Question that I'm pretty sure my study guide is giving me the wrong answer. Little help?

[edthecynic]

1 and 6 IS the correct answer.
The one is obvious, either 1 j, k or l.
The max occurs by taking m, which requires an o, which requires a p, which requires a second o, and finally a j and l, which have no additional requirements.

It's says species though, not number of fish

And there is no limit through the conditional statements on the number of fish. She could buy a thousand j's if the store has them available.

But to have the maximum number of species she needs a minimum of 6 fish.

 

[JoeMoma]

1 and 6 IS the correct answer.
The one is obvious, either 1 j, k or l.
The max occurs by taking m, which requires an o, which requires a p, which requires a second o, and finally a j and l, which have no additional requirements.

It's says species though, not number of fish

And there is no limit through the conditional statements on the number of fish. She could buy a thousand j's if the store has them available.

But to have the maximum number of species she needs a minimum of 6 fish.

Yes, to have the maximum of 5 of the 7 species she needs to have a minimum of 6 fish because she can not have only one o, she must get at least 2 of the o.

 

[edthecynic]

If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects

2 o's counts for only one species.

It's says species though, not number of fish

Read it again.

If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects

If it was just the maximum number of species you would not need the word "respectively."

 

[JoeMoma]

If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects

2 o's counts for only one species.

It's says species though, not number of fish

Read it again.

If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects

If it was just the maximum number of species you would not need the word "respectively."

The word respectively is there to define the first number in the answer as the minimum and the second number as the maximum in the same order the words appear in the question.

 

[edthecynic]

If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects

The word respectively is there to define the first number in the answer as the minimum and the second number as the maximum in the same order the words appear in the question.

Well, that is why legalese is so confusing.
As was pointed out earlier, theoretically the maximum number of fish could be infinite. So the question is, how the maximum number of fish is limited by the species, since clearly there is a limit implied.

 

[JoeMoma]

If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects

The word respectively is there to define the first number in the answer as the minimum and the second number as the maximum in the same order the words appear in the question.

Well, that is why legalese is so confusing.
As was pointed out earlier, theoretically the maximum number of fish could be infinite. So the question is, how the maximum number of fish is limited by the species, since clearly there is a limit implied.

The maximum number of fish is not limited by the species. The number of species is limited. The count of 6 is a minimum number of fish required to obtain the maximum number of 5 species.

That being said, the answer given in the answer key likely is based on your line of thinking.

 

[Vandalshandle]

She purchased (M), but the cat ate it before she could dump it into her aquarium.

 

[yiostheoy]

She purchased (M), but the cat ate it before she could dump it into her aquarium.

It is ironic that cats hate water but love fishies.

It must be torture for a cat to have an aquarium in the same house.

I gave up trying to give my cat a bath because then he tries to rip my arm off.

 

[sakinago]

If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects

2 o's counts for only one species.

It's says species though, not number of fish

Read it again.

It's says species of fish. The original paragraph doesn't limit the amount of fish per species in any way. So technically, you could have 20 m , 30 O, 40 p, as long as you have at least 2 O, you're good. So there wouldn't be any sort of definitive answer for the maximum amount of fish she could have, vs the amount of species, which so far I still believe is 5. J L M O P, J L N O P, are the only combos I can come up with since M excludes N.

 

[edthecynic]

If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects

2 o's counts for only one species.

It's says species though, not number of fish

Read it again.

It's says species of fish. The original paragraph doesn't limit the amount of fish per species in any way. So technically, you could have 20 m , 30 O, 40 p, as long as you have at least 2 O, you're good. So there wouldn't be any sort of definitive answer for the maximum amount of fish she could have, vs the amount of species, which so far I still believe is 5. J L M O P, J L N O P, are the only combos I can come up with since M excludes N.

It actually says this, "If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects"

But clearly from the choices of answers offered you can't have 20, 30 or 40 of anything. Therefore the answers offered are also a hint to what the correct answer might be! I will grant you that legalese is a very poor language to use for word problems, and 5 would be the correct answer if the question directly asks for the minimum and max number of species she could pick, but to get 5 species you must pick 6 fish. I think the framers of the question would argue that "numbers" being plural would imply the number of fish to get the max species, a very very weak implication I grant you.

That is why laws are written in legalese, so lawyers can make a comfortable living translating. Lawyers have an encyclopedia of volumes called, "Words and Phrases." A good lawyer is expected to pay attention to every single word in a law and bend it to their advantage.

 

[sakinago]

If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects

2 o's counts for only one species.

It's says species though, not number of fish

Read it again.

It's says species of fish. The original paragraph doesn't limit the amount of fish per species in any way. So technically, you could have 20 m , 30 O, 40 p, as long as you have at least 2 O, you're good. So there wouldn't be any sort of definitive answer for the maximum amount of fish she could have, vs the amount of species, which so far I still believe is 5. J L M O P, J L N O P, are the only combos I can come up with since M excludes N.

It actually says this, "If she selects at least one fish for her aquarium, then which one of the following lists the minimum and maximum possible numbers, respectively, of different species of fish she selects"

But clearly from the choices of answers offered you can't have 20, 30 or 40 of anything. Therefore the answers offered are also a hint to what the correct answer might be! I will grant you that legalese is a very poor language to use for word problems, and 5 would be the correct answer if the question directly asks for the minimum and max number of species she could pick, but to get 5 species you must pick 6 fish. I think the framers of the question would argue that "numbers" being plural would imply the number of fish to get the max species, a very very weak implication I grant you.

That is why laws are written in legalese, so lawyers can make a comfortable living translating. Lawyers have an encyclopedia of volumes called, "Words and Phrases." A good lawyer is expected to pay attention to every single word in a law and bend it to their advantage.

I think that part about picking at least one fish was placed in there because there's nothing constraining her from buy no fish in the OG paragraph. But yes they do design these tests to be confusing and worded somewhat ambiguously, mainly to test how well you can handle things like reading contracts and what not. The test makers are sneaky SOBs

 

[Moonglow]

Just use the formula for completing the square..