New York City SHSAT 2017

Since your initial work did not tell you which word was represented by R, you need to do a little more work. First identify what you
know so far.

My=

Dog= S

Has=

Four=

Toys= X

Cat= Q

Legs= Z

R can represent only “my,” “has,” or “four.” However, according to statement 3, no letter can be in the same position in any of the
sentences as the word it represents. R is in the same position as “my” in the first sentence, so R cannot represent “my.” Before going
any further, take a look at your answer choices. Once you know that R cannot represent “my,” you can eliminate choices (A), (D),
and (E). Additionally, you can eliminate (B), dog, because you already know that dog is represented by S. Therefore the answer is
(C), has.

You should notice a key point here. On this particular question, looking at the answer choices and using elimination provide a
quicker path to the right answer than poring over the code to determine on your own which word must be represented by R. You’ll
read more about pacing and elimination later, but you should always be on the lookout for ways to save yourself time and avoid
unnecessary work.

All/Some/None Questions

All/Some/None questions test your understanding of sets. You’ll be given two to four “all,” “some,” or “none” statements on a given
topic and asked to make deductions. Again, the key to this question type will be to distinguish what must be true from what might be
true. To get yourself on the right track with these questions, work with “all” statements first and use Venn diagrams (those diagrams
with overlapping circles) to visualize your work.

EXAMPLE

All archeologists are scientists. Some of the lab assistants at the dig site are archeologists. None of the technicians at the

dig site are lab assistants.

If the above statements are true, which of the following must also be true?

8.

F. Some of the technicians at the dig site are not scientists.

G. None of the technicians at the dig are archeologists.

H. All of the lab assistants at the dig site are scientists.

J. All archeologists are lab assistants at the dig site.