Information Retrieval: Festival Schedule Feasibility
Ken will visit his school festival on Saturday. He can arrive at 9:30 and must leave the school gate by 12:30. He wants to see the science show (30 minutes) and the English play (40 minutes), and he must meet a friend at the cafeteria from 11:00 to 11:20. He also wants to spend 20 minutes at the art display. Every move between buildings takes 10 minutes.
| Event | Place | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Science show | Science Room | 9:45-10:15; 11:45-12:15 |
| English play | Hall | 10:30-11:10; 11:30-12:10 |
| Art display | Art Room | 9:30-12:30 (drop in) |
| Cafeteria meeting | Cafeteria | 11:00-11:20 (fixed) |
He starts at the gate, which is 10 minutes from every building. He may not leave an event early. He does not need to see anything else.
1. Write one feasible schedule from 9:30 to 12:30 that includes all four commitments. Show the times and the 10-minute walks.
Read the worked answer
One workable plan:
- 9:30-9:40 gate to Science Room
- 9:45-10:15 science show
- 10:15-10:25 walk to Art Room
- 10:25-10:45 art display (20 minutes)
- 10:45-10:55 walk to cafeteria
- 11:00-11:20 cafeteria meeting
- 11:20-11:30 walk to Hall
- 11:30-12:10 English play
- 12:10-12:20 walk to gate
This fits because the art display is drop-in, so 20 minutes is enough, and the play's second showing ends at 12:10, leaving a 10-minute walk to the gate by 12:20. The first play showing cannot work because it overlaps the fixed 11:00 meeting.
2. A classmate suggests Science 11:45-12:15 and Play 10:30-11:10. Why does this plan fail? Name the first conflict.
Read the worked answer
The play runs 10:30-11:10. The cafeteria is a 10-minute walk away, so Ken would arrive at 11:20, missing the fixed 11:00-11:20 meeting. That is the first conflict. The science show at 11:45 could actually follow the meeting (11:20 + 10 minutes = 11:30, then wait until 11:45), and it ends at 12:15 with a 10-minute walk to the gate at 12:25. So the schedule fails because of the play-meeting overlap, not because of the science show.