Logical Reasoning · Flaw

PrepTest 158 · 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

Question type

Flaw

The one idea it tests

Attack the Kid: rejecting an idea because of who suggested it rather than whether the idea is any good.

The basic logic

The patty is a fact about the person's past behavior. The top bun says the person's proposal should be thrown out. The missing step is that a messy messenger means a messy message. That never follows: a proposal stands or falls on its own content.

Tiny words that decide it

“clearly”
“must”
“does not even”

Playground logic

Frankie's top bun is that Marcus's new rule isn't worth a vote. His only patty is that Marcus used to do the very thing the rule bans. That's Attack the Kid: he grades the rule by its author instead of reading the rule.

Step 2 · The kid story

The No-Cutting Rule

At class meeting, Marcus stood up. "I propose a rule: no cutting in the lunch line." Frankie burst out laughing. "Marcus? Last year he cut in line every single day! He must have forgotten. This rule isn't even worth voting on." Sharon frowned. "Wait. What does Marcus's old cutting have to do with whether the rule is fair?" "Everything!" said Frankie. "He's the king of cutting!" Priya set down her juice box. "Maybe he learned his lesson. Maybe he didn't. Either way, the rule is the rule. Is cutting unfair to the kids who wait? That's the question." Ms. Rivera smiled. "Let's vote on the rule, not on Marcus." The rule passed. Marcus did not cut once that week. Frankie checked.

Step 3 · Try the model question

Frankie: Marcus wants a rule against cutting in the lunch line. But Marcus cut in line all last year. So his rule is not even worth a vote.

Frankie's reasoning is weakest because it

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Recycling Proposal

A town clerk stood before Judge Okafor. "Your Honor, Mr. Pemberton proposes that every street get a recycling bin. But Mr. Pemberton once threw a soda can in a hedge! Clearly his proposal deserves no hearing." Mr. Whitfield rose, thumbs in his suspenders. "Your Honor, my learned friend has told us plenty about Mr. Pemberton's hedge. He has told us nothing about the bins. Would bins help the town or not? A sinner can still say something true." The judge tapped her pen. "Counsel, the proposal will be judged on its merits. Mr. Pemberton's hedge is not on trial today."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 158, 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 top bun: the claim that a proposal should be rejected. Then find the patty and ask what it is about. Is it about the proposal's content, or about the person who made it? If every reason concerns the person's past, you have Attack the Kid. Before reading choices, say the flaw in your own words: 'judges the idea by its source.' Choose the answer that says that. Skip choices describing moves the argument never makes.