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Logical Reasoning · Strengthen

PrepTest 158 · Section 3 · 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
Strengthen
The one idea it tests
Strengthen by showing the old way really fails at the very thing the premise says matters.
The basic logic
The patty says real-life problems need several fields of knowledge working together. The top bun says swap single-field courses for mixed ones. The secret sauce: students taught in separate pieces won't put the pieces together on their own. Find the choice that props up that sauce.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “should”
  • “instead”
  • “few”
  • “rarely”

Playground logic

Coach Owen says real games need kicking and passing at the same time, so drills should mix skills instead of practicing each alone. The secret sauce is that kids who only drill skills one at a time won't blend them on their own. Prove that, and the burger stands up tall.

Step 2 · The kid story

Coach Owen's Combo Plan

Owen got to run soccer practice for the little kids, and he had a big plan. "In a real game," he announced, "you almost never just kick. You kick while running, while looking for a teammate, while dodging Frankie. So no more kicking-only drills. No more passing-only drills. From now on, every drill is a combo drill." Sharon raised her hand. "But what if kids learn kicking and passing separately and then just put them together in the game?" Owen paused. That was the soft spot. If kids could glue the skills together by themselves, his whole plan wobbled. Lulu checked her clipboard. "Last season, the kids who only did separate drills almost never mixed the skills during games. They kicked OR passed. Never both." Owen grinned. "Lulu, you just saved my plan."

Step 3 · Try the model question

Owen: Real soccer games almost always require using several skills at once. So our practices should drop drills that train one skill at a time and use only drills that combine skills.

Assume each choice is true. Which one gives Owen's argument the biggest boost?

Choices

Step 4 · The courtroom tale

The Recipe Class Dispute

An invented cooking school was in court. Its lawyer, Mr. Dunn, argued, "Real meals need chopping, boiling, and seasoning all at once. So the school should drop its chopping-only and boiling-only classes and teach only full-meal classes." The other side shrugged. "Students can just combine the skills later." Mr. Whitfield, helping Mr. Dunn, stood up. "Your Honor, we have records. Students who took only the single-skill classes almost never cooked a full meal afterward. They could chop. They could boil. They could not do both at dinnertime." The judge raised an eyebrow. "So the separate classes leave the pieces scattered. That makes the case for full-meal classes much stronger."

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 158, Section 3, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Split the argument into patty and top bun. Ask what must be true for the switch in the conclusion to make sense: the old approach must fail to deliver the combined skill the premise says real problems demand. Look for the choice that shows learners trained the old way don't join the pieces themselves. Skip choices about teachers, comfort, or problems that need no special training, and watch for choices that help the other side.