LSAT Explanation PT 19, S2, Q6: Legislator: Your agency is responsible for

LSAT Question Stem

The regulator responds to the legislator's criticism by 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Method of Reasoning question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is B. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

Let's first analyze the passage and understand the argument structure. The legislator criticizes the regulator for not hiring the 500 investigators they were funded for and concludes that the regulator purposely limited hiring to prevent the full extent of the scandals from being revealed. This is the main conclusion of the argument. The regulator responds by providing a reason for not hiring the full 500 investigators, which is that the legislature froze the starting salaries for these positions, making it difficult to attract enough qualified applicants. This is a premise that challenges the legislator's conclusion.

To help you understand this situation better, let's use a simple example. Imagine a manager is responsible for hiring a team to clean a park, and they were given funds to hire 10 people. However, they only hired 8 people. The legislator accuses the manager of purposely limiting hiring to save money. The manager responds by saying that the salary for the positions was set too low, making it difficult to attract enough qualified applicants.

Now, let's discuss the question type and what it's asking us to do. This is a Method of Reasoning (MOR) question, which means we need to identify how the regulator responds to the legislator's criticism.

Let's go through the answer choices:

a) Shifting the blame for the scandals to the legislature: This answer choice might seem appealing, but it is incorrect. The regulator does provide information that suggests the legislature might be more appropriate to blame, but the focus should be on the regulator's method of providing additional information.

b) Providing information that challenges the conclusion drawn by the legislator: This is the correct answer choice. The regulator offers additional information (the legislature freezing the salaries) that challenges the legislator's conclusion that the regulator purposely limited hiring.

c) Claiming that compliance with the legislature's mandate would have been an insufficient response: This choice is incorrect because the regulator does not claim that the legislature's mandate would have been insufficient. The regulator simply states that it was impossible to attract enough qualified applicants due to the salary freeze.

d) Rephrasing the legislator's conclusion in terms more favorable to the regulator: This choice is incorrect because the regulator does not merely rephrase the legislator's conclusion. Instead, the regulator challenges the conclusion by providing additional information.

e) Showing that the legislator's statements are self-contradictory: This choice is incorrect because the regulator does not demonstrate that the legislator's statements are self-contradictory. The regulator challenges the conclusion by providing additional information, but does not show that the legislator's argument is self-contradictory.

In conclusion, the correct answer choice is (b) because the regulator responds to the legislator's criticism by providing information that challenges the conclusion drawn by the legislator.