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- Tue Feb 28, 2017 4:36 pm
#33207
Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=13653)
The correct answer choice is (B)
This question asks for the main point of the passage: Laypeople’s characterizations of risks as voluntary or involuntary are often based on confusion or on separate underlying considerations, so any departure from the general policy (of maximizing the number of lives saved given the resources available) should be based on those considerations rather than on an arbitrary characterization of “voluntariness.”
Answer choice (A): This answer choice deals with the author’s discussion from the third paragraph about how people characterize acts as voluntary or involuntary based on whether they approve of a given act. There are at least two problems with this answer choice: The author does not say that this is generally the case—just that it happens “often.” Further, even if this were completely accurate, this choice does not express the main point of the passage, so it cannot be the right answer to this Main Point question.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice, restating the main point as discussed above: Government intervention in risky undertakings should not be based on a supposed distinction between voluntary and involuntary categories of risk, but instead on the general guiding principle provided by the author: Seek to maximize the number of lives saved, given the resources dedicated to risk prevention.
Answer choice (C): The author’s point is not that the characterization of voluntary vs. involuntary should be left to the experts; rather, the author’s point is that this distinction should not be the basis of policy decisions regarding government intervention in risk reduction.
Answer choice (D): Although the author does discuss the degree of difficulty in some cases of distinguishing voluntary from involuntary risk, this is not the main point of the passage; it is one of two reasons provided to show that such characterizations are not particularly useful in policy making. As such this cannot be the right answer to this Main Point question.
Answer choice (E): The passage does not specify whether or not people who make such judgments are aware of such complicated motivations, so this choice doesn’t even pass the Fact Test, let alone provide the main point of the passage.
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=13653)
The correct answer choice is (B)
This question asks for the main point of the passage: Laypeople’s characterizations of risks as voluntary or involuntary are often based on confusion or on separate underlying considerations, so any departure from the general policy (of maximizing the number of lives saved given the resources available) should be based on those considerations rather than on an arbitrary characterization of “voluntariness.”
Answer choice (A): This answer choice deals with the author’s discussion from the third paragraph about how people characterize acts as voluntary or involuntary based on whether they approve of a given act. There are at least two problems with this answer choice: The author does not say that this is generally the case—just that it happens “often.” Further, even if this were completely accurate, this choice does not express the main point of the passage, so it cannot be the right answer to this Main Point question.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice, restating the main point as discussed above: Government intervention in risky undertakings should not be based on a supposed distinction between voluntary and involuntary categories of risk, but instead on the general guiding principle provided by the author: Seek to maximize the number of lives saved, given the resources dedicated to risk prevention.
Answer choice (C): The author’s point is not that the characterization of voluntary vs. involuntary should be left to the experts; rather, the author’s point is that this distinction should not be the basis of policy decisions regarding government intervention in risk reduction.
Answer choice (D): Although the author does discuss the degree of difficulty in some cases of distinguishing voluntary from involuntary risk, this is not the main point of the passage; it is one of two reasons provided to show that such characterizations are not particularly useful in policy making. As such this cannot be the right answer to this Main Point question.
Answer choice (E): The passage does not specify whether or not people who make such judgments are aware of such complicated motivations, so this choice doesn’t even pass the Fact Test, let alone provide the main point of the passage.