Logical Reasoning · Inference (Complete the Argument)

PrepTest 144 · Section 2 · 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

Inference (complete the argument)

The one idea it tests

Stack the rules and follow them one more step to the conclusion they force.

The basic logic

One group may not hold a certain job because the job has a duty that group should not do. A general rule says nobody gets a job with a duty they should not do. Then a second job is described that also carries that duty. The blank should apply the same rule to the second job.

Tiny words that decide it

“only”
“nobody”
“when”
“so”

Playground logic

Lulu's patty: kids without a glue license can't be Craft Captain, because the Captain runs the hot-glue gun, and nobody gets a job with a duty they shouldn't do. New fact: the Assistant Captain fills in and runs the gun when the Captain is gone. Top bun: unlicensed kids shouldn't be Assistant Captain either.

Step 2 · The kid story

Who Gets the Glue Gun?

Ms. Rivera posted the class job chart. "Second graders visiting our room can do almost any job," she said. "Line Leader, Plant Waterer, Pencil Sharpener. But not Craft Captain. The Craft Captain runs the hot-glue gun, and only kids with a glue license should touch it. And nobody gets a job that includes something they shouldn't do." Lulu raised her hand. "What about the Assistant Craft Captain?" "Good question," said Ms. Rivera. "When the Captain is out sick, the Assistant takes over everything, glue gun included." Lulu wrote on her clipboard: Rule one, no job with a duty you shouldn't do. Rule two, Assistant sometimes runs the glue gun. She sighed. "So I can't be Assistant either." "You can water the plants," said Ms. Rivera. Lulu brightened. Plants don't need glue.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Visiting kids without a glue license may hold most class jobs but not Craft Captain, since the Captain runs the hot-glue gun and only licensed kids should. No one should get a job that includes a duty they should not do. Also, the Assistant Craft Captain takes over all of the Captain's duties when the Captain is absent. So, ______.

Which choice best fills the blank?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Backup Bus Driver

Judge Okafor read the rule aloud. "No one may hold a post that includes a task they are not licensed for. Drivers of the big school bus need a special license." Mr. Whitfield stood. "Your Honor, my client has no such license, so he is not the main driver. He is only the backup driver." The judge peered over her glasses. "And what does the backup driver do when the main driver is out?" Mr. Whitfield paused. "He... drives the big bus." "Then the backup post includes a task your client is not licensed for. By the same rule, he may not hold it." Mr. Whitfield sat down slowly. "I walked right into that one."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 144, Section 2, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

List each rule as its own line: who is barred from which post, and why. Underline the general rule about duties. Then read the new fact about the second post and ask which duty it carries. Chain the rules forward one step. The right answer applies the same reason to the second post, no stronger and no wider. Cross out answers that add new goals, change the rules, or reach past what the rules force.