Could Be a List v. List of What Could Be
Remember ABC order? You know you hum “elemenopeee” when you’re looking for a “P” word in a list.
ABC order can be useful in an LSAT-specific context. It can help you distinguish between two question types that look very similar but are actually different in logic games.
Consider these two hypothetical question stems:
(1) Which of the following is a list of students any of which could be assigned to Mr. Patrick’s class?
(2) Which of the following could be a list of students assigned to Mr. Patrick’s class?
Often, you’ll see “complete and accurate” smashed in there before “list”:
(1) Which of the following is a complete and accurate list of students any of which could be assigned to Mr. Patrick’s class?
(2) Which of the following could be a complete and accurate list of students assigned to Mr. Patrick’s class?
The questions are obviously similar. For the novice test taker, they can look identical. But they’re asking for different things.
Question (1) is asking for a list of all possibilities, in any scenario. What students can be assigned to Mr. Patrick, ever, at all, in any situation? It’s not asking for a list of students that must be able to be in Mr. Patrick’s class together in one scenario.
Question (2) is the opposite. It looks like an orientation question, right? Recall what those are asking for: a list of entities in one scenario, one possible outcome of the game. It is notasking you for a list of all of the students who could ever be in Mr. Patrick’s class in any scenario. They’ve got to be able to be in one class together at the same time.
How to remember which is which
Here’s a trick. Look for the order of the terms “list” and “could” (or “could be”).
(1) Which of the following is a list of students any of which could be assigned to Mr. Patrick’s class?
(2) Which of the following could be a list of students assigned to Mr. Patrick’s class?
If “list” comes first, it’s Question type (1). If “list” comes second, it’s Question type (2). In other words:
(1) List… Could be = All possibilities
(2) Could be… List = One scenario
This is where alphabetical order comes in. Check out the order of the words in the equations I just wrote. We can symbolize them by their first letters:
(1) LCA
(2) CLO
(2) is in alphabetical order, and (1) is in reverse order.
If you can identify the order of the “C” and “L,” you can determine which question it is by continuing to move in the direction you’re going, down the alphabet (knowing that “O” and “A” are the only choices, here).
If “C” comes before “L”, keep going forward in alphabetical order to “O”: as in one scenario.
If “L” comes before “C”, keep going backward to “A”: as in all possibilities.
The ABC method is just one means of tackling this issue. If the device confuses you more, certainly leave it alone. But I hope for some of you it’s helpful!