Q19

[lsat2016]

Could anyone explain #19 and ways to approach questions like these?

Thank you!!

[maryadkins]

I'm not sure what you mean by "questions like this," but this particular question is asking for what is directly stated in the passage, which makes it an Identification question under the Manhattan Prep curriculum.

The correct answer is (B), which is supported by line 5 (victim used to be in charge of the remedy) and line 13 (now it is society, as represented by the prosecutor).

(A) is wrong because "defendant" is not the person who used to be in charge of initiating legal action under a private vengeance system. Same with (C). (D) isn't supported at all, and (E) is wrong because the judge is not the person who initiates legal action under modern criminal procedure systems.

[nnn2108]

"Am I missing something?"

A better answer choice to pick.

I agree with you that typical usage of "shifted from X to Y" conveys a cessation of doing X.

We would never say "I shifted my breakfast from 7am to 9am" and mean "I extended my breakfast to a two hour window from 7am thru 9am".

But ... common sense .... you know that criminals get picked up by the cops, put in jail, get arraigned, go to court .... etc.

In other words, we know that nowadays the legal stuff for criminals is mainly carried out by the county/city/state/federal government. And we're basically tasked with picking the closest match to
"modern is one step removed from private vengeance (in which victim fashions a remedy"
"the right to initiate legal action against a criminal has now been extended to all members of society"

But I see why you're annoyed with LSATs word choice.