Logical Reasoning · Weaken
PrepTest 158 · Section 2 · Question 7
Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.
Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first
- “thus”
- “same”
- “evidently”
Playground logic
Nadia found that all the second-grade garden plants sit in deep shade, so she concludes they are equally at risk of wilting as the high school's shady garden. The secret sauce is that both sets of plants handle shade the same way. Pop it: the second graders planted ferns, which love shade.
Step 2 · The kid story
Shade Trouble?
Nadia came back from a garden tour with her notebook full. "I checked the second-grade garden. Every single plant sits under the big oak tree, in deep shade. That's way more shade than the gardening book says is good." Marcus nodded. "So those plants are just as likely to wilt as the high school's garden, which is also in the shade. Case closed." Lulu raised her clipboard. "Um. What did the second graders plant?" Nadia flipped a page. "Ferns and moss." "And the high school?" "Tomatoes and sunflowers." Priya laughed into her juice box. "Ferns love shade, Marcus. Tomatoes don't. Same shade, different plants, different risk." Marcus took off his detective hat. "I should have asked who was standing in the shade."
Step 3 · Try the model question
Every plant in the second-grade garden is in deeper shade than the gardening book recommends. So the second-grade garden's plants are equally at risk of wilting as the plants in the high school's shady garden.
Which choice, if true, does the most damage to Marcus's argument?
Step 4 · The courtroom tale
The Cold Warehouse
An inspector testified. "Your Honor, every crate in the warehouse sits colder than the recommended temperature. Therefore, the crates of glass bottles are equally at risk of cracking as the crates of rubber balls stored the same way next door." Mr. Whitfield hooked his thumbs in his suspenders. "Your Honor, I have one question. Do rubber balls crack in the cold the way glass does?" The inspector paused. "Well, no. Rubber bends. Glass shatters." "So the same cold," said Mr. Whitfield, "means very different risks. The inspector's conclusion assumes the two cargoes are equally fragile." The judge sighed. "Next witness, please."
Step 5 · Work the real question
Open PrepTest 158, Section 2, Question 7 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.
Your answer
How to apply it
Find where the argument moves from 'this group faces a bad condition' to 'this group has the same risk as another group.' Name the gap: it assumes the two groups are equally vulnerable. Then look for the choice that breaks that link by showing one group responds to the condition differently. Cross off choices about other places or times the group faces the condition, about how often a group reports problems, or about guidelines that only restate the setup.