#4 - Local, Cannot Be True

[olenka.ballena@macaulay.cuny.edu]

Hi, I happened to guess number 4 correctly - but I'm not sure I understand why D is the correct answer here.

This is the explanation provided:

If N’s salary is the same as that of one other partner, then L’s salary cannot possibly be less than H’s
salary. If L’s salary were in fact less than H’s salary, then the following single-chain sequence would
result:
K I F M G J H L N
Under these circumstances, however, N’s salary would be the lowest and could not be the same as
that of any other partner. Thus, if N’s salary is the same as that of one other partner, then it must be
false that L’s salary is less than H’s salary. It follows that answer choice (D) is correct.

However, I don't understand how you can just know/assume that if N's salary happens to be the same as another partner, that L's salary cannot be less than H's. I thought all we knew about L's salary was that it was less than K's, and greater than N's (except this question kind of throws N's salary out of the question, so we don't know if L's is greater). But even then, L is on a separate branch, so how can I compare it to the other variables in the other branch?

Thanks!

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hi, I happened to guess number 4 correctly - but I'm not sure I understand why D is the correct answer here.

This is the explanation provided:

If N’s salary is the same as that of one other partner, then L’s salary cannot possibly be less than H’s
salary. If L’s salary were in fact less than H’s salary, then the following single-chain sequence would
result:
K I F M G J H L N
Under these circumstances, however, N’s salary would be the lowest and could not be the same as
that of any other partner. Thus, if N’s salary is the same as that of one other partner, then it must be
false that L’s salary is less than H’s salary. It follows that answer choice (D) is correct.

However, I don't understand how you can just know/assume that if N's salary happens to be the same as another partner, that L's salary cannot be less than H's. I thought all we knew about L's salary was that it was less than K's, and greater than N's (except this question kind of throws N's salary out of the question, so we don't know if L's is greater). But even then, L is on a separate branch, so how can I compare it to the other variables in the other branch?

Thanks!

Hi olenka,

Thanks for the post! I have moved your post to the thread discussing this topic. Please review the discussion on page 1 here, and let us know if this helps or if you have further questions! Thanks!