Logical Reasoning · Inference (complete the argument)
PrepTest 154 · Section 2 · Question 6
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “just as”
- “now”
- “early”
- “telling”
Playground logic
Grown-ups say the new twisty slide is too dangerous. They said the same about the swings and the monkey bars when those were new, and now that sounds silly. So Lulu's lunchbox holds one prediction: the slide worries will fade too.
Step 2 · The kid story
The Terrifying Twisty Slide
The school gets a new twisty slide. Some parents call it a hazard. "Too fast! Too twisty!" Grandpa chuckles. "When I was a boy, they said the exact same thing about swings. Then about monkey bars. Then about the merry-go-round." Lulu writes it all down. "And now?" "Now nobody worries about swings," says Grandpa. "Parents push their kids on them happily." Marcus jumps in. "So the slide is totally safe and we should get ten more!" Priya shakes her head. "Slow down, Detective. Grandpa only showed a pattern. People fussed about each new thing, and the fuss later looked silly. So the likely next step is just that the slide fuss will fade too." Kevin slides down headfirst. A teacher fusses.
Step 3 · Try the model question
Some parents say the new twisty slide is too dangerous. But it is worth noticing that people said exactly this about swings, monkey bars, and merry-go-rounds when each was new. And just as worrying about swings now seems silly, ______.
Which choice best fills the blank to complete the reasoning?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Bicycle Bell Hearing
Townspeople complain that the new electric scooters are a menace to good manners. Mr. Whitfield addresses the court. "Your Honor, folks said the very same about bicycles a century ago, then about roller skates, then about skateboards. They claimed each would ruin public decency." He lays out old newspaper clippings. "Today, a grandmother on a bicycle shocks no one. Just as those fears now look silly..." The judge finishes it. "...the scooter fears will probably fade with time." Opposing counsel objects. "That doesn't prove scooters are perfect!" Whitfield bows. "I never said it did. Only that this complaint follows a familiar path." Objection overruled, gently.
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 154, Section 2, Question 6 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Read the setup: a complaint about something new, the same complaint made earlier about older things, and the observation that those earlier complaints now seem silly. The blank must finish the analogy about the new thing. Pick the choice that predicts the same fate for today's complaint. Use the Lunchbox Rule: reject choices that recommend actions, rank things, endorse the complaint, or make sweeping claims.