Logical Reasoning · Strengthen
PrepTest 151 · Section 2 · Question 14
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “since”
- “both”
- “probably not solely”
Playground logic
Priya argues Tommy's jigsaw skill and Lulu's maze skill both come from the family, not just from school. The gap: jigsaws and mazes might be totally different skills. Strengthen by showing both depend on the same knack for seeing shapes in space.
Step 2 · The kid story
The Puzzle Family
Tommy can finish a 500-piece jigsaw before his candy stash runs out, which is saying something. Lulu solves the hardest mazes in her activity book in under a minute, then checks them twice on her clipboard. Priya had a theory. "They are brother and sister. They share a family. So this puzzle talent probably is not just something Ms. Rivera taught them. It runs in the family." Marcus scoffed. "Jigsaws and mazes are totally different. One is pieces, one is paths. Your detective work has a hole." Priya sipped her juice box. "Not if both depend on the same thing: picturing shapes and spaces in your head. And that knack runs in families." Marcus opened his mouth, then closed it. The bridge was built.
Step 3 · Try the model question
Tommy is great at jigsaw puzzles, and his sister Lulu is great at mazes. Since both skills show up in the same family, the puzzle talent is probably not learned only at school but comes at least partly from the family itself.
Which choice, if true, gives the most support to this reasoning?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Two Bakers
Judge Albright looked at the cousins. "The Pastry Guild claims your talent for perfect bread and perfect pie crust came only from its classes, so it deserves a share of your prizes." Mr. Whitfield stood. "Your Honor, one cousin bakes bread, the other bakes crust. They share a grandmother. The talent likely came from the family, not only from classes." The Guild's lawyer objected. "Bread and crust are different skills!" Mr. Whitfield nodded. "Then let me call an expert." The expert testified: "Both depend on an unusually fine sense of touch for dough, and that sense tends to run in families." The judge smiled. "The bridge is built. Claim denied."
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 151, Section 2, Question 14 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Identify the two observed abilities, the two groups, and what the groups share. Note the conclusion credits the shared thing rather than only learning. Find the gap: the two abilities are not obviously the same. Look for a choice that links them to one common, inherited trait. Reject anything that leaves the two abilities unconnected.