LSAT 152 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q20

LR Question 20 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Politician: Our government’s Ministry of the Environment issues …

QUESTION TYPE: Principle – Justify

CONCLUSION: The Ministry of Health shouldn’t issue health assessments.

REASONING: The Ministry of the Environment is often inaccurate in their ecological assessments due to political pressures. The Ministry of Health will also be subject to political pressures.

ANALYSIS: You may be tempted to think that the principle is: ministries should not issue assessments unless they can resist political pressures.

But is the main issue here political pressures? No. It’s the effect of those political pressures: inaccuracy.

So we need a principle that tells us that ministries shouldn’t issue assessments unless they’re relatively sure they’re accurate.

Stay away from answers that say what ministries should do. We only know what they shouldn’t do.

___________

1. The argument isn’t about whether scientific assessments are necessary. It’s about whether this ministry should issue them.
2. CORRECT. If ministries shouldn’t issue assessments without strong reason to believe they’re accurate, it follows that the Ministry of Health shouldn’t issue health assessments. That’s because political pressures lead to inaccuracies, and the Ministry of Health will be subject to political pressure.
3. In an ideal world, sure. But the Ministry is subject to political pressures, so this doesn’t really help.
4. This tells us when ministries should issue assessments. Not when they shouldn’t.
5. This suggests a different response to the problem: resist the pressure, rather than stop issuing assessments.