Logical Reasoning · Inference

PrepTest 146 · Section 1 · Question 13

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Inference

The one idea it tests

If a feature is what slows one group down compared with a second group, then the second group probably lacks that feature.

The basic logic

Find the cause in the lunchbox: a feature makes one group slower than another group. Ask what that tells you about the other group. Pick the modest choice that must be roughly true, and avoid big claims the lunchbox never packed.

Tiny words that decide it

“hampered by”
“so”
“often”
“most”

Playground logic

Tommy's sled is slowed by its big wings and long fringe, so it cannot keep up with the plain sleds. If the decorations are what slow it, Lulu figures the plain sleds tend not to carry those decorations.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Fanciest Sled on the Hill

Tommy glued cardboard wings, long paper fringe, and a little flag onto his sled. "It is the fanciest sled ever," he said. Grandpa admired it. Then the race began. The wings caught the wind, the fringe dragged in the snow, and every plain sled zoomed past Tommy to the bottom of the hill. He came in last almost every time. Also, when Tommy lent it to Kevin, half the fringe fell off. Marcus said, "Tommy will never win anything ever again." Lulu wrote on her clipboard instead. "The wings and fringe are what slowed Tommy down compared with the plain sleds. So the plain sleds probably do not have big wings and fringe." Tommy hid a candy bar in a wing. "At least it has storage."

Step 3 · Try the model question

Tommy's decorated sled looks amazing, but it is slower than plain sleds. Held back by its cardboard wings and long fringe, it cannot reach the bottom of the hill as fast as the plain sleds racing it, so it usually loses.

Which choice is best backed up by the information about the sled race?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Heavy Armor

A knight-costume contest at the county fair ended in a lawsuit. A contestant claimed the obstacle course was rigged. Mr. Whitfield called a witness. "Did the heavy cardboard armor slow the costumed runners down?" "Yes. They could not climb the wall as fast as the runners they raced against, so they lost." The judge leaned forward. "Then the runners who beat them were not wearing that heavy armor, were they?" The witness shrugged. "Mostly regular shorts and sneakers." "So nothing was rigged," said the judge. "If a feature is what slows one group, the faster group likely did not carry it." Mr. Whitfield tipped his imaginary helmet.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 146, Section 1, Question 13 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Identify the comparison: one group is held back by certain features compared with another group. Ask what must be true about the other group for that comparison to work. Then use the Spoiler Test on each choice: does it bring in new topics such as preferences, buyers, or care, or does it make a claim stronger than the passage supports? Choose the modest answer that follows directly.