LSAT and Law School Admissions Forum

Get expert LSAT preparation and law school admissions advice from PowerScore Test Preparation.

 username1991
  • Posts: 2
  • Joined: Aug 12, 2014
|
#15885
N.11 on p.3-36
if we only know that:
Z_T
Y3 ->>>S8 (and contrapositive if not S8 then not Y3)
3rd is Y/Z
5th is T/V

Here is my reasoning:
1) to establish a clearer picture of the diagram we have the following:
1.1 if Y 3rd then a)Z is not 3rd, b) S is 8th which creates the picture:

___ ___ _Y_ ___ ___ ___ ___ _S_
_1___2____3___ 4____5____6___7__8__
wouldn't that be all that we could possibly know based on that?
the author suggests that we would know the following(based on the same information):

_________Y___Z__V___T
___ _Z_ _Y_ _T_ _V_ ___ ___ _S_
_1__2___3__ 4__5__6___7__8__

I am trying to figure out if V/T was supposed to be placed on 5th position how do we know that Z for example becomes second?
Thanks
 Ron Gore
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 220
  • Joined: May 15, 2013
|
#15893
Hi 91!

Thanks for your question. I'm going to restate what I understand to be your question, so please let me know if I misunderstood.

You're asking about the scenario in which we're told that Y is 3rd. In that scenario, you ask how we know where Z would go. The answer is that we don't know exactly where Z goes, but we have it down to an either/or option.

So, if Y is 3, then we know from Rule 4 that S is 8. And, we know from the combination of Rules 3 and 5 that Z and T must be in this relationship to each other: Z _ T. As you point out, since Y is 3, then Z cannot be. Since Z cannot be in 3, then T cannot be in 5, which means that V must be in 5 (Rule 1). That gets us to this situation:

___ ___ Y ___ V ___ ___ S

Consider all the places that V cannot go:

..... can't go in 1 because Y is in 3;
..... can't go in 3 because Y is there;
..... can't go in 5 because V is there;
..... can't go in 6 because S is in 8;
..... can't go in 7 because there must be two spaces left after Z is placed for _ T;
..... can't go in 8 for the same reason, not to mention that S is there.

So, the only two spaces left for Z are 2 and 4. We don't know which one Z will actually occupy, but it must be one of the two.

Let me know if that helps.

Ron

Get the most out of your LSAT Prep Plus subscription.

Analyze and track your performance with our Testing and Analytics Package.