LSAT PrepTest 72, Section IV, Logic Games, Question 6 Explanation

LG Game 1 Question 6 Explanation, by LSATHacks

This question places traffic first in the first segment. You should draw that:

Next, ask yourself how this affects the existing rules. In the setup, we saw that national has to be first. So if national isn’t first in group 1, it must be first in group 2:

I’ve also drawn International in group 1. We saw this in the setup, though I’ll remind you again why this has to happen: rule 3 says that each segment needs a local report. National and International are both general. So they can’t both go in group 1.

There’s nothing else that must be true in this scenario. So at this point, you should stop and eliminate a few answers that contradict the diagram. Any answer that can’t be true on the diagram is wrong.

The diagram contradicts A–D! None of them are possible on our diagram. This is why I always draw a diagram of what must be true – typically this eliminates all or almost all of the wrong answers.

(There’s only one answer that might not seem obviously wrong: C. The reason weather can’t go second in the first segment is because weather has to be after international. If weather is in group 1, then the order it T – I – W.)

This diagram proves that E is CORRECT.