Logical Reasoning · Weaken
PrepTest 153 · Section 2 · Question 13
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “just like”
- “because both”
- “unlike”
Playground logic
Marcus says the chore chart settles chore fights just like a scoreboard settles a game, because both give facts everyone accepts. The secret sauce is that the chore charts really are agreed upon. Show that different charts disagree, and the burger falls apart.
Step 2 · The kid story
Scoreboard or Sticker Chart?
Tommy and Lulu argue about whose turn it is to walk Biscuit. Marcus grabs the sticker chart from the fridge. "Case closed! Using a chore chart is just like using the scoreboard at a basketball game. The scoreboard gives facts everybody accepts, and that settles the game. The chore chart does the same for chores." Lulu raises her hand. "But Grandpa keeps a sticker chart too, and so does Aunt Rosa. All three charts say different things about who walked Biscuit yesterday." Priya sips her juice box. "Then the comparison breaks. The scoreboard works because everybody agrees on it. If the chore charts disagree on the exact thing we are fighting about, they are not like a scoreboard at all."
Step 3 · Try the model question
Using a chore chart to settle chore fights is justified the same way a scoreboard is used in basketball. A scoreboard gives facts everyone accepts, which can settle a game. Likewise, a chore chart can settle whose turn it is.
Which choice, if true, does the most damage to Marcus's argument?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Two Maps
Lawyer Finch tells Judge Ashby, "Using the hiking club's trail notes to settle a boundary fight is just like using a ship's compass. A compass gives directions everyone accepts. The notes do the same for land." Mr. Whitfield adjusts his suspenders. "Your Honor, every compass points the same way. But the club has four sets of trail notes, and they disagree about exactly where this boundary lies." The judge sets down her pen. "So the very thing that makes a compass useful, agreement, is missing from these notes, right where we need it. The comparison does not hold." Finch sits down slowly.
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 153, Section 2, Question 13 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Identify the two things being compared and the reason the first one is said to be useful. That reason is the bridge. Then hunt for a choice showing the second thing lacks that same feature, and that the gap matters for the job described in the conclusion. Ignore differences in history, size, shape or who uses them unless they hit the bridge itself.