Logical Reasoning · Method of Argument

PrepTest 152 · Section 2 · Question 20

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Method of Argument

The one idea it tests

The reply attacks a line the first speaker drew between two things, saying the two are not really separate.

The basic logic

Find the split the first speaker relies on (this kind versus that kind). Then see whether the second speaker says one side is actually the source or part of the other. If so, the reply is knocking down the split itself.

Tiny words that decide it

“only if”
“or”
“root”
“alone”

Playground logic

Sharon's rule splits recess into real exercise and mere play, and allows only the exercise kind. Frankie answers that play is where exercise comes from, so Sharon's split does not hold up.

Step 2 · The kid story

Exercise or Just Playing?

Sharon stood on the bench with her whistle. "New recess rule! Before a game starts, ask yourself: is this real exercise, or just playing around? A game gets the big field only if it builds fitness." Frankie crossed his arms. "Sharon, you forgot something. Playing around is where exercise comes from! Half the fastest runners in school got fast playing chase for fun. Nobody told them it was exercise." Sharon blinked. "But there's a difference." "Is there?" said Frankie. "If play is what makes exercise happen, you can't split them into two teams." Kevin raised his hand. "I got strong legs from pretending to be a dinosaur." Lulu wrote on her clipboard: Frankie says the line between play and exercise is fake. Biscuit ran three laps chasing a ball, which seemed to settle it.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Sharon: Before using the big field, kids should ask whether their game is real exercise or just play. A game deserves the big field only if it builds fitness. Frankie: You forget that play is the root of exercise. Lots of kids got fit just from playing for fun.

Frankie answers Sharon by

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Garden Hobby

The city lawyer stood. "Your Honor, the community garden lets people grow plots only if they are growing food, not just flowers for fun." Mr. Whitfield tugged his suspenders and rose. "Counsel forgets that growing flowers for fun is how most gardeners learn to grow food at all. Nearly every vegetable champion in this town started with a pot of daisies." The judge leaned in. "So you say the line between fun gardening and food gardening is not a real line?" "Exactly, Your Honor. You can't hand out plots by a difference that doesn't exist." The judge tapped her pen. "Interesting. The city's rule leans on a fence with no posts."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 152, Section 2, Question 20 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

First find the first speaker's key move: a sorting of things into two kinds, with a rule that depends on which kind something is. Then read the reply and ask what it targets. Does it attack the rule, offer a single exception, or say the two kinds are not truly separate? Pick the choice that matches what the reply actually does, and reject choices that describe moves the reply never makes.