#10 - Local, Could Be True, List

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(The complete setup for this game can be found here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=7717)

The correct answer choice is (A)

J can appear earlier than M only under Template #2. In that template, H or J must appear last, and since the question stem stipulates that J M, we can immediately ascertain that H must be the last actor in this question. Only answer choice (A) has H as last, and thus answer choice (A) is correct.

[rachue]

Hi there,

I think I set this one up right and I got all the questions right except for 10. The only way I can see that A is right here is if we don't consider "earliest to latest" to mean consecutive.

From my diagram, I know H has to be last. When I diagrammed answer A, I did JMGLPH to satisfy all the conditions, but then realized that L and P must be before J. So they must not have necessarily meant in a consecutive order, correct? Am I correct to think that this is also a rare type of question? I feel like they usually ask for order in a consecutive manner.

[Nikki Siclunov]

The question is asking, "which one of the following could be the order in which the other four actors appear, from earliest to latest?"

If J > M, the sequence of all 5 actors (except for G) can be diagrammed as follows:

L
- > J > M > H
P

Since M is not before P, the position of G is unknown; however, it cannot be last based on the last rule of the game. Since either H or J must be last, in this question H must be last.

Answer choice (A) is consistent with the sequence above. If you exclude J and M from consideration, the sequence of the other four actors can be GLPH.

[rachue]

Ah, I see. I think this is the first time I've seen a question like that. I read it over quickly and missed that they didn't necessarily mean in a consecutive order counting all 6 factors . Is it rare?

[Nikki Siclunov]

It is certainly more rare than a question asking you to identify a possible sequence of all variables, but it's not out of the ordinary. That's why it is so important to read the question stem carefully and not rush

[SGD2021]

How can we know from the question stem that the questions are giving us the last 4 variables ? Or is it just giving us 4 variables and then J--M can be inserted anywhere (in accordance w our ordering chain), in which case we can't just immediately pick A based on the reason that H is last since we don't really know if it's being represented last in that answer choice or not?

[Adam Tyson]

It's right there in the question stem, SGD: "could be the order in which the other four actors appear." That means the four other than J and M, who were already mentioned in the question stem. They are not necessarily all after J and M, but this would be their order relative to each other, with J and M appearing somewhere in the order. They might both be before the rest, or both after the others, or spaced between them, depending on the action of the other rules. So apply those other rules to see what's what.

If you had not already done templates in this game you could still solve this question with a local diagram. Start with the local restriction - put J before M. Now, applying the rules, put L and P both before J, and put H after M.

The conditional rule won't be triggered - P is before J, which is before M, so M is not before P. So we can ignore that rule for this question.

G cannot be last, so what does that mean? It means H has to be last overall, and G is somewhere before H. It could be all the way at the beginning, or second to last, or anywhere in between. The only thing required is that it be somewhere before H.

H must be last overall, which also means it is last as among these four variables (G, H, L, and P), so start there. Any answer that has H other than last is a loser. Holy cow, that eliminates four answers! A has to be correct by default! WE have a winner!

Read the question carefully to be clear on exactly what they are asking you, and answer just that question. Careful reading is key!