Logical Reasoning · Paradox (EXCEPT)

PrepTest 145 · Section 4 · Question 21

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Paradox EXCEPT

The one idea it tests

Four choices explain the gap between two price lists; one just talks about prices without touching the gap.

The basic logic

The puzzle is why real prices sit far below a listed price for the same things. Good explainers show the two numbers measure different situations or times. The odd one out compares items inside one list and never shakes hands with the gap.

Tiny words that decide it

“EXCEPT”
“below”
“same”

Playground logic

Aunt Rosa's price book says a cookie costs fifty cents, but at the bake sale cookies go for way less. Tommy and Lulu find four reasons the book and the sale can both be right, and one sentence that just chats about cupcakes.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Price Book and the Bake Sale

Aunt Rosa has a thick price book for the lemonade stand. It says a cookie should cost fifty cents. But at the school bake sale, Tommy saw cookies selling for a dime each. "The book is broken!" he cried, hiding a cookie in his pocket. Lulu flipped her clipboard. "Maybe not. Maybe the sellers wanted to clear leftovers before closing. Maybe the book counts fancy frosted cookies, and these are plain. Maybe a bakery donated free flour. Maybe the book was written the year chocolate chips were super rare." Kevin added, "Also, cookies at the bake sale cost less than the cupcakes there." Lulu stared. "Kevin, that is true and also totally unhelpful." Kevin nodded happily. "Dinosaurs liked cupcakes, probably."

Step 3 · Try the model question

Aunt Rosa's price book lists fifty cents as the right price for a cookie. Yet at the school bake sale, cookies sold for about ten cents each.

Each choice below, supposing it were a fact, would help clear up the puzzle EXCEPT:

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Cheap Kites

A kite maker sued a shop. "Your Honor, the Official Kite Catalog says a kite costs twenty dollars. This shop sells them for five! Fraud!" Mr. Whitfield stood. "Maybe the catalog prices custom kites, and the shop sells plain ones. Maybe the shop bought last season's leftovers. Maybe the catalog is ten years old." The kite maker sniffed. "Well, in the shop, kites cost less than bicycles!" The judge sighed. "True. Also beside the point. That tells me nothing about why the shop is below the catalog. Case dismissed."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 145, Section 4, Question 21 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

State the gap in one line: real prices for the same items sit far below a listed price. For each choice, run the Handshake Test: does it give a reason the two numbers can both be true, like different times, different buyers, different amounts, or a listed price built with a cushion? Four choices do. The answer is the one that compares items to each other but never reaches across the gap.