Question Stem Drill, Pg 83

[Marce]

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the viewpoint of the scientists discussed above?
This is clearly not a resolve the paradox question stem, why is that the answer on the answer key??
Please advise ASAP.

[Adam Tyson]

It may not be as clear as you think, Marce. These drills can be a little tough at time due to a lack of context. As the explanation tells you, the question has to be in the 2nd family, which includes Strengthen, Justify the Conclusion, Assumption, and Resolve the Paradox. This stem, with no stimulus to give it context, could very well be a Strengthen question, if the view of the scientists that we are concerned with is also the conclusion of an argument made by the scientists. It could, however, be a Resolve question if the stimulus presents a view of scientists that conflicts with some other view or some evidence that appears to be contrary to the view. For example:

"All available geological evidence suggests that the third ice age ended approximately 43 million years ago. Scientists studying the orbits of the earth and the moon and their interaction with the sun, however, claim that this date must be off by at least 10 million years."

In this context, the stem in question would be a Resolve stem - we would be looking for some answer that allows the conflict between the geological evidence and the view of the scientists to make sense.

One lesson to take away from this one is that context matters. When we wrote the book, we were thinking of "explain" just one way it is frequently used in LSAT LR questions, and that is in Resolve questions. Those questions always ask us to explain, resolve, reconcile, solve, etc. Strengthen questions (the only other contender for what this stem might be) frequently talk instead about "support" or "help" or just plain old "strengthen". This one could go either way, but at least you can tell that it must be in that same family, and must bring in some new information that will help the stimulus be better, clearer, stronger, etc.

I hope that helps resolve your concern and strengthen your resolve!

[Marce]

Hi,
Your explanation doesn't clarify why this is a resolve the paradox question stem, because all the other drills were just fine without "context". You stated in your explanation that the answer could be strengthen and could be resolve the paradox, so are these drills open for interpretation and able to have more than one answer? Based on your explanation that is the conclusion.
I'm trying to get to the correct answer and have full clarity and based on the the question stem this is not a resolve the paradox, especially since it isn't flat out asking to resolve an issue/discrepancy (based on what the LR book says) .

To Dave- If your book has wrong answers in the answer key then it's more honorable to admit it and release corrections instead of staff providing explanations like above. This is the second time I stumbled upon an answer that is wrong in the key and was given unsatisfactory/questionable explanations .

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Marce,

Let's go back a step to Adam's answer. I'm figuring Adam didn't look at the drill itself and then perhaps misread your question, because I can't figure out why he mentioned context (which isn't at all a part of the drill) or even why this was unclear to him. I'll likely go back and delete his response as I personally find it confusing, and would hate for anyone else to be confused by it too.

The happy news here is that there is no error here. When you are asked to explain something, that falls into the Resolve category. We consistently classify these questions in this manner because they are most often connected to something inexplicable (such as a paradox) that then requires an explanation that helps it all make sense.

As is often the case in these books, I purposefully foreshadow ideas early in the books that are then later discussed in greater detail. In this case, you can see on Page 384—in the Resolve chapter—that "explain" is right there on the list of key words often used in Resolve question stems.

As for errors Marce, I'm well-known to be a very straight shooter if I think something could be clearer or is in fact incorrect. That's not the case here, fortunately But please advise me where your other problem was, since I'm not aware of you finding another error.

While I work hard to answer as many questions as I can here, I cannot get to every one (and actually prefer that staff let me take the hardest ones). I'm happy to review anything you think is problematic, though. The great news is that with the vast majority of initial concerns that something is wrong, they are in fact correct.

Thanks!