December 2017 LSAT Section 1 Question 18

If the standards committee has a quorum, then the general assembly will begin at 6:00 P.M. today. If the awards commi...

Lucie on November 20, 2019

Question Approach

Hello! Just wanted to know if there was a more efficient way of tackling these answer choices instead of just having to brute force them. Thank you!

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SamA on November 20, 2019

Hello @Lucie,

It is a good idea to look at all of the answer choices before selecting an answer. However, making your own conclusion beforehand will make this process go faster and give you more confidence in your selection.

If the standards committee has a quorum, then the assembly will start at 6.
SQ - - - - - - - - - > 6

If the awards committee has a quorum, then the assembly will start at 7.
AQ - - - - - - - - -> 7

What can we conclude from this? The assembly cannot start at both 6 and 7, which means that both quorums cannot occur. If one quorum happens, then the other cannot. We know this for certain, so we can be confident that E is the correct answer.

Even if we are confident in E, how can we avoid being distracted by other options? We have to stick to what we know for certain. Don't speculate beyond the rules of the passage.

Is it possible for neither quorum to occur? Yes! The stimulus doesn't tell us that at least one of them must happen. Therefore, the ceremony doesn't have to start at 6 or 7. Understanding this allowed me to easily eliminate A, B, and D. C is a simple reversal of sufficient and necessary, so that was easy to eliminate as well.

Look at the stimulus and connect the premises. Think about what you can conclude. Then find it in the answer choices.