Q18

[ebrickm2]

I call "BS" on the LSAC's wording.

"Which one of the following is a complete and accurate list"

For Q 18, A can be a complete and accurate list with P occupying the 92 year. He is not required to be in 90 or 91, and it is entirely acceptable for him to be in 92 and only NOR to be in 89-91.

Wud dah fug.

Complete=/=Maximum # variables.

[dan]

This is a subtle issue, but an important one to understand. #18 uses some pretty tricky language. Here's a simpler example to illustrate what's going on:

You are the manager of a restaurant. At any given time, you have exactly three beers in stock: amstel, bud, and coors. However, the owner requires that only two, and exactly two, of the three beers be offered on the menu for any given night. Answer the following questions:

1. Which one of the following could be a complete and accurate list of beers that appear on Friday night's menu?

(A) amstel, bud, coors
(B) amstel, coors

2. Which one of the following is a complete and accurate list of beers that could appear on Friday night's menu?

(A) amstel, bud, coors
(B) amstel, coors

These questions look the same, but they're actually quite different. Most likely you were able to answer these questions correctly without much thought. The answer to #1 is (B) -- #1 requires us to think about one hypothetical menu, and one only. We can only have two beers on the menu at any one time. The answer to #2 is (A) -- #2 requires us to think about multiple possible menus of two beers each, and then put all the possibilities together. We could have amstel/bud, amstel/coors, or bud/coors. So our list needs to include all three. Any one of the three could appear on the menu, just not all at the same time. So how do we know which it's asking us to do? Take a look at the wording of the questions and see if you can identify the difference.

It's the placement of the "could." When the "could" is before the "complete and accurate list," as in #1, the question is asking us to consider one hypothetical case. When the "could" is after the "complete and accurate list," the question is asking us to consider multiple hypothetical cases and then combine the results.

So, which is it for #18? The "could" is after the "complete and accurate list," so #18 is similar to the second question above. We need to consider ALL the possibilities, more than one hypothetical case. Since, P could be in 89, 90, or 91 in at least some hypothetical arrangements of the letters, we need to include P on the list (just like we needed to include all the beers on the list for the second question above). (C) is the correct answer.

Think about why you chose (A) originally. How would you rewrite the question to make (A) a valid answer?

[interestedintacos]

While I got this question correct, your analysis and mini lesson were exceptional Dan, and I'm sure I'll take this lesson into the future to be extra careful on "complete and accurate list" questions.

[joliebella]

I get that P shares a specialty and that part could be true, but M??? WHo can M share a specialty with P? If so wouldn't answer E be correct as well??? i was able to eliminate B, C, and D but A and E had me scratching my head....What did I fail to get...? Please explain. Many thanks.

[joliebella]

I realize my faux pas...if they share a speacialty the must be spaced apart. For whatever reason my brain kept grouping them together. DUH....

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Oh... those things are bound to happen. it's tough not to commit slight errors like that during a 4 hour test. That's why it's so important to practice and get fast, so that you have time to catch your errors as you go.