Logical Reasoning · Weaken
PrepTest 157 · Section 2 · Question 2
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “probably”
- “before”
- “from”
Playground logic
Marcus's top bun says the float probably looks just like Ms. Rivera's would have. His patty is that the class built it from her two early doodles. The secret sauce is that her early doodles show her final idea, so we pop the burger by showing her ideas usually change a lot after the first doodles.
Step 2 · The kid story
The Parade Float Without Its Designer
Ms. Rivera was going to design the class parade float, but she got called away for two weeks of jury duty before she started. The class found two quick doodles she had made in her notebook and built the float from those. "It looks exactly like hers would have," Marcus announced, gluing on a paper dragon. "We followed her drawings!" Lulu flipped to an old page on her clipboard. "Remember last year's float? Ms. Rivera drew about twenty versions. The first ones had a castle. The final one was a rocket ship." Priya set down her juice box. "So her first doodles aren't her real plan. They're just where she starts." Marcus looked at the dragon. Then at the rocket ship photo. "Maybe it looks a little like hers."
Step 3 · Try the model question
Ms. Rivera planned to design the class float but was called away before she began. The class built it from two early doodles she had drawn. So the float probably matches the one she would have made.
Which statement, if true, does the most to undermine Marcus's argument?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Case of the Unfinished Recipe
"Your Honor," said the bakery's lawyer, "our founder passed away before baking her new pie. We used her first two recipe cards. This pie is surely what she intended, so we may sell it under her name." Mr. Whitfield rose, suspenders squeaking. "I call her old kitchen helper." The helper took the stand. "She always wrote dozens of cards for each pie. The first ones rarely looked like the last." Mr. Whitfield turned to the jury. "Two early cards from a woman who changed her mind dozens of times? That's not her pie. That's her first guess." The judge set down her fork. "Objection noted, and the pie stays unnamed."
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 157, Section 2, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Find the conclusion: the result probably matches what the original creator would have made. Find the evidence: helpers worked from a small set of early materials. Ask what must hold: those early materials must reflect the creator's final vision. Look for the choice that shows early materials are usually unreliable guides to the finished work. Skip choices about helpers, materials, or timing that do not touch that link.