LSAT Weaken Practice Question: Faulty Analogy
An original weaken question from our free Question of the Day rotation, built around a trap the LSAT reuses constantly: faulty analogy. Try it first, then read the explanation — it teaches the move, not just the answer.
Your job:Make the conclusion less believable.
Crumb & Ember bakery sells out of its sourdough loaves every morning at its downtown Ralston location, where office workers line up before work. The owner is opening a second location in Dunmore, a small mountain town three hours away. She reasons that since the bread reliably sells out downtown, it will sell out in Dunmore as well.
Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the owner's reasoning?
Show the answer & full explanation
The correct answer is C
The JBDM line
Just because sourdough sells out downtown doesn't mean it will sell out in Dunmore.
The maybes
- MaybeMaybe downtown demand comes from foot traffic Dunmore doesn't have.
- MaybeMaybe mountain-town customers shop weekly, not on a daily commute.
Why C is right
The Ralston sellouts run on a river of morning commuters. Dunmore has a tiny year-round population and no comparable foot traffic — the exact ingredient behind the original success is missing. Analogies survive on relevant similarity; this severs it.
Why the others are wrong
- ASame starter and recipes means the bread is as good — but great bread with no crowd doesn't sell out. If anything this helps her.
- BA handful of familiar visitors mildly supports demand; it can't weaken the argument.
- DCheaper rent affects profit, not whether loaves sell out.
- EBaking fewer loaves makes selling out easier, which strengthens her prediction.
Sammy's note
Analogies live or die on the differences that matter. Find the one doing the real work.
What's a JBDM line?
Just Because Doesn't Mean (JBDM) is the Burton Method's foundational framework for attacking LSAT arguments: identify the premise, identify the conclusion, then say "just because [premise] doesn't mean [conclusion]" and generate "maybes" — alternative explanations that expose the gap between them. That gap is what weaken, flaw, strengthen, and assumption questions all test, so every explanation on this page starts with the JBDM line. It's a micro-lesson in the system, not just an answer key.
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