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Logical Reasoning · Principle

PrepTest 150 · Section 2 · Question 5

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type
Principle (Justify)
The one idea it tests
Find the rule that turns the stated facts into the speaker's verdict, with no extra conditions in the way.
The basic logic
Line up the facts: an act was done on purpose, and the result might or might not be permanent. The verdict applies only in the permanent case. The right rule says the act counts as the bad thing exactly when the result is permanent. Use the Click Test.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “if and only if”
  • “deliberately”
  • “only when”
  • “unless”

Playground logic

Tommy says that hiding Lulu's crayons on purpose is only stealing if she never gets them back. The rule that clicks is: hiding on purpose counts as stealing exactly when the crayons stay gone. That rule is the secret sauce for his verdict.

Step 2 · The kid story

Tommy's Crayon Rule

Tommy hid Lulu's crayon box inside the cereal cupboard. On purpose. He told her it was a treasure hunt, and she agreed to play. "If you find it by dinner, it was a game," Tommy explained. "If the crayons never come back, then, okay, I guess I stole them." Lulu clicked her pen. "What rule makes that true?" Priya, visiting with her juice box, thought about it. "Taking something on purpose is stealing exactly when the thing never comes back. If it comes back, it is not stealing. If it stays gone, it is." Lulu wrote it down. Then she found the crayons in four minutes, behind the oatmeal. Tommy was safe. Mr. Whiskers knocked the oatmeal off the shelf anyway.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Tommy hid Lulu's crayons on purpose as part of a game she agreed to. Because he took them on purpose, if the crayons are never returned, Tommy would count as guilty of stealing.

Which principle, if accepted, best supports Tommy's verdict?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Borrowed Bicycle

A defendant borrowed his neighbor's bicycle on purpose, with permission, to win a race across town. The prosecutor addressed the court. "Your Honor, if the bicycle is never returned, he is guilty of theft." The judge asked, "On what rule?" Mr. Whitfield, for once agreeing with the other side, tugged his suspenders. "The rule must be this: taking something on purpose is theft exactly when it is gone for good. Returned bicycle, no theft. Vanished bicycle, theft." The judge nodded. "That rule fits both halves. Bring the bicycle back by Friday, sir."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 150, Section 2, Question 5 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Write the facts and the verdict as a little equation: intentional act plus some outcome equals the label. Notice exactly which outcome triggers the label. Then run each principle through the Click Test: does it, with the facts, produce the verdict? Toss rules that add conditions the facts do not meet, rules that would clear the people involved, and rules about different situations. The right answer links the label to the outcome in both directions.