Logical Reasoning · Flaw
PrepTest 154 · Section 2 · Question 9
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “percent”
- “significant amount”
- “most”
Playground logic
Marcus points out that hardly any kids in school ever bake for the bake sale, so he says the bake sale table must be nearly empty. That is the top bun. The patty only tells us how many kids bake, not how many cookies show up, and the secret sauce (each baker makes only a few) is never checked. Priya knows one grandma-trained baker can fill the whole table.
Step 2 · The kid story
The Bake Sale Table
Marcus stood by the gym door with his detective notebook. "Case closed," he said. "Only two kids out of three hundred signed up to bake. So the bake sale table will be basically empty. Most of the treats will have to come from the store." Priya sipped her juice box. "Who are the two kids?" she asked. "Nadia and Owen," said Marcus. Priya smiled. "Nadia's grandma owns a bakery. Last year Nadia brought eleven trays of muffins. Owen brought forty cupcakes." Marcus flipped a page. "Two kids is less than one percent!" "Sure," said Priya. "But you're counting bakers, not muffins. Two very busy bakers can cover a whole table." When the doors opened, the table was sagging under the weight of the treats. Biscuit was very interested.
Step 3 · Try the model question
Marcus: Hardly any students at our school volunteered to bake for the bake sale; only two out of three hundred did. So it is wrong to think that much of the food at the bake sale will be homemade by students.
Marcus's reasoning is most open to criticism because it
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Quiet Quilters
Lawyer Pell rose. "Your Honor, the craft fair claims most of its quilts are made by town residents. Nonsense! Ninety-eight percent of residents have never sewn a quilt." Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "Counsel counts quilters. The question counts quilts." He called Mrs. Dunbar to the stand. "How many quilts did you bring this year?" "Sixty-two," she said. "My sister brought fifty." The judge raised an eyebrow. "So a sliver of the town could fill the whole fair." "Exactly, Your Honor," said Mr. Whitfield. "A tiny slice of the people can still sew a giant pile of quilts." Lawyer Pell sat down very slowly.
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 154, Section 2, Question 9 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Find the top bun and ask what it measures: an amount, a share of the stuff. Then look at the patty and ask what it measures: a share of the people. When those two do not match, the gap is that a small group can produce a large amount. Pick the answer that names that gap. Skip answers about ease, preferences, or details the argument never relied on.