Rule: "J will arrive after M or before N, but not both"

Correct translation: N and M arrive before J or they both arrive after J.

(N- J) (J-N)

or

(M- J) (J-M)

Question: Why can't the translation be (N - J - M)?

Here J is neither after M nor before N.

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7 comments

  • Wednesday, Jun 24 2015

    @mheannarino27

    said:

    Rule: "J will arrive after M or before N, but not both"

    Correct translation: N and M arrive before J or they both arrive after J.

    I would diagram this as:

    Some LSAT Trainer rule notation for ya (though I could almost swearsies I've seen this on 7sage as well?). When I have a "this one OR that one but not both" rule I notate that with both options separated by an underlined "OR."

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  • Monday, Jun 22 2015

    In terms of "Lawgic"

    J--N (-------) /(M--J)

    M--J (-------) /(J--N)

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  • Monday, Jun 22 2015

    Another possible way to write it out is N--J--M with a switch from N to M, then box it, then put a giant slash through it. For economy.

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  • Monday, Jun 22 2015

    Thanks guys, I was just overthinking it. "J WILL..." was what I skipped over.

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  • Monday, Jun 22 2015

    I broke this down as either M-J or J-N but not M-J-N, so the four possible orders are: N-M-J, M-N-J, J-N-M, or J-M-N.

    It can't be N-J-M because the rule states that J must be either after M, or before N, and neither is the case in the N-J-M ordering. It has to meet one of those specifications, but can't meet both of them, and it also can't meet none of them, due to the way the stimulus is worded. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions.

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  • Monday, Jun 22 2015

    In my understanding the OR rule indicates that one of them MUST happen. It cannot be that both cannot happen. It's either M-J or J-N. One of these two must happen.

    A or B but not both means one must be in at the exclusion of the other.

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  • Monday, Jun 22 2015

    Yikes, that didn't format like I wanted. In my example the columns, and not rows, are grouped.

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