An analyst reports that a query "just does not work" without further detail. What is the most efficient first step for the administrator?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Get the facts before changing anything. Query history gives you the actual statement, the engine used, and the error returned, which usually names the problem outright and saves you from speculative fixes.
Full Explanation
The correct answer is the query-history lookup: it turns a vague report into specifics by showing what was actually submitted, which engine ran it, and what error came back. That normally identifies the cause immediately.
Increasing the engine size and asking the analyst to try again is incorrect because resizing is a speculative change that costs money and only helps if the problem was capacity, which has not been established.
Re-registering the tables the analyst mentioned is incorrect because it is an intrusive action taken without evidence that registration is involved.
Granting the analyst broader permissions to eliminate access as a factor is incorrect and is a governance failure: widening permissions as a diagnostic shortcut grants access that may never be revoked.
For the exam, gather the execution record first and change configuration only once the evidence points there.