If on a six-bead strand the first and second beads from the clasp are purple and yellow, respectively, then the fifth...

adorrans December 19, 2020

Just kidding I was confuse about which ones I narrowed down... I havent be able to eliminate any options

shunhe December 21, 2020

Hi @adorrans,

Thanks for the question! Remember, we’re being asked for what beads CANNOT be in slots 5 and 6. So let’s say we have a six-bead strand and the first and second beads are purple and yellow. Then we have

P Y _ _ _ _

So what do we then know about P and Y? Well, we know from rule 1 that if P and Y are next to each other, then beads that follow (or precede, but that’s not the case here) have to be red. So now we know

P Y R _ _ _

And we know from rule 3 that we can’t have Os next to Rs, so bead 4 can’t be an O. More importantly, it also can’t be an R. Why? Because if two beads are the same color and next to each other, they’re both green (from rule 2).

Now, think about what would happen if we put Y and P in slots 5 and 6. That would mean that P and Y are adjacent, and so from rule 1, any beads before or after would have to be R. But we just said that slot 4 can’t be R. So that means slots 5 and 6 can’t be Y and P. And that’s what (E) tells us, so (E) is the answer here.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.