Melissa and Jessica were working on the computer along with their friends Sandy and Nicole. Suddenly, I heard a crash and then lots of shouts. I rushed in to find out what was going on, finding the computer monitor on the ground, surrounded with broken glass! Sandy and Jessica spoke almost at the same time:
Jessica saying, "It wasn't me!"
Sandy saying, "It was Nicole!"
Melissa yelled, "No, it was Sandy!"
With a pretty straight face Nicole said, "Sandy's a liar."
Only one of them was telling the truth, so who knocked over the monitor?
Jessica did it.
ReplyDeleteNeither Sandy nor Melissa could possibly be telling the truth because neither one of them blamed Jessica. If either of them were telling the truth, then, by the rules, Jessica's statement would need to be a lie, and that would mean that it was she, which would make Sandy's or Melissa's statement a lie. That means that it couldn't possibly be Nicole or Sandy, which also means that Nicole must be the one telling the truth, since Sandy is lying. That means that Jessica must have done it, since we have found our truth teller and Jessica's statement must be a lie.
You can play make believe.
ReplyDeleteIf Nicole did it
Jessica - T
Sandy - T
Melissa - F
Nicole - F
no good
If Melissa did it
Jessica - T
Sandy - F
Melissa - F
Nicole - T
no good
If Sandy did it
Jessica - T
Sandy - F
Melissa - T
Nicole - T
no good
If Jessica did it
Jessica - F
Sandy - F
Melissa - F
Nicole - T
thats it
YOu both got it right: Nicole was telling the truth; Jessica broke the monitor.
ReplyDeleteIf only 1 of the 4 was telling the truth, that means that the other 3 were lying. By using deductive reasoning, one would conclude that the only possibility with the presented facts is that Jessica was lying when she said, "It wasn't me," Sandy was lying when she said, "It was Nicole," and Melissa also lied when she said, "No, it was Sandy." This leaves Nicole as the truth-teller, revealing Jessica as the culprit, having stated a direct lie when she said "It wasn't me!"