#4 - Local

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[Bruin96]

Why is answer choice E correct? I originally picked answer choice A but now I understand that both A & B could be true. But I am not sure why E is so certain? The answer choice seems just as probable.

[Claire Horan]

Hi Bruin96,

When approaching a local MBT question, draw a fresh diagram, add the local condition, and apply the rules systematically.

If K lectures at 3:00 on Friday, then we know M and N must lecture on Thursday because, otherwise L and O would have to both lecture on Thursday, and that would violate a rule. (Draw that out to make sure you understand.)

So, we know that M and N must lecture on Thursday. Another rule says that J lectures at 1:00. We need to see if J can still lecture on either Thursday or Friday. First, try Thursday. When you place JMN on Thursday, you end up with L and O together, which violates the rules.

So now we know J must lecture on Friday, at 1:00 pm. There is only one slot left on Friday (the 2:00 slot), and the possible lecturers we haven't placed on a day yet are L and O. But if L lectures on Friday, he can only lecture at 1:00. So it must be O.

Now, for this problem you looked up the right answer and saw that it was E, that O lectures on Friday at 2:00. Once you know the correct answer, you can work backwards to prove that it is so. In this example, try to put each of the other lecturers in the 2:00 Friday slot, and you will see that none can but O. Taking the time to prove the answer is what ensures success on logic games. Try to get in the habit of PROVING when doing logic games. There's no need to guess (unless there is only a minute left and you are just bubbling in all the incomplete questions).

Enjoy your studies!

[Bruin96]

Hi Claire,

Thank you again, your explanation was extremely helpful and I saw my flawed reasoning. I wanted to know whether it's best to draw a diagram for each question when it's needed or to just stick with the first one that's drawn? I ask this because I have noticed that I miss a few questions on LG due to the constant erasing of my original template. On the other hand, I worry that drawing a template each time will be time-consuming.

LG has been my strongest section missing only 2/3 per section. I want to try to miss none and I was hoping if the template idea would be best to do?

[James Finch]

Hi Bruin,

Absolutely, you'll want to be as organized with your templates/setups as possible. Always create one master diagram that always applies, then separate templates at setup (if it makes sense to do so), and lastly a separate diagram for each local question, as well as any global questions that require diagramming. This way you stay organized and keep track of any information that you learn while working through the questions. Of course, if you miss an inference that you later learn through a question, go back and add it onto your master diagram. It may seem like a lot of work, but new diagrams only really take a couple seconds to setup if you have a good master and understand the game.

Hope this helps!

[Bruin96]

Thank you, James! I will try that out going forward. Hoping to get a perfect score on the LG section timed (fingers crossed)