bp shinners wrote:Reframe wrote:
The question of "softness" isn't a question of whether there's more than one right answer; there never is.
Didn't say there was
I said it's the same principle in that, sometimes, the LSAT says stuff that it doesn't mean, or at least it could say in a more precise manner.
And I agree with everything you said except for your classification of Parallel and Parallel Flaw questions - the correct answer choices match up with the structure/flaw in question, and any other answer choice that would be correct would, at most, be as correct as the credited response.
Thinking about it more, I'm not sure I fully agree with you for Strengthen and Weaken questions either, and thinking about that while walking my dog has led me to, what I believe, is the most problematic issue with this question.
For a Strengthen/Weaken question, when I come to an answer that strengthens or weakens the argument, I know none of the other answer choices are going to do so. Sure, there might be a possible answer choice that strengthens the argument in the stimulus more, but I can say, with 100% certainty, that it won't be an option. Because then there would be two answers that strengthen the argument, and the LSAT hasn't asked you to make that call. I can deal with each answer choice on its own terms; I don't have to compare it to others to get my correct answer.
Same with traditional Parallel and Parallel Flaw questions - I could read an answer choice and either eliminate it or circle it on its own terms. I didn't have to read the others, because each answer was either Parallel to the argument, or it featured the same flaw, and was correct; or it didn't, and was incorrect. There was no need to look at multiple answers to see which one was closer.
This question is the flipside of that - I don't have 2 answers that I'm deciding between. I have 0 answers that I'm deciding between, because I would have eliminated the correct answer here because even the LSAC admits it isn't completely parallel. That's never happened before. So now, this question is no longer asking me to positively identify something that is parallel, but rather it's asking me to look at each answer choice and find the one that is the least non-parallel. I can't deal with each AC on its own terms because, in doing so, I don't get the correct answer here.
That's, I think, my issue with this question.