Logical Reasoning · Flaw
PrepTest 150 · Section 2 · Question 4
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “in contrast”
- “should”
- “if they simply”
Playground logic
Marcus sees Ms. Rivera calm the classroom with a soft whisper and tells the soccer coach to whisper on the field. His top bun borrows a trick from one crowd and hands it to a totally different crowd. That Bad Comparison skips the question of whether the listeners are alike.
Step 2 · The kid story
The Whispering Coach
Ms. Rivera has a secret weapon. When the class gets loud, she drops her voice to a tiny whisper, and everyone leans in to hear. It works every time. Marcus watched the soccer coach yelling at practice, red in the face. "Coach!" Marcus called. "You should whisper like Ms. Rivera. Kids listen better to whispers. It is science." The coach tried it. Nobody on the far side of the field heard a thing. Owen kicked the ball into the parking lot. Priya patted Marcus on the shoulder. "Whispering works for twenty kids sitting at desks. It does not work for forty kids running around a field." Marcus frowned. "So the trick depends on who is listening."
Step 3 · Try the model question
When classrooms get noisy, Ms. Rivera whispers, and her students quiet down and listen closely. The soccer coach usually shouts at practice. The coach would get the players to listen better if she simply whispered like Ms. Rivera.
The reasoning above is most open to which criticism?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Library Voice
A town council lawyer argued before the judge. "Your Honor, librarians ask people to be quiet with a gentle 'shh,' and the room obeys. So the fire department should use a gentle 'shh' at emergencies instead of sirens." Mr. Whitfield nearly dropped his suspenders. "Counselor, a reading room full of calm people is not a busy street full of traffic. A soft sound works on one crowd. It might do nothing for another." The judge nodded. "Before borrowing a trick, show me the two audiences are alike. Until then, the sirens stay."
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 150, Section 2, Question 4 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Find the two groups the argument compares and the audiences each one speaks to. Note that the evidence says a method succeeds with one audience, while the conclusion tells another group to use it on a different audience. Ask whether those audiences are alike. Pick the answer that points to this audience gap, in general terms. Skip answers that bring in difficulty, motives or facts the argument never relies on.