Q6 - First legislator: Medical research is

[bermudask8er7]

Can you explain why choice A is wrong and choice E is correct? Thanks.

[cyruswhittaker]

I was also down to A and E when I did this question. However, the question stem asks which would "most directly counter."

The second legislator's objection is that the considerations are "inappropriate...they have no place in science." So a direct counter would be something that shows that they DO directly impact science. Choice E does this because it specifically says that the restrictions result in "inadequate science."

A is tricky because it would could make an argument for how this supports the first legislator's claim, but here are the problems I see with it:

1) It requires more assumptions. Maybe the second legislator would just say to this: "So what? This is still not relevant to the point that research needs to be directly tied into what's appropriate."
2) Even if we went along with some tacit assumptions, it still doesn't directly counter the second legislator's objection, which is based on what is appropriate in regards to science itself.

[bermudask8er7]

Nice explanation, thanks!

[ManhattanPrepLSAT2]

I'd agree - nice explanation!

For these problems where two people speak, it is critical for you to keep clear what is actually discussed by both. Tempting wrong answers will generalize the argument, and that's the case with (A).

As Cyrus mentioned, (A) is tempting if you, in a general sense, feel the second legislator disagrees with the first's comment as a whole. However, that's not what the second legislator discusses -- he only talks about the fact that consideration of male/female balance is inappropriate because it has no place in science. Again, as Cyrus mentioned, (E) hits this issue directly.