Logical Reasoning · Principle

PrepTest 154 · Section 2 · Question 1

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Principle (justify the argument)

The one idea it tests

Find the rule that turns the arguer's comparison into a verdict.

The basic logic

The patty compares two people on one yardstick and finds a gap. The top bun calls a different gap unfair. The right rule says the reward must track that exact yardstick, so a big reward gap with no matching yardstick gap is automatically unfair.

Tiny words that decide it

“many times”
“certain”
“wholly”
“should”

Playground logic

Marcus has ten times as many raffle tickets as Nadia, but Priya points out he did not read ten times as many books. Her top bun says his pile is unfair. The secret sauce is a rule: tickets should match books read. With that rule, the burger snaps shut.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Raffle Ticket Mountain

Ms. Rivera's class runs a reading raffle. At the end of the month, Marcus waves a fat stack of forty tickets. Nadia holds four. "Ha!" says Marcus. "I am a reading legend." Priya sips her juice box and checks the reading log on Lulu's clipboard. Marcus read six books. Nadia read five. "Marcus," Priya says, "you have ten times her tickets. You did not read anywhere near ten times her books. So your giant stack is not fair at all." Marcus frowns. "Who says tickets have to match books?" Priya smiles. "That is exactly the rule I am counting on. If tickets should line up with reading, your mountain is a molehill." Kevin raises his hand to ask whether dinosaurs could read. Nobody answers him.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Priya: Marcus holds ten times as many raffle tickets as Nadia. Yet he certainly did not read ten times as many books as she did. So the size of his ticket stack is entirely unfair.

Which rule, if accepted, gives the strongest backing to Priya's reasoning?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Overstuffed Trophy Shelf

Mr. Whitfield snaps his suspenders. "Your Honor, the Bowling League gave Captain Gruff eight trophies and every other bowler one. Did Gruff knock down eight times as many pins? The scoresheets say no. He knocked down about the same." Opposing counsel stands. "So what? Trophies are about leadership." Whitfield nods. "Then here is the heart of my case: the league's own charter says trophies should reflect pins knocked down. If that rule holds, eight trophies for an average score cannot stand." The judge taps the charter. "The rule is the bridge. Without it, your gap means nothing. With it, the gap is the whole story." Gruff quietly hands back seven trophies.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 154, Section 2, Question 1 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Find the top bun: a verdict that some reward gap is unjustified. Find the patty: a comparison on one measure showing no matching gap. Ask what rule would make that measure the only fair basis for the reward. Pick the choice that ties the reward to that same measure. Cross out rules that use a different yardstick than the one the patty compares, and rules that never connect the reward to anything.