Each of the following could be a pair of campers who purchase none of the same sorts of items as each other EXCEPT:

Mazen on August 7, 2022

Explanation of the Question and Elimination of D

Hi, Question 9 asks the following: "Each of the following could be a pair of campers who purchase none of the same sorts of items as each other EXCEPT:" I interpreted the question as seeking an answer of two campers that MUST (as opposed to COULD) share at least one of the same sort of items. But I picked up on this interpretation between MUST and COULD only after I checked answer-choice D concerning G and L. G and L could share at least one items but they do not have to, so then what would make it the wrong answer? Three questions please: First, is answer-choice D -- interpreted as G and L can share at least of the items, but they do not have since G can purchase only one of S or T while L can purchase only one of the flip side (T or S) -- the wrong answer because it COULD be true, whereas the the question in question D is asking about what MUST be true? Second, when a question asks for what COULD be true, and the five answer-choices feature one that Must be true, we should pick the MUST be true answer-choice, knowing that under such circumstance that the other four answer-choices CANNOT be true or MUST be false; correct? My thinking regarding my second question is that a must be true answer is an answer that could be true whereas a could be true answer does not necessarily have to be true. Accordingly, it does not make sense for the LSAT writers to ask for a could be true answer, and then give us five answer-choices one of which must be true and another could be true! My third and final question is: the correct answer for a "could be true...except-" question, is one that cannot be true or must be false. Okay they threw a "none" in this mix. Is the incorporation of the word "none" what turned the question 180 degrees to seek for a must be true as opposed to a cannot be true? Please help, I am taking the LSAT in less than a week. Thank you Mazen

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Emil-Kunkin on August 8, 2022

Hi Mazen,

This question is an example where reading the question slowly and carefully is the most critical thing you could do.

This question is asking us which of the following could be true except. This is really asking us which of the answer choices must be false. (That is, which of that are not something that could be possible.

More specifically, it is asking us which of the following is a pair that must share at least one thing in common. So, I think your interpretation was actually correct, although I'm not sure about the process you took to get there.

To your first question, we know nothing about G or L other than that they cannot have an R (since there are only three Rs, and those are H, J , and M). This is wrong because we do not know that they cannot share any items. Since it could be true that they both have S or both have T, this is not the correct answer.

For your second question, if you see a could be true question and there are four answers that must be false and one that must be true, pick the one that must be true. That said, this would be extremely rare.

For your third question, could be true except equals must be false. In this case, the "none" is just describing the thing that must be false.

I would also recommend checking out the discord board for faster responses this week, you should be able to access it through the app, or by asking service.

Mazen on August 10, 2022

Thank you Emil. I see it clearly now.

How do I access the discourse board? I contacted the service but they referred me to tutoring and the message board. What am I missing?

Emil-Kunkin on August 11, 2022

Hi @Mazen,

Try this link https://discord.gg/E4Cshbp2

Emil-Kunkin on August 11, 2022

And make sure to use the email to register that you used to make your account

Mazen on August 12, 2022

Thank You Emil