Syllogism — BSSC General Intelligence & Reasoning

50 Questions • 60 Minutes • General Intelligence & Reasoning Mock Test in Hindi and English

Sample Questions from this Test

Question 1:

Statements:
1. All cats are dogs.
2. All dogs are animals.

Conclusions:
I. All cats are animals.
II. Some animals are cats.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: 'cats' is a subset of 'dogs', and 'dogs' is a subset of 'animals'.

• Deduction process: Therefore, all cats must be animals (Conclusion I is true). Because the 'cats' circle is entirely inside the 'animals' circle, a portion of the 'animals' class is occupied by 'cats', making 'Some animals are cats' also true (Conclusion II).

• Additional Concept: Inner to outer relationships yield valid 'All' and 'Some' conclusions.

• Final Answer: Both conclusions I and II follow.

• Exam Trick: Moving from inside to outside, 'All' is true. Outside to inside, 'Some' is true.

Question 2:

Statements:
1. Some cars are buses.
2. All buses are trucks.

Conclusions:
I. Some cars are trucks.
II. All trucks are buses.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: 'Some cars are buses' and 'All buses are trucks'.

• Deduction process: The overlapping part of 'cars' and 'buses' is entirely inside 'trucks' since all buses are trucks. Thus, some cars are definitely trucks (Conclusion I is true). However, we do not know if all trucks are buses; the reverse of 'All A are B' is not definitively true (Conclusion II is false).

• Additional Concept: Reversing an 'All' statement only guarantees a 'Some' statement, not an 'All' statement.

• Final Answer: Only conclusion I follows.

• Exam Trick: 'All A are B' implies 'Some B are A', but 'All B are A' is always doubtful.

Question 3:

Statements:
1. No pen is a pencil.
2. Some pencils are erasers.

Conclusions:
I. Some erasers are not pens.
II. No eraser is a pen.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: 'No pen is a pencil' and 'Some pencils are erasers'.

• Deduction process: Because 'some pencils are erasers', there is a shared section between pencils and erasers. Since 'no pen is a pencil', that shared section of erasers can NEVER be pens. Therefore, 'Some erasers are not pens' is definitely true. However, we cannot definitively say that ALL erasers are not pens (Conclusion II is doubtful/false).

• Additional Concept: A 'Some' relation intersecting with a 'No' relation gives a definite 'Some not' conclusion.

• Final Answer: Only conclusion I follows.

• Exam Trick: Find the overlap. If overlap is banned from X, then 'Some overlap is not X' is true.

Question 4:

Statements:
1. All apples are bananas.
2. All bananas are fruits.

Conclusions:
I. Some fruits are not apples.
II. All bananas are apples.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: 'All apples are bananas' and 'All bananas are fruits'.

• Deduction process: Both statements are positive. In definite syllogism, a negative conclusion (Conclusion I) drawn from purely positive statements is always false (without possibility). For Conclusion II, while 'All apples are bananas' is given, the reverse 'All bananas are apples' is not definite. Hence, neither follows.

• Additional Concept: Positive statements can never yield a definite negative conclusion.

• Final Answer: Neither conclusion I nor II follows.

• Exam Trick: Rule out negative definite conclusions instantly if all statements are positive.

Question 5:

Statements:
1. All birds are animals.
2. No animal is a tree.

Conclusions:
I. No bird is a tree.
II. Some animals are birds.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: 'All birds are animals' and 'No animal is a tree'.

• Deduction process: Since 'all birds' are completely inside the 'animals' boundary, and 'no animal' can touch the 'tree' boundary, it is impossible for any bird to be a tree (Conclusion I follows). Secondly, the 'animals' circle covers the 'birds' circle, meaning 'some animals are birds' is a basic valid deduction (Conclusion II follows).

• Additional Concept: An inner subset inherits all outer negative restrictions.

• Final Answer: Both conclusions I and II follow.

• Exam Trick: If the outer circle is banned from X, all inner circles are also banned from X.

Question 6:

Statements:
1. Some books are magazines.
2. All magazines are novels.

