The Three-Course Trip Decision
Your class is choosing a trip for May 22. The bus must return to school by 16:30. Each student can spend at most 2,500 yen. Your group wants a hands-on activity, and one member uses a wheelchair, so the activity must be step-free. Brochure: Course A: 9:00–16:00, 2,200 yen, forest hike, stairs only. Course B: 9:30–15:50, 2,800 yen, craft workshop, elevator and step-free route; group rate 2,400 yen for 20 or more students. Course C: 10:00–16:40, 2,000 yen, aquarium tour, step-free. Your class has 22 students. The teacher's email says the group rate for Course B is confirmed only if the class pays together by May 1; your class has collected permission forms and will pay together. No other fees are listed.
1. Which course best fits all constraints? Show how you eliminate the other two.
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Test each constraint against each course.
- Course C is step-free and cheap (2,000 yen), but it returns at 16:40, ten minutes after the 16:30 limit. Eliminate it on time.
- Course A returns at 16:00 and costs 2,200 yen, but the forest hike is stairs only, so it fails the wheelchair/step-free requirement. Eliminate it on access.
- Course B lists 2,800 yen, which is over budget at first glance. But the brochure gives a group rate of 2,400 yen for 20 or more students, and the class has 22. The teacher's email adds a condition: the class must pay together by May 1. The class has permission forms and will pay together, so the condition is met. Course B returns at 15:50, is step-free, and offers a hands-on craft workshop.
Course B is the only course that satisfies time, budget, access, and activity type.
2. A classmate says, 'Course B is too expensive because it says 2,800 yen.' Write a two-sentence reply using the brochure and email.
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'Course B looks too expensive, but the 2,800 yen is the individual price. Our class has 22 students, which is over the 20-student minimum, and we are paying together by May 1, so the confirmed group rate is 2,400 yen-under our 2,500 yen limit.' The reply should quote the condition, not just the lower number. If the class were paying individually or missed May 1, the 2,800 yen price would still apply, and B would fail the budget. The judgement is conditional: the price is not a fixed fact; it depends on group size and payment method.
3. What information would you check before finalizing, and why?
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Before finalizing, confirm four things: (1) that the group rate applies to all 22 students, not only the ones who pay first; (2) that the class can actually pay by May 1, since the email makes the rate conditional; (3) that the step-free route reaches the craft workshop itself, not just the building entrance; and (4) that 15:50 is the return to school, not the departure from the site, because the 16:30 limit is about arrival at school. These checks matter because the exam's constraints are chained: a true statement about the brochure can still fail if the email condition or the return-time definition is ignored.