Past LSAT Explained/PrepTest 51

The December 2006 LSAT Form The experimental section appeared in Section 1.

Section I Logical Reasoning

22 questions Princeton Review rated the difficulty of this section as similar to that of Games sections that have appeared on exams within the past year.

The first game concerned the colors of a clown’s jacket and overalls. Two arrangements were possible: Either the jacket had three colors and the overalls one color, or the jacket had a single color and the overalls two colors.

The second game involved ranking six hotel suites in order from most to least expensive.

The third game asked test takers to determine in what order seven songs were placed on a CD and whether each song was new or classic.

In the last game, you had to determine the order of delivery for eight parcels based on clues that specified the relative order of the elements.

Section II Reading Comprehension

This section was easier than those on other recent exams.

Passage 1 Humanity (easiest) Topic: The difficulties critics have classifying Mphahlele’s works

• Ezekiel Mphahlele

Passage 2 Natural Science (medium) Topic: Reviewing Theories and Evidence related to Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB), a period approximately 4 billion years ago during which the Moon, Earth, Mercury, Venus, and Mars were subjected to many impacts from space

• Late Heavy Bombardment

Passage 3 Social Science (medium) Topic: communication specialists’ views on how foreign television programming influences cultures

Passage 4 Law hardest Topic: The use of artificial intelligence programs in the practice of law

• Artificial intelligence

Section IV Analytical Reasoning

Question 01

A clown will select a costume consisting of two pieces and no others: a jacket and overalls. One piece of the costume will be entirely one color, and the other piece will be plaid. Selection is subject to the following regulations:

If the jacket is plaid, then there must be exactly three colors in it. If the overalls are plaid, then there must be exactly two colors in them. The jacket and overalls must have exactly one color in common. Green, red and violet are the only colors that can be in the jacket. Red, violet, and yellow are the only colors that can be in the overalls.

We can diagram all of the possibilites:

Plaid Jacket                Plaid Overalls

G R V R/V Y

Solid Jacket                Solid Overalls

  G/R/V                       R/V/Y

Question 06

Six hotel suites--F, G, H, J, K, L--are ranked from most expensive (first) to least expensive
(sixth). There are no ties. The ranking must be consistent with the following conditions:

H is more expensive than L.
If G is more expensive than H, then neither K nor L is more expensive than J.
If H is more expensive than G, then neither J nor L is more expensive than K.
F is more expensive than G, or else F is more expensive than H, but not both.

This convoluted question consists of two scenarios based on the following constraints defining 
which room is the most expensive (Most expensive always to the left):

H > L
if G > H then J > K
if G > H then J > L
if H > G then K > J
if H > G then K > L
F > G / F > H
F is never greater than G and H (F is always between G and H)

The constraints can be diagrammed into two diagrams as follows (Where those letters further to the
left are more expensive than the letters to the right connected either with a "-" or a "/" or a
"\". The ellipses denote that it cannot be determined from the constraints what comes after a 
particular letter, and letters on different lines who are not connected can also not be said to be 
more or less expensive than one another unless they are directly connected through either one or a 
series of lines from left to right.):

1)

...G - F - H - L...
              /
          ...J - K...

2)
...H - F - G...
    \
     L...
    /
...K - J...


Thus when we examine all of the choices in question six against the two diagrams, we find that the
only possible answer is:

B. (H, K, F, J, G, L)

Question 07

Using the diagram from Question 6 above...

If G is the second most expensive suite, then which one of the following could be true?

The question states that G is the second most expensive suite. Looking at our two diagrams, we can see that only in the first diagram can G be the second-most expensive suite (remember expense is left to right, more expensive to less). That being said, we can quickly compare each of the answers to the first diagram. The only possibility is

C. (K is more expensive than F)

because while our lines denote that K must be less expensive than J, we do not know anything about the relation of the second line of the diagram to the first except that J is less expensive than L. This allows J to fall anywhere on the continuum so long as it does not fall to the right of L. While K must come after J, there is no problem with J and K falling to the left of F in the first diagram.

Question 08

Using the diagram from question 6...

Which one of the following CANNOT be the most expensive suite?

This question could be answered independently from the diagrams based only on the final constraint. "F is more expensive than G, or else (in the event that it is less expensive than G) F is more expensive than H, but not both.

We can take this to mean that F is always situated between G and H in some fashion, meaning that it will never be the most expensive suite in any situation.

A. (F)

Question 09

Using the diagram from question 6...

If L is more expensive than F, then which of the following could be true?

Only in diagram 2 can L be more expensive then F because in the first diagram L must be less expensive than H which is less expensive than F. Therefore, we are to use our second diagram to answer this question.

Because J is not in any way directly connected to L (which now falls between H and F), it is entirely possible for G and J to be interchangeable as the least expensive suite. Therefore, it is entirely possible for G to be more expensive than J.

D. (G is more expensive than J)

Question 10

Using the diagram from question 6...

If H is more expensive than J and less expensive than K, then which one of the following could be true?

Only in diagram two is it possible for H to be simultaneously more expensive than J and less expensive than K, because K can move indefinitely to the left, and J can move indefinitely to the right. Therefore, we are to use our second diagram.

Knowing that K is more expensive (farther to the left) than H, we can plausibly form the chains KHJLFG or KHLJFG. Only the first 4 letters are relevant to the question, and given the question's constraint, we can see that it is possible to get the answer

D. (J is more expensive than L)

Question 13

The answer to this question requires all the clues.

You know every rock song must have new composition track before it (rule 5). Therefore, track 5 must be a new composition because, as stated in rule 4, track 6 is a rock classic.

You also can conclude track 7 is a new composition because it would be impossible for track 7 to be a rock classic. For track 7 to be a rock classic, track 6 must be a new composition (rule 5). Because track 6 is a rock classic and not a new composition (rule 4), track 7 is a new composition.

So! So far, we know tracks 5 and 7 are new compositions and track 6 is a rock classic.

We know that VXZ (in some order) must be tracks 5-7 (rules 1-3). According to rule 6, Z is a rock classic. Therefore, both V and X must be new compositions.

Lucky X is choice D.