Conclusions:
I. Some books are novels.
II. Some novels are magazines.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: 'Some books are magazines' and 'All magazines are novels'.

• Deduction process: The section of 'books' that overlaps with 'magazines' automatically falls inside 'novels' because all magazines are novels. Thus, 'Some books are novels' is true. Since 'All magazines are novels', the reverse standard deduction 'Some novels are magazines' is universally true. Both follow.

• Additional Concept: When a 'Some' relation intersects an 'All' relation, the 'Some' carries over to the superset.

• Final Answer: Both conclusions I and II follow.

• Exam Trick: If A intersects B, and B is inside C, then A intersects C.

Question 7:

Statements:
1. All cups are plates.
2. No plate is a spoon.

Conclusions:
I. No cup is a spoon.
II. Some plates are cups.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: 'All cups are plates' and 'No plate is a spoon'.

• Deduction process: Since the outer boundary 'plates' has a 'no' relationship with 'spoon', the inner set 'cups' also naturally has a 'no' relationship with 'spoon' (Conclusion I is true). Because 'all cups are plates', it is a standard deduction that 'some plates are cups' (Conclusion II is true).

• Additional Concept: A universal negative on a parent set acts as a universal negative on all child sets.

• Final Answer: Both conclusions I and II follow.

• Exam Trick: Outer restriction = Inner restriction.

Question 8:

Statements:
1. Some doors are windows.
2. No window is a wall.

Conclusions:
I. Some doors are not walls.
II. No door is a wall.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: 'Some doors are windows' and 'No window is a wall'.

• Deduction process: The part of the 'doors' that intersects with 'windows' cannot be 'walls' because no window is a wall. Thus, 'Some doors are not walls' is definitely true. However, the rest of the 'doors' might or might not be 'walls', so we cannot say 'No door is a wall' with absolute certainty. Therefore, only Conclusion I follows.

• Additional Concept: Partial overlap with a restricted element only yields a 'Some not' conclusion.

• Final Answer: Only conclusion I follows.

• Exam Trick: 'Some A are B' + 'No B is C' always guarantees 'Some A are not C', but never 'No A is C'.

Question 9:

Statements:
1. All Papers are Woods.
2. Some Woods are Leaves.

Conclusions:
I. Some Papers are Leaves.
II. Some Leaves are Woods.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: We have two statements: 'All Papers are Woods' and 'Some Woods are Leaves'.

• Deduction process: Since 'Some Woods are Leaves', the conversion 'Some Leaves are Woods' is unconditionally true (Conclusion II follows). However, the relationship between 'Papers' and 'Leaves' is not defined. 'Papers' are inside 'Woods', but they may or may not touch the 'Leaves' circle, making Conclusion I a doubtful case, which means it does not follow definitely.

• Additional Concept: In standard syllogism, unknown relations between two entities (Paper and Leaves) lead to invalid definite conclusions.

• Final Answer: Only conclusion II follows.

• Exam Trick: If there is no direct link given between A and C through B, any definite conclusion between A and C is always false.

Question 10:

Statements:
1. No Mobile is a Laptop.
2. Some Laptops are Tablets.

Conclusions:
I. Some Tablets are not Mobiles.
II. No Tablet is a Mobile.
A.Only conclusion I follows
B.Only conclusion II follows
C.Both conclusions I and II follow
D.Neither conclusion I nor II follows

• Given conditions: 'No Mobile is a Laptop' and 'Some Laptops are Tablets'.

• Deduction process: The portion of 'Tablets' that overlaps with 'Laptops' can never be 'Mobiles' because 'No Laptop is a Mobile'. Therefore, 'Some Tablets are not Mobiles' is absolutely true (Conclusion I follows). However, we do not know about the remaining portion of Tablets, so we cannot definitely claim 'No Tablet is a Mobile' (Conclusion II is false).

• Additional Concept: A 'Some Not' conclusion is often derived correctly when a 'Some' statement interacts with a 'No' statement.

• Final Answer: Only conclusion I follows.

• Exam Trick: When checking 'Some A are not B', find if any part of A sits entirely inside a zone that is restricted from B.

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