#17 - Global, Must Be True, Maximum

[Dave Killoran]

Complete Question Explanation
(The complete setup for this game can be found here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=1655)

The correct answer choice is (D)

From the diagram, we know that F discovered the fourth site, and the dual-options and Not Laws indicate that F could have discovered each of the other sites as well. Thus, it might appear that F could have discovered all five sites. However, this would be an incorrect conclusion because the third rule states that G must have discovered exactly one site. Thus, F cannot have discovered all five sites and answer choice (E) can be eliminated from contention.

Because F is a random in this game, four appears to be a very likely correct answer. Before simply choosing four as the correct answer, however, the rules regarding O should be examined to ensure that O does not have to discover one or more of the sites. A quick review of the rules and the diagram indicates that O does not have to discover any of the sites, and thus answer choice (D) is correct.

Answer choices (A), (B), and (C): Because the question stem asks for the maximum number of sites discovered by F, and each one of these answer choices is less than the maximum, these answers are incorrect.

Answer choice (E): Because G must have discovered exactly one site, F cannot discover all five sites and this answer choice is incorrect.

[tinkandboiz]

"Each site was discovered by exactly one of each of the following..." F,G,A

Is this implying that all three F,G, and A each must have visited at least exactly one site?

[Shannon Parker]

Hi there,

No this statement is saying that either F, G, or A visited every site, and that no site was visited by more than one. Hope this clears it up for you.

~Shannon

[Katya W]

Hello, I need to re-ask the question above, because the above analysis of this statement doesn’t align with what I understand.

Here is the sentence again: “Each site was discovered by exactly one of the following archaeologists Ferrara, Gallagher, Oliphant.”

So, to me this sentence uses the phrase “exactly one”, but more specifically “exactly by one of the following” (and “discovered” not “visited” (as above)). I understand that it doesn’t say anywhere that each archaeologist discovered exactly one of the following sites, but I feel like this that is definitely implied by this sentence just through common sense.

Can I please get an explanation of why this is not the case here?

Thank you!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Katya,

This is an important point, and one that you should file away for future usage. The statement you've noted ("“Each site was discovered by exactly one of the following archaeologists--Ferrara, Gallagher, Oliphant") only speaks to how many archaeologists discovered a site. So, for each site, there is exactly one discoverer, whoever that is. That statement does not imply anything about how many different sites an archaeologist can discover. That's because the subject of the statement ("each site") is independent of the archaeologists and what happens with them. And we could satisfy the rule by having, for example, Ferrara discover every site. Even if Ferrara discovered every site, the rule would still be satisfied because each site was discovered by one archaeologist. We would need another rule to get to your implication, a rule that says exactly what you stated in your post ("each archaeologist discovered exactly one of the following sites"). Since the scenario doesn't say that, we cannot input that limitation into the game.

The takeaway for any numerical restriction in a game is not to apply that numerical restriction broader than the subject of its sentence.

I hope this helps!

Jeremy

[Katya W]

This is an important point, and one that you should file away for future usage... We would need another rule to get to your implication, a rule that says exactly what you stated in your post ("each archaeologist discovered exactly one of the following sites"). Since the scenario doesn't say that, we cannot input that limitation into the game.

The takeaway for any numerical restriction in a game is not to apply that numerical restriction broader than the subject of its sentence.

Thank you so much Jeremy! That really helps!!