PrepTest 132

Incorrect. Since these two programmers aren't the most productive, Jo's rule doesn't apply, and so this answer is consistent with her principle (remember, being inconsistent means violating the principle—if the principle doesn't apply, it can't be violated). They have to follow Vanessa's rule, which they do, so this answer is incorrect.

Incorrect. John and Tyrone aren't among the most productive programmers, so Jo's rule doesn't apply and Vanessa's does. They're working together at the same workstation, so they're consistent with that principle.

Incorrect. If Chris isn't among the most productive members of the team and yet he's more productive than Jennifer, she also isn't among the most productive members of the team. Jo's rule doesn't apply, Vanessa's does, and them working together follows that principle.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts/Argument

Valid or Flawed:
NA/Flawed

Question Type:
Bizarro Principle (Cannot Be True)

Stimulus Summary:
V: Computer code → Written by two programmers at the same workstation.

J: Most productive programmers → Allowed to work by themselves

Answer Anticipation:
Wow, what a question stem! We've seen Bizarro Cannot Be True questions before, but they're definitely rare. We've also seen Principle (Must Be True) questions before, but this one is asking us to find the answer that's inconsistent with the principles, so it's a Cannot Be True question. And we have two speakers, both of whom have presented a principle, and we need to find the 4 answers that are consistent with both and eliminate them, and the 1 that's inconsistent with at least one of them to select our correct answer. Remember that being inconsistent with a principle/conditional means establishing the sufficient condition but then stating the necessary condition isn't present.

Both Vanessa and Jo use language about what "must" be done, so we can diagram those out as conditionals. And here, the two conditionals do "counter" each other, in the sense that someone can't both work together with another programmer and work alone. So the correct answer will either violate just one of these, or it will establish information about two separate people and have each violate a different conditional.

With the conditionals diagrammed and with an understanding of what the question is asking us to find (again, a scenario that violates one of the principles), we can head to the answers to compare the details there to the principles to find our correct answer.

Answer Explanation:
The answer establishes that Mike is very productive, but we can't say that means he's among the most productive members of the team. Yolanda is, however, so Jo's rule applies to her and she should work alone. By assigning her to a desk with Mike so they can work together, this pairing violates Jo's rule, and it is thus the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
Being inconsistent with a principle/conditional means meeting the sufficient condition without the necessary condition. Understanding that is more than half the battle in Cannot Be True questions, which do tend to lean heavily on conditionals and answers that follow this pattern.

Incorrect. Two team members who aren't among the most productive working together? Jos' principle doesn't apply; Vanessa's does; and they're conforming to it. Another answer we can eliminate.