Logical Reasoning · Main Conclusion
PrepTest 142 · Section 2 · Question 9
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “so”
- “not”
- “even though”
Playground logic
Lulu's burger has a rule as its patty (sort games by how you score), a top bun that applies it (tag-ball is a tag game, not a ball game), and an extra slice of patty after it (you score by tagging, not by the ball). Kevin keeps pointing at the ball, but the point Lulu is proving is where tag-ball belongs.
Step 2 · The kid story
Lulu Sorts the Game Closet
Ms. Rivera asked Lulu to label the game closet. Lulu tapped her clipboard. "Here is my rule. A game goes on a shelf based on how you win points, not based on what stuff is in the box." Kevin held up the tag-ball box. "This has a ball! Ball shelf!" Lulu shook her head. "So tag-ball goes on the tag shelf, not the ball shelf. Yes, there is a ball. But nobody scores with the ball. You score when you tag someone." Kevin frowned at the ball, then at the shelf, then at a plastic stegosaurus he had found in the closet. "Can the stegosaurus go on the tag shelf too?" Priya sipped her juice box. "Kevin, Lulu just told you her whole point. Which shelf does tag-ball go on?" Kevin sighed. "Tag shelf."
Step 3 · Try the model question
Lulu: Games should be shelved by how players earn points, not by the equipment in the box. So tag-ball belongs on the tag shelf rather than the ball shelf. True, tag-ball comes with a ball, but players score only by tagging each other.
Which one of the following best states the point Lulu is trying to prove?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Mislabeled Bike Bell
Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "Your Honor, the town rule says a gadget is taxed by what it does, not by what it is made of. So my client's talking bike bell is a toy, not a tool. Yes, it has a metal clapper like a tool. But all it does is play silly songs." Judge Banerjee peered over her glasses. "Counselor, is your main point the rule, the songs, or the label?" "The label, Your Honor. The rule and the songs are just there to hold it up." "Then I will rule on the label." She banged the gavel, which made the bike bell sing.
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 142, Section 2, Question 9 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Read the whole argument and mark every claim. Find the claim that the other sentences are trying to prove, even if it sits in the middle. Run the 'because' test: does the claim hold up because of the others? Watch for a general rule (patty) and an explanation added after the claim (patty). Pick the choice that restates the top bun, including its 'this, not that' shape, and not the rule.