Logical Reasoning · Inference (Most Strongly Supported)

PrepTest 151 · Section 3 · Question 16

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Inference (Most Strongly Supported)

The one idea it tests

Combine the facts you are given and choose the answer they make most likely, without adding outside information.

The basic logic

The passage says one material breaks down fast, so few originals made of it survive, while copies made of a tougher material survive and became the main evidence. Ask what must be behind 'few originals survive': most of the lost originals were made of the fragile material. The right answer quietly follows from that link.

Tiny words that decide it

“most”
“usually”
“for this reason”

Playground logic

Snow forts melt within days, so the kids have almost no real forts left to study by spring. But in art class they made clay models of their forts, and the clay lasted, so most of what they know about their winter forts comes from the clay. The lunchbox supports: of the forts that disappeared, more were snow than anything as tough as clay.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Melted Fort Mystery

All winter, the kids built snow forts in the schoolyard. Tall ones, round ones, one shaped like a dinosaur (Kevin's idea). But snow melts. By March, the forts were puddles. Ms. Rivera wanted the class to write a report about their forts, but there was nothing left to look at. "Wait!" said Lulu. "We made clay models of our forts in art class!" The clay forts were still sitting on the shelf, perfectly fine. So the class used the clay models as their main evidence. Priya said, "The real forts disappeared because they were made of snow. If they'd been made of clay, they'd still be here." Marcus nodded slowly. "So the missing forts were mostly snow forts. Makes sense. Clay doesn't puddle."

Step 3 · Try the model question

Snow usually melts within a few days. For this reason, the class has few of its winter forts left to study. However, the class made clay models of the forts, and the clay has lasted. So most of what the class knows about its forts comes from those models.

Which statement do these facts back up best?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Vanished Ice Sculptures

Judge Okafor reviewed the winter carnival dispute. The carnival's lawyer explained, "Ice melts within a week, so none of last year's sculptures remain. Our only record is the set of bronze miniatures each sculptor cast, since bronze does not melt." Mr. Whitfield, representing a sculptor, rose. "Your Honor, I'd like to confirm one thing. The sculptures that are gone, were most of them ice?" "Of course," said the lawyer. "That's why they're gone." Mr. Whitfield nodded. "And if many had been carved from something as sturdy as bronze, they'd still be standing." The judge wrote it down. "Agreed. The facts strongly suggest the missing sculptures were mostly ice, not tougher stuff."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 151, Section 3, Question 16 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Line up the facts in order: what breaks down, why few originals survive, what lasted instead, and how it became the main evidence. Ask what must be true about the missing originals for that explanation to make sense. Prefer an answer that follows from combining the facts. Eliminate choices that bring in who made things, what people knew, or other details the passage never mentions.