Logical Reasoning · Paradox

PrepTest 155 · Section 2 · Question 12

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

A place got worse in one way, yet the creatures living there are thriving. Find what else changed that helps them more than the harm hurts.

The basic logic

Accept both facts. Look for a new benefit that came along with the bad event and outweighs it. The right answer explains the growth without denying the harm.

Tiny words that decide it

“and yet”
“since”
“now”

Playground logic

After the gym roof leaked and the coach moved kickball outside, the old gym got damp and drippy, yet the squirrels and pigeons there multiplied. Why? The kids left, so no one chased the critters anymore. The harm is real, but the bigger change (no people) wins.

Step 2 · The kid story

The Drippy Gym and the Happy Pigeons

The old gym roof sprang a leak. Puddles everywhere, moldy mats, a smell like wet socks. Ms. Rivera moved all classes to the new building. A month later Nadia peeked inside. "There are pigeons everywhere! Dozens!" Marcus frowned. "That makes no sense. It is gross in there. Pigeons should hate it." Owen pointed out, "The pigeons do look a bit soggy." Priya thought it through. "Both things are true. The gym is worse. But who used to be in there every day?" Lulu checked her clipboard. "Us. Two hundred screaming kids and a coach with a whistle. Plus Biscuit visited after school." Priya smiled. "Now nobody chases them, nobody slams doors, and Biscuit is gone. Soggy but safe beats dry and chased."

Step 3 · Try the model question

After the old gym's roof began leaking, the gym became damp and moldy. Pigeons living in the gym look soggy. Even so, the number of pigeons in the gym has grown quickly since the leak began.

Suppose each choice below is true. Which one does the most to explain these facts together?

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Abandoned Arcade

A town sued a landlord, claiming his flooded, closed arcade was a hazard. "Your Honor, the place is ruined," the town's lawyer said. "Yet rabbits now overrun the lot. Clearly he is breeding them!" Mr. Whitfield stood. "Or, Your Honor, the flood shut the arcade. No cars, no crowds, no leaf blowers, no stray cats chasing teenagers' snacks. The rabbits lost a nice lawn but gained total peace." He held up a photo of an empty parking lot full of clover. "The flood was bad for rabbits. The empty lot was better." The judge nodded. "No breeding scheme needed. Dismissed."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 155, Section 2, Question 12 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

State the clash: conditions got worse, yet the population grew. Keep both facts. Ask what the bad event also removed or added. Hunt for an answer that gives the creatures a new advantage big enough to beat the harm. Use the Handshake Test: it must fit the harm AND the growth. Cut anything that only restates the harm or leaves the growth unexplained.