Logical Reasoning · Weaken

PrepTest 151 · Section 2 · Question 12

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Weaken

The one idea it tests

A count from one source only reflects that source. If different groups report to different places, the count can be lopsided.

The basic logic

The patty is a tally from one collector, adjusted for group size. The top bun is a ranking of all groups. The secret sauce: every group's problems reach this collector at a similar rate. Weaken by showing some groups send their problems somewhere else.

Tiny words that decide it

“obviously”
“proportion”
“smallest”

Playground logic

The nurse's log says the swings cause the fewest scrapes per user, so Marcus crowns them safest. The sauce is that every scrape lands in the nurse's log. Pop it: most swing scrapes get patched by the recess aide's own kit and never reach the nurse.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Safest Ride on the Playground

Marcus marched in waving the school nurse's bandage log. "Detective work, people. The nurse counted scrapes by playground ride and even adjusted for how many kids use each one. The slide has the most scrapes per kid. The swings have the fewest. Obviously the swings are the safest ride." Lulu flipped her clipboard. "Who brings scrapes to the nurse?" "Everybody!" said Marcus. Nadia raised her hand. "Not from the swings. Ms. Delgado stands by the swings with her own first-aid bag. She fixes those scrapes right there, and nobody goes inside." Tommy nodded, mouth full of hidden gummy worms. "She has the good bandages. With the sharks." Priya smiled. "So the nurse's log barely sees the swing scrapes. The count is lopsided, not the swings."

Step 3 · Try the model question

The school nurse logged scrapes by playground ride, adjusting for how many kids use each ride. Per user, the slide had the most scrapes and the swings had the fewest. So the swings are clearly the safest ride on the playground.

Which choice, if true, does the most damage to this argument?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Quietest Neighbor

Mrs. Hargrove stood before Judge Lin. "Your Honor, the town noise office logs complaints by street, adjusted for how many homes are on each. Maple Lane has the fewest per home. Clearly Maple Lane is the quietest street." Mr. Whitfield rose, suspenders gleaming. "One question. Does Maple Lane have its own neighborhood association?" "It does." "And where do Maple Lane residents send noise complaints?" She paused. "To the association." "Not to the town office?" "Mostly not." Mr. Whitfield turned to the judge. "Then the town's log hardly hears Maple Lane at all. A quiet log is not a quiet street." The judge nodded. "Noted."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 151, Section 2, Question 12 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Find the tally and who collected it. Notice the leap from what one collector saw to a ranking of all groups. Name the sauce: every group's cases reach that collector equally. Look for a choice showing some groups send their cases elsewhere, so the collector's count is skewed. Ignore anything that does not touch how the data were gathered.