Practice Question

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Employee lunch groups

The six employees of a small company—Cal, Dave, Fred, Greg, Harrison, and Jake—may or may not eat lunch during a workday. Employees may eat lunch by themselves, or as a part of a group, but only one group or a single employee will eat lunch during the workday. The following conditions must apply:

If Dave eats lunch, then Fred eats lunch with him.

Cal and Greg do not eat lunch together.

If Harrison eats lunch, then he does not eat alone.

Jake will not eat lunch unless exactly two people join him.

If only two people eat lunch, then Greg does not eat lunch.

1. Which one of the following could be a complete and accurate list of the employees who eat lunch during a workday?
   

   (A) Cal, Dave, Fred, Jake

   (B) Dave, Harrison

   (C) Fred, Harrison, Jake

   (D) Cal, Dave, Fred, Greg

   (E) Fred, Greg

2. What is the maximum number of employees who can eat lunch together during a workday?
   

   (A) 2

   (B) 3

   (C) 4

   (D) 5

   (E) 6

3. If Greg eats lunch, then which one of the following CANNOT be true?
   

   (A) Both Fred and Jake eat lunch.

   (B) Both Dave and Jake eat lunch.

   (C) Neither Dave nor Jake eats lunch.

   (D) Neither Harrison nor Fred eats lunch.

   (E) Both Fred and Jake eat lunch.

4. If exactly four employees eat lunch, then which one of the following could be true?
   

   (A) Harrison does not eat lunch.

   (B) Cal eats lunch.

   (C) Dave does not eat lunch.

   (D) Jake eats lunch.

   (E) Fred does not eat lunch.

5. If Jake eats lunch, then each of the following pairs of employees could eat lunch with him EXCEPT:
   

   (A) Cal and Dave

   (B) Cal and Harrison

   (C) Dave and Fred

   (D) Fred and Greg

   (E) Greg and Harrison

Here’s the solution from Get Prepped:

Logic games always require you to make extra deductions.  With some games, you can make at least some deductions immediately after reading the rules.  Other times, like in this game, you cannot easily make warranted conclusions until the questions provide more information to anchor the diagram.  You cannot excel on the LSAT until you develop an instinct for when to stop attempting to make conclusions and move to the questions.  Although it is always possible to do permutations, this is usually a waste of precious time.

A standard mono-group selection diagram works well for this game.  Include all the members in each column and use arrows to show the relationships created by the rules.  G, H, and J all have certain restrictions.  H cannot eat alone, so H eats with one or more employees.  J eats with exactly two other employees.  G either eats alone or with two or more employees.  In other words, G does not eat with exactly one other employee; G eats with zero, two, or more other employees.  All of this is noted under the main diagram.

1. (C) – With “possible arrangement” questions, simply eliminate answer choices that violate the explicit rules.(A) J will not have lunch unless exactly two people join him, Rule 4.(B) If D eats lunch, F eats with him, Rule 1.(C) * This is viable lunch group; no rules are violated.(D) This violates Rule 2, because C and G are together.(E) This answer choice violates Rule 5.
2. (C) – What is the maximum number of employees who can eat together?  Start with the highest number.  Can all six eat together?  No, because C and G are mutually exclusive.  Can five eat together?  No, because if J is eating, then exactly two others are permitted.  Can four eat together? Yes, one possible group is CDFH.(A) See the analysis.(B) See the analysis.(C) * See the analysis.(D) See the analysis.(E) See the analysis.
3. (B) – If G eats lunch, can G eat alone?  Yes, G can eat lunch alone.  Can G eat with exactly one other employee?  No, Rule 5 prohibits this.  Can G eat with two or three other employees?  Yes.  Keep this in mind while considering the answer choices.
   (A)  As long as G, F, and one other employee, like J, eat together, this is a possible lunch group.(B)  * Can both D and J eat lunch with G?  G, J, and one other employee can eat lunch together, but if that third employee is D, then Rule 1 requires that F also join the group.  But J is only allowed to eat with two other employees, so this cannot be true.(C)  If G eats alone, then neither D nor J eats lunch.(D)  See (C).(E)   It is possible that G, F, and J all eat lunch together.
4. (B) – If exactly four employees eat lunch, you should look at the work done for question 13.  In that question, we learned that CDFH was a valid lunch group of four employees.  It is also possible to substitute G for C.  Keep this in mind while checking the answer choices.(A)  We know that that H can eat lunch.  Must H eat lunch in a group of four?  Yes, because it is not possible to substitute either G or J for H.(B)  *We know that C can eat lunch.  We also know that C can be replaced by G.(C)  Similar to (A), D must eat lunch in a group of four.(D)  J can never eat lunch in a group of four, due to Rule 4.(E)   F must eat lunch in any group of four.
    
5. (A) – Starting with Rule 4, J must eat lunch with exactly two other employees.  Four of the following pairs will be possible, one will not.(A)  * C and D cannot eat lunch with J.  If D eats lunch, then F must also eat lunch.  J cannot eat with three other employees.(B)  C and H can eat with J.  Rule 2 specifies that H does not eat alone, so that is satisfied.(C)  D and F can eat with J.  All rules are satisfied.(D)  F and G can eat with J. Just because F is present does not mean D must be.(E)   G and H can eat with J. Rule 5 specifies that G does not eat with exactly one other employee.

These questions are taken from Ace the LSAT Logic Games, by Get Prepped. Get Prepped offers affordable LSAT prep classes and LSAT tutoring.