September 2017 LSAT Section 2 Question 20

Which one of the following CANNOT be a complete and accurate list of the students presenting on Machiavellianism?

hfatima1 on August 9, 2020

E vs A

I chose E, because if both Rita and Wendy are in M than they must be in S and the last rule states that if you are in M you must be in S. However, the third rule states that if Rita is in S than W cannot be. So, by my logic, I said that Rita and Wendy cannot be in M because that would place them into S together because if you are in M than you are also in S. Could someone please clarify?

Replies

Create a free account to read and take part in forum discussions.

Already have an account? log in

hfatima1 on August 9, 2020

wait, I am confused. I did the review and E was correct. However, on a different thread the instructor said A was right.

Skylar on August 9, 2020

@hfatima1, happy to help!

Answer choice (E) is correct. Answer choice (A) is incorrect.

Your logic is solid. Rule #3 says that anyone in M must also be in S. Following answer choice (E), this means that both R and W are in S. This violates Rule #2, which says that if R is in S, then W cannot be in S. Therefore, (E) cannot be a complete and accurate list of the students presenting on M, so it is our answer.

I understand your confusion but believe the other message board thread was only explaining what the question is asking, not what the answer is. It says "IF (A) were the correct answer, for example," not that (A) IS the correct answer. In other words, it was meant to explain the framework of the question and the criteria that the right answer choice needs to have. Answer choice (A) seems to be an example that was used because it is easily accessible as the first choice, not necessarily because it is correct. As asked, the instructor on this thread was only explaining the question, not the answer.

Does that make sense? Hope it helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.