Reasoning Ability
Syllogism
In the question below are given two statements followed by two conclusions. Take the statements to be true even if they seem at variance with commonly known facts, and decide which of the conclusions logically follows.
Statements:
All copies are notebooks.
No notebook is a folder.
Conclusions:
I. No copy is a folder.
II. Some notebooks are copies.
- A Only conclusion I follows
- B Only conclusion II follows
- C Both conclusions I and II follow
- D Either conclusion I or II follows
- E Neither conclusion I nor II follows
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Correct answer: C. Both conclusions I and II follow
Copies lie entirely inside notebooks, and notebooks are entirely separate from folders. Anything inside notebooks must therefore be outside folders — conclusion I follows.
Conclusion II is the partial converse of the first statement: if every copy is a notebook, then those notebooks which are copies exist, so some notebooks are copies.
Both conclusions follow.