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Logical Reasoning · Strengthen

PrepTest 155 · 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
Strengthen
The one idea it tests
A forecast about a whole period built from only the early part gets stronger when the missing part is shown to be at least as good as the part already seen.
The basic logic
Find the top bun (the whole stretch will turn out great) and the patty (the early numbers beat past averages). The gap: the part not yet counted could drag the total down. The best helper closes that gap by showing the unseen part usually runs high, not low.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “so far”
  • “whole”
  • “will be”

Playground logic

Kevin sees his soccer team's first six games and declares the whole season a winner. His secret sauce: the last three games won't sink the average. Show him the final games are usually the easiest, and his burger holds together.

Step 2 · The kid story

Kevin Calls the Season Early

Kevin's soccer team has played six of its nine games. "Best season ever!" Kevin shouts, waving a dinosaur flag. "In every past season we averaged two goals a game. This year we are averaging four!" Priya sips her juice box. "Six games is not nine games, Kevin. What if the last three are disasters?" Kevin pauses. Marcus jumps in: "Easy. Our league always saves the youngest, newest teams for the end of the schedule. We usually score the most in those games." Priya nods slowly. "Now that helps. If the missing games tend to be the best ones, the early average is more likely to hold up, or even climb." Kevin does a victory lap around the bench, then trips over the ball bag.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Kevin's team has played six of nine games. In past seasons, the team averaged two goals per game. This season it is averaging four goals per game. So this will be a great scoring season.

Suppose each choice below were true. Which would back up Kevin's conclusion best?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Case of the Half-Finished Pumpkin Count

Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "Your Honor, my client, a pumpkin farmer, says this harvest will be her biggest. She has picked two of her three fields, and already the count beats every past year." The opposing lawyer frowned. "But the third field is unpicked. It could be full of duds." Mr. Whitfield smiled and lifted a folder. "Then hear this: in every past year, the third field, the sunny one by the creek, gave the most pumpkins of all." The judge tapped her pen. "So the part we have not counted usually counts the most. That makes the forecast much sturdier." The farmer handed the judge a tiny pumpkin as thanks. The judge declined it, very politely.

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 155, Section 2, Question 1 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Name the conclusion about the full period and the evidence from the part already measured. Ask what could still ruin the forecast: the part not yet measured. Look for the choice that makes that remaining stretch look at least as strong as the early stretch. Set aside choices about general reputation, the speaker's motives, or things that only explain the early results without telling you anything about what is still to come.