Logical Reasoning · Strengthen

PrepTest 142 · Section 2 · Question 6

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

When an argument infers that one thing influenced another from a pattern, tighten the pattern so the suspected cause lines up with every case and nothing else does.

The basic logic

The argument sees a bad outcome hit a group and notes a suspect who opposed that group, then concludes the suspect had a hand in it. Strengthen by showing the outcome hit only things the suspect opposed.

Tiny words that decide it

“every”
“likely”
“only”
“influenced”

Playground logic

Owen's bake-sale posters keep vanishing, and Marcus has said he hates bake sales. The patty is a match; the top bun is "Marcus probably had a hand in it." The match gets much stronger if the only posters that ever vanish are ones for things Marcus dislikes.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Vanishing Posters

Owen put up six posters for the class bake sale. By lunch, every single one was gone. "Someone is taking them," Owen said. Nadia whispered, "Marcus said bake sales are a waste of a good hallway." Lulu flipped her clipboard. "That's a clue, not proof. Maybe the janitor took down everything." Priya nodded. "Here's what would help. Did any other posters disappear? The spelling bee poster? The lost-cat poster?" Lulu checked. "All still there. The only posters that went missing this month were for the bake sale and the kickball league." Owen gasped. "Marcus hates kickball too!" "Now the clue gets louder," said Priya. Marcus, passing by with a suspicious roll of tape, kept walking very fast.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Every bake-sale poster Owen hung this week was removed by lunchtime. Marcus has often said he dislikes bake sales. So Marcus probably had something to do with the posters being removed.

Suppose each choice below is true. Which one gives the most support to the conclusion above?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Missing Library Flyers

A reading club claimed the bookstore owner had pulled its flyers from the town board. "Every flyer we posted was gone in a day," said their lawyer, "and the owner has said libraries hurt his sales." Mr. Whitfield, for the owner, shrugged. "Lots of flyers vanish. Wind, kids, rain." The club's lawyer handed up a log from the board's camera. "In six months, the only flyers that disappeared were for groups the owner has publicly opposed. The garage sale flyers? Untouched." The judge studied the log. "That pattern is hard to call wind, Mr. Whitfield." Mr. Whitfield adjusted his suspenders and said nothing.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 142, Section 2, Question 6 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Spot the inference: a bad outcome happened to a group, a suspect opposes that group, so the suspect probably influenced the outcome. To strengthen, look for an answer that makes the match exclusive, so the outcome lines up with the suspect's targets and nothing else. Reject answers that offer other causes, that widen to things the suspect also likes, or that just describe how common the outcome is in general.