield. Everything else did."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 142, Section 2, Question 22 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

State the conclusion precisely: the high group could cut back without a worse outcome. Run each answer: does it make the comparison more trustworthy, repeat the pattern, or show real cutbacks without harm? Those are helpers. The answer you want either says nothing about this group or hints the habit actually helps. Watch for a shift in who is studied; a different population is a classic Stranger.