LSAT and Law School Admissions Forum

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

User avatar
 SGD2021
  • Posts: 72
  • Joined: Nov 01, 2021
|
#96688
Thank you, Adam! I noticed I made the same mistake on a different game so I was hoping to clarify before exam day on Saturday.

I wonder if the following thought process is correct. If I have the following conditional, which is the Contrapositive of rule 4: (NOT I1)--> H3 or H4, then to see if the sufficient condition is triggered, all I have to do is look at the entire game board and see if I is not in 1 AT ALL. So if I is in spots 1 and 3, we don't meet the sufficient condition since OVERALL I can see I is in 1, so this rule does not apply?
User avatar
 SGD2021
  • Posts: 72
  • Joined: Nov 01, 2021
|
#96698
Is the negation of "cannot" always "is"? So for example for rule 4, the negation of "H cannot be shown earlier than the third week" is that "H IS shown earlier than the third week"?
 Adam Tyson
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 5387
  • Joined: Apr 14, 2011
|
#96824
The negation of Cannot is Can, SGD, but the simplest way to show that is to proactively place that variable where it can go. "Oh, X cannot happen unless Y does? Cool, let's see what we get when X happens, and then let's see what we get when Y doesn't happen."
User avatar
 jailenea
  • Posts: 25
  • Joined: Aug 30, 2021
|
#102518
Why was rule 3 shown as a block in the administrator setup but not rule 4? Can't we diagram it the same way as rule #4, but negatively, such as:

P -> ~G
G -> ~P

Why is it better to leave 3 as a block but 4 as a conditional?
 Adam Tyson
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 5387
  • Joined: Apr 14, 2011
|
#102573
While you could do the rule about G and P as a conditional, jailenea, we do it as a not-block because the rule doesn't tell us what G DOES go with, only what it does NOT go with. Ultimately, we can infer that wherever you have G you must also have R, and that inference should be shown as a conditional relationship. But when you are told what cannot happen, we find it's best to draw the thing that cannot happen and then cross it out.
User avatar
 AnaSol
  • Posts: 25
  • Joined: Nov 20, 2023
|
#106576
Administrator wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2020 3:37 pm Setup and Rule Diagram Explanation

This is an Advanced Linear, Underfunded, Unbalanced game.

Below is a basic diagram of the setup (scroll down within the picture to view the entire list of diagrammed rules). There are several points to note.

1. The linear component to the game is structured around the four consecutive weeks, which constitute the base.

2. In each week two paintings must be shown, one oil and one watercolor. Because the scenario and rules don't require a determination of which painting comes first in a given week, it is arbitrary which type of painting is placed on top and which on bottom in the diagram.

3. The game is underfunded. There are only 3 oil paintings, each of which must be shown at least once, meaning to fill the 4th week, one oil painting must be shown twice. The same is true of the watercolor paintings.

4. Since no painting can be shown in consecutive weeks, there are only a limited number of options for which weeks the paintings shown twice can be shown. They will be shown twice in weeks: 1 and 3, 2 and 4, or 1 and 4. While there isn't an efficient way to depict that in the setup (templates are not a productive option for this setup, because there are too many possible solutions), it is helpful to make the inference and keep an eye on it in any given solution.

5. Because Gold and Ping cannot be shown together, and because there must be at least one week in which H and S are shown, it cannot be the case that both Gold and Ping are shown twice (though one of them could be shown twice).

6. The final rule is a complicated "unless" form of conditional rule. Use the PowerScore "Unless Method" for diagramming unless statements. Step one is to make the "unless" clause the necessary condition. Here, "I is shown in week 1" is the necessary condition. Step two is to negate the remaining condition and then diagram it as the sufficient condition. The negation of "H cannot be shown earlier than the third week" is "H is shown earlier than the third week." In "if-then" terms the rule therefore means "If H is shown earlier than the third week (in week 1 or week 2), then I must be shown in the first week." Since I must be shown in the first week if this rule triggers, that means there is no possible scenario where H can be shown first (hence, the "Not Law" in the diagram). From the third rule, wherever H cannot be, S cannot be either, meaning we can also diagram a "Not Law" for S in week 1. Putting all the above information together, the basic takeaways from this rule are that H and S cannot be in week 1, and if H is shown in week 2, then I must be shown in week 1. The contrapositive is that if I is not shown in week 1, then H must be shown in week 3 or week 4.

Screen Shot 2020-04-20 at 10.20.49 AM.png

Hi PowerScore,

For this rule: Hanbok cannot be shown earlier than the third week unless Ibex is shown in the first week.

Meaning: "If H is shown earlier than the third week (in week 1 or week 2), ..."

I interpreted the "earlier than" to exclude the 'third'. Is that the case for the rules in logic games in general, to interpret that it does not include whatever it precedes? Let's say earlier than forth, excludes forth?

Thanks!
 Luke Haqq
PowerScore Staff
  • PowerScore Staff
  • Posts: 927
  • Joined: Apr 26, 2012
|
#106736
Hi AnaSol!

Yes, in general, "earlier than the third week" excludes the third week just as earlier than the fourth excludes the fourth.

Get the most out of your LSAT Prep Plus subscription.

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