PT3.S1.G03 - at an automobile exhibition

twssmith

Spoilers if you haven't seen the game:)
https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-3-section-1-game-3/

Really should have taken a break before attempting this LG. Too many distractions and too late in the day - but it did provide comedic relief for me...
- First of all, do not diagram a parking deck starting with Floor 1 on the top...
- Second - do not misread the last 2 rules as "There are ""ONLY"" New cars on Floor 1, and "ONLY" Used cars on Floor 3

But here is a Challenge -
Q19: If all the production models in the exhibition are used, then which one of the following statements MBT?

Anyone able to make all of the Production models be "used" in the exhibition... I thought they meant that I had to provide a scenario including all the Production models available.

Completely lost that it was only the USED Production models in exhibition....

At least I ended my study time laughing instead of crying:)

Cant Get Right

Haha. That is really funny. Never noticed that ambiguity before, but both ways seem like perfectly legitimate readings. I bet a lot of folks were pissed that one didn’t get removed from scoring!

BinghamtonDave

Thank you for pointing out this game!

I don't remember ever doing this game. There are several layers of difficulty you have to get through to get a firm grasp on this game in my estimation. What was key for me here is to understand that there is essentially one car on each floor that can evidently be replicated (that is to say that there could be an undetermined number of FNR cars on floor one for example) but there is only that one type on that floor. Why the test writers wouldn't just say "There is exactly one car on each floor" is beyond me, rather than having us imagine infinite cars (listed in rules 4 and 5 with the plural "s") that are the same on the same floor. hahaha. Like...why LSAT?

Next layer of difficulty for me is the idea of the "exhibition" being one complete set of filled three floors. Understanding this nuance sheds light on the conditional nature of rule 1, that is to say that if you have a "set" (exhibition) in which you use both F and S, the F has to precede the S, therefore if you have both then F cannot go in 3 and S cannot go in 1.

*Spoiler*
The ambiguity of #19 stems from two disparate understandings of what "used" means in the context of the game. What the question wants us to do is have the element of "used" (~new) as the necessary condition for Production. That is to say that when that necessary condition fails (floor one) Production cannot appear there and therefore it must be a Research, research has to be Family and thus we have a question that asks us to go 3 layers deep to find the MBT. The other interpretation of the question stem would be all possible combinations of a car with Production being used in the exhibition. This would yield 4 distinct possibilities: PFN, PSN, PFU, PSU. Given that the game hinges on understanding that you can only use 3 combos, I don't think this would have been something that could be challenged. Had there been some restriction that yielded 3 possibilities that used P, it would appear to me to be ripe for a challenge!

Edit: emphasis added.