Q15

[mornincounselor]

I was between (C) and (E) but I eliminated (C) because the passage actually uses the phrase "by fashioning a new one" and I didn't think a correct choice would use the same word.

I guess (E) is wrong because "re-constitute" doesn't mean "negotiate" in this context? It certainly seems like it highlights a negotiation between the old text while also having to be responsive to new concerns.

[christine.defenbaugh]

Thanks for posting, mornincounselor!

To answer an RC question about a word in context, the very first thing to do is to head straight back to the passage and take a hard look at that context - and it sounds like you did just that!

Line 54 tells us that a "judge must "re-constitute" that [authoritative legal text] by fashioning a new one" that 1) is faithful to the old and 2) responsive to the new. At it's core, 're-constituting' means re-building or re-making, and we need an answer that captures that essence.

Great job on the eliminations of three of the answers! (A), (B), and (D) all say quite similar things: rephrase, summarize, paraphrase, etc. All of these answers suggest the judge is merely reporting on the state of the existing law, rather than actively engaged in re-creating the law.

Your instincts are spot on that "negotiate" in (E) is problematic. You're correct that the judge probably does need to negotiate the balance between old text and new concerns, but while the judge may need to do that in the course of re-creating the text, that does not actually describe the re-creation itself. Nothing in (E) captures any aspect of the re-creation or re-making of the legal text.

Now, I find it particularly interesting that you eliminated (C) because of the word "refashion" - that's exactly the kind of word that we need to express that re-creation of the legal text! Now, I generally would not *expect* the answer choice to hand me a word that was already used in the sentence - I expect to have to work harder than that. HOWEVER - if the LSAT does hand me such a gift, I'm not about to turn it down!

And answer being 'too obvious' is never a good reason to eliminate it. That may simply mean the question is easier than you expected. Or, it could mean your instincts are firing on all cylinders. Who knows? The point is, it's not a bad thing when it happens, don't run away from it.

This happens a lot on Inference questions in LR - if you see an answer that you think was actually *stated* in the stimulus, take that answer and run with it! Inference answers are never wrong for being 'actually stated.' (And in that particularly context, we are usually wrong about it having been 'actually stated' - it's more likely it was implied, and we already made the required inferential leap and didn't realize it.)

I think what happened here is a classic case where you eliminated the correct answer for a misguided reason, then had to talk yourself into the next best choice, despite its defects.

What do you think?

[GraceS579]

Hi there,

I'm still a bit unsure to why (E) cannot be the correct answer? Like you mentioned, if "negotiate" were to refer to balancing the old text and the new concerns, can't "synthesize" be assumed to mean combining the balance of the old text and the new concerns (similar to "fashion into a new one")?

I understand why "refashion" in (C) would be a better fit, but not sure how "interpret" would work.

Thanks much in advance!

[smiller]

I understand why "refashion" in (C) would be a better fit, but not sure how "interpret" would work.

The beginning of that paragraph describes the act of writing opinions as "translation," which implies some degree of interpretation. Lines 55–57 strongly indicate that this re-constitution involves interpreting the law in the context of a new legal problem.

As Christine mentioned, "re-constitute" describes what the judge is doing to the "authoritative legal text" mentioned in line 52. Interpret and refashion best describe what the judge is doing to that text itself. Negotiate and synthesize are better descriptors for the overall approach the judge is taking when applying the authoritative text to the new legal problem.