Cruisin' with Logic
Logic problems are designed to require critical thinking and careful reading on the part of the student. Each clue that is given will highlight or eliminate a possible choice toward the overall answer. It is helpful to construct a chart to keep track of eliminations and highlights as you work and to help visualize the clues' hints. Example of logic problem and corresponding reasoning:
Four people have the following occupations: police officer, dress shop owner, teacher, and candy store owner. Match the person to his or her correct occupation.
a. Kay and Jason met in a dress shop while one of them was buying a dress from the other.
b. Bill and Don met each other when one of them was buying candy from the other for his class.
c. Don and Kay met while one was giving the other a traffic ticket.
d. Don meets a friend at the Country Club every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m.
CONSTRUCT A CHART TO RECORD CLUES:
|
Kay
|
Jason
|
Bill
|
Don
|
|
| cop |
O
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
| dress shop owner |
X
|
O
|
X
|
X
|
| teacher |
X
|
X
|
O
|
X
|
| candy store owner |
X
|
X
|
X
|
O
|
EXPLANATION: Clue A gave us that either Kay or Jason has to own the dress shop. Clue B gave us that Bill and Don are each either the teacher or the candy store owner; this eliminated Kay and Jason from either occupations, plus it eliminates Bill and Don from being either the cop or dress shop owner. Clue C gives that either Don or Kay is the cop; since Clue B gave us that Don could not be the cop, Kay is the cop. This finding eliminates Kay from owning the dress shop and Jason from being the cop. That leaves Jason as the dress shop owner. Clue D eliminated Don from being the teacher, since he couldn't meet a friend at 10:00 a.m. if he was teaching. Thus, Don is the candy store owner and Bill is the teacher.