December 2004 LSAT Section 5 Question 25

Sarah: Our regulations for staff review are vague and thus difficult to interpret. For instance, the regulations sta...

DASOL on October 25, 2018

discussing the answer choice

I do not entirely understand as to why B is the right answer. Could you explain the answer choices and explain why they are either wrong/right?

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Mehran on October 25, 2018

Hi @DASOL, thanks for your post. As always, let's start with a careful look at the stimulus. Sarah makes an argument. She says that (1) [premise] because regulations for staff review are vague and difficult to interpret, (2) [conclusion] some staff may be dismissed merely because their personal views conflict with those of their supervisors.

The question stem asks us to identify a general principle that, if applicable to Sarah's company, would support Sarah's argument.

Answer choice (B) is correct. If it is true that, in Sarah's company, only supervisors get to interpret regulations, that fact would strengthen Sarah's argument, right? In such a world, an employee could think a regulation says one thing, but her supervisor could think differently - and dismiss her!

Answer choice (A) can be eliminated because it does not strengthen Sarah's overall argument (i.e., her conclusion that "some staff may be dismissed merely because their personal views conflict with those of their supervisors"). Always focus on the argument in the stimulus: be sure you're clear on the conclusion, and the premises, and the link between the two (weak or strong).

Answer choice (C) likewise does not address/strengthen Sarah's overall argument - again, her conclusion is that staff can be dismissed just because their views conflict with their supervisors'. Answer choice (D) is logically equivalent, relative to Sarah's overall argument, to (C).

Answer choice (E) can be eliminated because this isn't about what employees "usually consider" fair. This is about whether staff may be dismissed "merely because their personal views conflict with those of their supervisors."

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

SarahA on March 3, 2019

Thank you for this explanation. It helped me understand that I got this question wrong (and also a handful of prior questions wrong) because I had mistaken a premise for a conclusion. Very helpful!

Ravi on March 11, 2019

@msaber, happy to see it helped! Keep up the great work and active participation on the boards, and let us know if you have any other questions!