Logical Reasoning · Principle
PrepTest 152 · Section 2 · Question 4
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “even if”
- “regardless”
- “responsible”
Playground logic
Owen has run the class garden all year, and most plants are droopy (patty). Nadia says Owen is responsible even though nobody saw him do anything wrong (top bun). The principle that seals it: a long-serving leader cannot be excused for a garden-wide problem.
Step 2 · The kid story
Captain of the Droopy Garden
Owen has been Garden Captain since September. It is now May, and nearly every plant in the class garden is droopy. Marcus put on his detective hat. 'I investigated. No one saw Owen trample, overwater, or forget anything. Case dismissed.' Nadia shook her head. 'Owen has been in charge for eight whole months. He is responsible for a garden that droopy, whether or not we caught him doing something.' Marcus sputtered. 'But there is no evidence!' Priya sipped her juice box. 'Nadia's argument needs a rule. Something like: if you have been the leader that long, no excuse lets you off the hook for a problem that big.' Owen sighed. 'Fair. Captains own the garden.' Lulu wrote it down. Biscuit dug up a radish in celebration.
Step 3 · Try the model question
Nadia: Owen has been Garden Captain for eight months, so he is responsible for the widespread droopiness of the plants. The fact that no one saw Owen do anything to harm them does not change this.
Which rule, if we accept it, best backs up Nadia's reasoning?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Sour Bakery
Every loaf at Sunny Bakery turned sour this year. Head baker Ida Crumb has run the kitchen for twelve years. Her lawyer stood. 'Your Honor, inspectors found no sign Ms. Crumb touched a bad batch. She cannot be blamed.' Mr. Whitfield hooked his thumbs in his suspenders. 'Twelve years in charge, Your Honor. A whole bakery of sour bread. The town's rule is simple: once you have led that many years, there is no excuse for a kitchen-wide failure.' The judge looked at the rulebook. 'So the absence of evidence of her own hand does not save her?' 'Not under that rule, Your Honor.' The judge nodded. 'Then the rule carries the day.'
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 152, Section 2, Question 4 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Write down the patty and the top bun, and notice the extra sentence saying that missing evidence of personal involvement does not matter. A good principle must reach the conclusion even without that evidence. Test each choice: does it start from the argument's actual facts and end at its exact conclusion? Toss choices that require knowledge, that protect the person, or that need facts the argument never gives.