Logical Reasoning · Paradox

PrepTest 154 · Section 2 · Question 23

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

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type

Paradox

The one idea it tests

The same cause that seems to shrink something can also feed it, through a second path, more than it takes away.

The basic logic

State both sides: a change should cause loss, yet the total grows. Look for an answer showing that the change also adds something, enough to outweigh the loss.

Tiny words that decide it

“however”
“would”
“increase”

Playground logic

Tommy's two sides: busier days mean more free samples handed out, yet the coin jar fills faster on busy days. The Handshake: the same busy crowd also brings extra paying customers, so what the samples cost gets covered and then some.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Lemonade Stand Puzzle

Tommy and Lulu run a lemonade stand. On busy days they hand out lots of free sample cups, which costs them lemonade. "Busy days should shrink our earnings jar," Tommy grumbles, hiding a candy bar in his pocket. But Lulu's clipboard shows something odd: the jar grows the most on the busiest days. Marcus declares, "Your clipboard is broken." Priya sips her juice box and thinks. "What if the busy crowd that grabs the free samples also brings more people who actually buy big cups? The same crowd takes a little and gives a lot." Tommy brightens. "So busy days cost us some lemonade but bring in even more coins!" Lulu adds a note: 'Both facts shake hands.'

Step 3 · Try the model question

On busy days, the lemonade stand gives away many free samples, which uses up lemonade the kids could have sold. Yet the stand's earnings jar grows most on its busiest days.

Which choice, assuming it is accurate, does the most to make sense of both facts?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Growing Library

The town librarian testifies: "When the summer reading program starts, far more books leave the library on loan. Yet our shelves end up fuller every summer." The prosecutor smirks. "Impossible! She must be hiding books." Mr. Whitfield rises. "Your Honor, the same program that sends books out also draws crowds of families who donate their old books at the sign-up table. More books leave, but even more come in." The judge nods. "So one cause pulls in both directions, and the gift side wins. Puzzle solved. Case dismissed."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 154, Section 2, Question 23 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Write down both sides of the puzzle: the change that should cause a loss and the surprising growth. Look for a choice showing the same change also triggers a second process that adds more than is lost. Use the Handshake Test: does the choice make both facts true at once? Reject Half-Hugs that only soften one side, Saboteurs that deepen the loss, and choices about unrelated factors.