Murray: You claim Senator Brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists.

(A) Senator Brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists
Murray does not say it

(B) It is wrong for politicians to accept gifts from lobbyists
Nobody says this

(C) Jane's criticism of Senator Brandon is motivated only by personal dislike
Not motivated by dislike even though jane dislikes Brandon

(D) Senator Brandon should be criticized for accepting gifts from lobbyists
Nowhere mentioned

(E) One or more politicians have accepted gifts from lobbyists
True

Murray: You claim Senator Brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists. You are wrong to make this criticism. That it is motivated by personal dislike is shown by the fact that you deliberately avoid criticizing other politicians who have done what you accuse Senator Brandon of doing.

Jan: You are right that I dislike Senator Brandon, but just because I have not criticized the same failing in others doesn't' mean you can excuse the senator's offense.

If Murray and Jane are both sincere in what they say, then it can properly be concluded that they agree that


(A) Senator Brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists X
No. Murray explicitly refutes this claim: “You are wrong to make this criticism”.

(B) It is wrong for politicians to accept gifts from lobbyists X
No. We don’t know what Murray’s moral stance is on this matter.

(C) Jane's criticism of Senator Brandon is motivated only by personal dislike X
No. “Motivated only” is too strong. Perhaps there are other reasons – and indeed there are, why se criticized him. “…just because I have not criticized the same failing in others doesn’t mean you can excuse the senator’s offense”. This tells us that irrespective of her dislike for him, she does think the senator is morally blameworthy.

(D) Senator Brandon should be criticized for accepting gifts from lobbyists X

No. Murray clearly refutes this.

(E) One or more politicians have accepted gifts from lobbyists

CORRECT. Murray says: “…deliberately avoid criticizing other politicians who have done what you accuse Senator Brandon of doing” and Jan says: “…I have not criticized the same failing in others”

Murray: You claim Senator Brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists. You are wrong to make this criticism. That it is motivated by personal dislike is shown by the fact that you deliberately avoid criticizing other politicians who have done what you accuse Senator Brandon of doing.

Jan: You are right that I dislike Senator Brandon, but just because I have not criticized the same failing in others doesn't' mean you can excuse the senator's offense.

If Murray and Jane are both sincere in what they say, then it can properly be concluded that they agree that

Both agreed on:
1. Personal dislike of Jane for Senator Brandon.
2. Jane is wrong to claim such a thing because it was motivated by personal dislike.
3. Jane has not criticised deliberately other politicians for such deeds.
4. Other politicians take gifts from lobbyists.

Both disagree on:
1. The offense of senator Brandon.

Note: What they disagree upon is hard to find since what Murray thinks is not known.


(A) Senator Brandon has accepted gifts from lobbyists - WRONG. A sweet trap for which i almost fell while between this and E. In a personal dislike a person can claim anything that he/she may like to. This is the core of the passage - a subtle point but very vital to the passage.

(B) It is wrong for politicians to accept gifts from lobbyists - WRONG. There is not way we can conclude this since Murray's thought is missing in the passage.

(C) Jane's criticism of Senator Brandon is motivated only by personal dislike - WRONG. Murray only knows what he saw but Jane must have had other reasons - which we don't know - to dislike Senator Brandon personally.

(D) Senator Brandon should be criticized for accepting gifts from lobbyists - WRONG. Again like B this is not provable.

(E) One or more politicians have accepted gifts from lobbyists - CORRECT. This one is only left. This is indirectly agreed upon since Murray acknowledges that while point out the flaw in Jane's reasoning and Jane agrees reciprocally while countering Murray's argument.

Answer E.