LSAT 155 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q16

LR Question 16 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Park ranger: It is unfair to cite people for fishing…

QUESTION TYPE: Principle

CONCLUSION: We should be only giving warnings against fishing in the newly restricted areas until there has been a real effort to publicize the new restrictions.

REASONING: People are probably unaware of the changes in regulations. Even some people who are supposed to enforce the changes don’t know about them yet.

ANALYSIS: Here, the park ranger doesn’t want to cite people for fishing. They explain that people are probably unaware of the change in regulation. From this, they determine that it’s unfair to cite them.

There isn’t anything in the argument that fills that gap between awareness and fairness. A principle that draws that connection would justify the park ranger’s argument.

___________

1. CORRECT. This principle fills our gap by connecting unawareness to unfairness. The people are unaware of the rules, so we shouldn’t cite them for it.
2. The ranger probably agrees with this, but this doesn’t justify their conclusion. The conclusion is that people should not be cited yet.
3. This is another choice that the ranger probably agrees with, but does not justify the argument. This principle tells us that the public should not be expected to know about the law, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unfair to hold them to the legal standard the law provides for. This principle still leaves a gap in logic.
4. This doesn’t lead to the conclusion at all. It points to the idea that there is no excuse for ignorance of the law, which is not the ranger’s argument.
5. This has nothing to do with the argument or conclusion.

Recap: The question begins with “Park ranger: It is unfair to cite people for fishing”. It is a Principle question. Learn more about LSAT Principle questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.