Logical Reasoning · Inference

PrepTest 146 · 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

The one idea it tests

Fill in the conclusion the premises are clearly building toward, and no more.

The basic logic

One group reaches certain goals by using a tool. A second group wants the same goals. The blank should say the tool can help the second group, a modest claim, not that the tool is required or that the groups are identical.

Tiny words that decide it

“thus”
“can help”
“only if”
“same”

Playground logic

Frankie's balloons get people to stop, remember and come back, and Sharon wants exactly that for her car wash. So the top bun writes itself: balloons could help Sharon too. Saying balloons are a must, or that the two businesses are the same, goes too far.

Step 2 · The kid story

Balloons for Everybody

Frankie runs the busiest lemonade stand on Maple Street. Kids walk by, see his giant bunch of bright balloons, and stop. They remember the stand for days, and many come back the next weekend. Frankie even sneaks in a little sign about recycling cups, and people actually read it. How does he do it? The balloons, of course. They grab eyes and stick in memories. Across the street, Sharon just opened a bike wash. She wants the same three things: people who stop, people who remember, and people who come back. Sharon and Frankie are always debating, but even Sharon admits the logic here is plain. Kevin, munching pineapple pizza, said, "So balloons could help Sharon's bike wash too!" For once, Kevin rambled straight to the right point.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Frankie's balloons get kids to stop at his lemonade stand, remember it, and return. Sharon hopes her bike wash will do the same things. Thus, ____.

Which one of the following best completes the passage?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Glowing Sign

Ms. Okafor stood before the judge. "Your Honor, my client's diner uses a glowing sign. Travelers stop, remember the place, and return." She pointed at the plaintiff. "The bookstore next door wants travelers who stop, remember, and return." The judge raised an eyebrow. "And your conclusion, counselor?" "Only this: a glowing sign could help the bookstore too." Mr. Whitfield, for the bookstore, stood up. "So you are not saying we must have a sign, or that a bookstore is a diner?" "Not at all," she said. "Just that it could help." The judge smiled. "A modest claim, and a well supported one. Noted."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 146, Section 2, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Before looking at the choices, predict the conclusion yourself: the device that works for the first group can help the second group, which has the same aims. Then hunt for a choice with that same modest strength. Strike choices that claim the device is necessary, that the groups are the same in every way, or that add a duty or a topic the premises never set up. Match the strength of your prediction carefully.